The Yemen War:

In what came to be known as the September 21 Revolution of 2014; which exploited the achievement of the February 11 Revolution of 2011 in Yemen; and after four years of political conflict, Houthi forces captured the Capital Sana’a in an attempt to abolish the central authority. As a result, a wave of armed conflicts erupted across Yemen, tearing the state and its institutions apart.

This has led to a different political, security and social landscape, along with new emerging forces that have divided regions of Yemen among themselves and consolidated their presence on the ground supported by new military formations. Today, four major military establishments are fighting for control of these same Yemeni regions.

The newly formed military bodies and their areas of influence as of 2020

Military Ranks Market

In Yemen, to become overnight a high ranking military officer or commander effortlessly and to benefit from the spoils of war and accumulate profit while others bow to death and devastation, one must simply be close to one of the warring parties.

Following the Saudi-led Arab Coalition Forces’ March 2015 military intervention in Yemen, confrontations spread, further raising the oppositions’ needs for fighters. At an unprecedented pace of polarisation, the warring parties began recruiting men from tribes and civilians supporters of political parties to fight on their behalf.

The different parties used several tactics to recruit fighters and gain their loyalty; namely, by giving them senior military ranks, in flagrant violation of Yemeni law. Those promoted became subsequently part of corruption hubs in both camps, those belonging to the legitimate government and those belonging to the Houthis, as reported by activist Mani’ Suleiman, a former civic education media officer, affiliated to the forces of the internationally-recognised Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi.

Mani’ Suleiman says

the problem is not the legal or illegal nature of those decisions and the promotions, but rather the exceptions made in dealing with the law. These exceptions created problems within the Ministry of Defense and the National Army. The promotions were made by the corruption lobbies that favoured their affiliates at all expense.

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A voice recording of Mani' Suleiman

Yemeni Laws:

The law in Yemen regulated the promotions procedure in military and security agencies at all levels of military ranks through two major acts: Act No. 15 of 2000 on the Organisation of Police Forces, and Act 67 of 1991 on Service in Armed and Security Forces.

The acts listed the conditions and criteria needed to entitle a person for promotions, including Article 43 of Act 15 of 2000 on the Organisation of Police Forces, which states that, “promotion from the rank of second lieutenant to the rank of captain shall affect officers who have spent a minimum number of years in service in each [lower] rank, they have to be fully qualified, and must successfully pass the educational courses and tests of fitness for each rank, as provided for in the executive list of regulations.”

Article 44 of the same Act (15) set the time limits of service in each rank, stating precisely that the promotion to the rank of General requires a minimum of 24 years in active military service. Many other acts and regulations govern promotions in Act 67 of 1991.

Terms and Powers of Promotions in the Military

Article 43: Promotion from the rank of second lieutenant to the rank of captain shall be made by general seniority provided that the following criteria are fulfilled:

• Annual performance reports and confidential data of each officer is no less than “good”.
• The officer spends a minimum number of years serving in each rank.
• The officer is fully qualified and has successfully passed the academic courses and fitness tests for each rank, as set forth in the executive regulations.

Article 44: Considering the provisions of Article 43 of this Act, the minimum years of service per rank shall be as follows:

• Two years service to be promoted from second lieutenant to first lieutenant.
• Four years for the promotion from first lieutenant to captain.
• Four years for promotion from captain to major.
• Five years for the promotion from major to lieutenant colonel.
• Four years for the promotion from lieutenant colonel to colonel.
• Three years for the promotion from colonel to brigadier general.
• Two years for the promotion from brigadier general to major general.
• Two years for the promotion from major general to general (field marshal).

Additionally, Article 31 of the Act on Exceptional Recruitment and Promotions in the Armed Forces emphasises that it is prohibited to promote non-commissioned officers to an officer rank, but they may be recruited to the rank of second lieutenant if they fulfil the terms and conditions of the executive regulations.

Provisions of Law No. 67 of 1991 on the Service in Military and Security Forces:

Article 29 defines the general terms for promotion from one rank to another:

- To spend a minimum number of years in service for each rank;

- To be fully qualified and successfully pass the academic courses and fitness tests for every rank;

- To have a vacancy for the rank in question;

- To be fully qualified to perform the tasks of the new rank based on superiors’ recommendations and annual performance reports.

Article 30 states that the minimum time of service for each rank must be fulfilled in addition to other terms for promotion from one rank to another:

1- Non-commissioned officers and soldiers:

• Four years from soldier to corporal.
• Three years from corporal to sergeant.
• Four years from sergeant to sergeant first class.
• Three years from sergeant first class to adjutant.
• Three years from adjutant to second adjutant.
• Three years from second adjutant to first adjutant.

2- Officers:

• Three years from second lieutenant to first lieutenant.
• Four years from first lieutenant to captain.
• Four years from captain to major.
• Five years from major to lieutenant colonel.
• Four years from lieutenant colonel to colonel.
• Three years from colonel to brigadier general.

