70 families live in fear of their local Sheikh

More than 400 residents of Raash village, in the southern Ibb province, said they fear for their lives after returning home on Monday. They said militant followers of their Sheikh (traditional leader) have been intimidating them with weapons.

“We arrived home only to find the Sheikh’s soldiers perched on the roofs with their guns pointed at us,” Ahmed al-Qishaei, 26, told IRIN.

“As we entered the al-Jaashen district, we were surrounded by the Sheikh’s soldiers,” said al-Qishaei. “We were forced to get out of our cars and continue our journey on foot.”

Al-Qishaei added that the soldiers intimidated and insulted them. “They even threatened us that if we returned home, we wouldn't be able to get out of the village,” he said.

In late January, about 70 families were forced to flee their homes by Sheikh Mohammed Ahmed Mansour because they refused to pay a collective amount of three million riyals (US $15,000) of zakat (an annual alms payment) to him. They said they had already paid zakat to the local authority.

The villagers were forced to camp in a nearby deserted area with few provisions for seven days.

Raash village is one of five villages situated in al-Jaashen district, which has been controlled by Sheikh Mansour, 84, who is a former MP and now a member of the Shoura (government advisory) Council. He is known to be a very powerful man and a poet for President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A fact-finding parliamentary committee was to accompany the families upon their return, but the MPs were not able to enter the village as the governor of Ibb refused to give them protection.

The National Organization for Defending Freedoms and Rights, an NGO commonly known as HOOD, said it is concerned about the families’ situation.

"The Sheikh is a powerful man. He can do anything. He has some 3,000 soldiers and heavy weapons at his disposal," Abdul-Rahman Barman, a lawyer at HOOD, told IRIN.

Villagers intimidated

According to Barman, the Sheikh’s men fired heavy artillery to intimidate villagers when it was learned that the governmental delegation would be sent in. In addition, a cannon was fired at Raash's only school after the families returned. "The heavy gun caused cracks on the school's walls and windows. It was all to intimidate the residents," he said.

Barman added that while camped in the desert the villagers had nothing to eat and drink except tea, coffee and bread. “They had only one tent, and had to use plastic stuff to protect them from the sun, with very few blankets,” he said.

The displaced families then went to Sana'a, the capital, to bring the government’s attention to their plight. There they again camped on open land, this time with three tents to shelter them. “Our organisation provided them with 60 blankets, rice and cooked potatoes, while some local residents gave them bread," Barman said.

The residents of Raash village are poor farmers, who depend on the cultivation of qat, a mild narcotic, and other plants. They live in destitution, said Barman, and the majority are illiterate.

Sheikh Mansour levies taxes on them for the land the live on, as well as for development projects - such as roads, electricity, and water - in their area, locals said.

The Sheikh has four private prisons, including an underground one, locals say. “He uses them for those citizens who oppose him and he can imprison people without permission from the prosecution,” said al-Qishaei.

According to al-Qishaei, Sheikh Mansour is supported by the authority as he is a member of the ruling party. “His district, al-Jaashen, is known for having ‘golden’ polling boxes as he helps ruling party candidates win in elections. He dominates almost everything, even the judiciary system. He even directs judges,” he added.

maj/ar/ed