Interview with Lawyer Amr Al-Humeiri

Documents point to violations of the military act were committed by all warring parties. A senior Ministry of Interior officer, with an MA in military sciences, who asked to remain anonymous, explained that decisions to grant civilians military ranks, or to arbitrarily promote officers to higher ranks violate Yemeni law. Furthermore, he added that these promotion decisions fundamentally contradict both the Yemeni laws that govern the military and security establishment, and the employee theory detailed in the Civil Service Law.

Brigadier General Abdelqawi Taher, a veteran of the old Yemeni army, described all the decisions taken during the war as violation of Yemeni law.

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A voice recording of Brigadier General Abdelqawi Taher

Examples of the resolutions issued by internationally recognised government

General Jamal Al-Riyassi, a former officer in the Yemeni army explained: “to be promoted to the rank of general, an officer must spend a long period of time in military service and be fully devoted.” He added: “Promotions in the military should be conducted through a senior officers’ committee according to the terms and requirements. An officer needs to spend a minimum term of four years in the rank of lieutenant colonel to be promoted to colonel and an additional three years for a higher rank. Exceptional promotions are sometimes made for one rank, only with clear justifications.”

A Colonel Working as a Teacher

The warring parties in Yemen deliberately abstained from publishing any documents or resolutions related to the promotions they made. However, ARIJ obtained a number of documents that prove that the government of President Hadi granted illegal promotions in the armed and security forces. These resolutions include a decision to promote the “Salafi sheikh”, Adel Abdu Fare’e known as “Abu Al-Abbas” , whose name features on the international terrorism list, to the rank of colonel although he had never served in Yemen’s army or security forces.

Another resolution issued by President Hadi, which triggered broad controversy, was the promotion of a Ministry of Education employee, Mohammad Hassan Abdullah, first to the rank of colonel and then to Head of the Military Prosecution office in Taiz. Evidence of this were found in the documents.

Resolution to promote Mohammad Hassan

Salary payroll proves he is a teacher

Insurance document

According to a senior military official in the Yemeni army loyal to President Hadi, who requested to remain anonymous, in the past five years, around 2,500 officers have been illegally promoted to different military ranks, as shown in the documents.

De Facto Authority

On the other hand, based on Houthi-issued documents, it appears that a number of field commanders and civilian officials were promoted to senior military ranks. This includes the promotion of Mahdi Al-Mashat, Head of the Houthi Government’s Political Council, to the rank of field marshal – the most senior military rank.

The Houthis also promoted Abdelkareem Al-Houthi, who is a close associate of the group’s leader, to the rank of Major, and appointed him Minister of Interior. Documents also revealed other illegal promotions carried out by the Houthis for their affiliates and fighters in the past five years.

Houthis’ Resolutions

Attorney Omar Hamyari comments, “in Houthi-controlled areas, speaking of a quasi armed forces we refer to units conceived on the basis of personal loyalty to serve Abdelmallek Al-Houthi, his personal project, his family’s project and the ideological remit of the supreme religious authority of the so called ‘Velayat’”. He added, “those forces were established in a manner that totally contradicts the very concept of an army and military forces. As a result, all such military formations must be dissolved, as they have violated all values, and the very idea of national duty and serving the nation state and all must be revised.”

Legitimacy based on illegitimate decisions

In an attempt to understand the official position of Hadi’s forces regarding the promotions that took place, we contacted the official spokesperson of the national army, Brigadier General Abdu Majalli, to offer us some clarifications. After initially agreeing to the interview, he apologized at the last minute. We did however meet the military spokesperson of the Taiz Command Abdelbaset Al-bahr, who tried to justify the promotions by political criteria of eligibility, including participation in battles and leadership on different fronts.

Al-bahr says: ‘according to the law, for any civil servant to be promoted to a military rank, s/he must be nominated by a committee of officers. The nomination is submitted to the Highest Command Council of the Armed forces, who then issues a decision to promote the official in question to a rank consistent with their qualifications, military history, contribution to the armed forces, and their leadership in battles.’

Al-Bahr’s declarations contradict effective Yemeni law, and are condemned by several interviewees loyal to the internationally recognised government including field marshal Abdelqawi Taher, who confirmed that the law does not allow for the promotion of a civil servant to a senior military rank under any circumstance.

Yemen oscillates between a war sparked by the Houthis to remove entrenched power brokers and protect the Yemeni civilians from the abuse of power committed by various political entities, and the reaction that has followed by the government of President Hadi raising the banner of restoring the legitimate government to Yemen, all that contributed to producing more war lords who felled further the rule of law, and the constitution, carving a new a process where the only voice heard is that of the use of brutal force sending the law and order in Yemen to hell.