Tawakkol Karman: Difference between revisions

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Tawakul Karman Al-Mekhlafi (Arabic: توكل كرمان المخلافي Tawak[k]ul Karmān) (Anglicized: Tawakel^[1], Tawakkol^[2], Tawakkul^[3]) was a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her role in the "non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work."^[4] Karman became the public face of the 2011 Yemeni uprising against the Yemeni government as part of the Arab Spring movement. She has been called the "Mother of the Revolution."^[5] Before the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded, only 12 other women had ever been given the Prize over its 110 years, and Karman became the first Arab woman and the youngest person ever to become a Nobel Peace Laureate.^[6]

Karman gained visibility after 2005 in her roles as a Yemeni journalist for a mobile phone news service; a politician and senior member of the opposition Al-Islah Party;^[7] and a human rights activist and founder of the group Women Journalists Without Chains.

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She is married and the mother of three children.

She was affiliated with the Al-Thawrah newspaper at the time she founded Women Journalists Without Chains in March 2005. ^[8]

Tawakul Karman Al-Mekhlafi co-founded the human rights group Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) in 2005 for promoting human rights, "particularly freedom of opinion and expression, and democratic rights".^[1] The organization was orginally called "Female Reporters Without Borders" and was founded by Karman with 7 other female journalists. Karman said that she received threats and was the target of harrassment from the Yemeni authorities by telephone and letter because of her refusal to accept the Ministry of Information rejection of WJWC's application to legally create a newspaper and a radio station.^[1] In 2007, WJWC released a report that documented Yemeni abuses of press freedom since 2005, and the group advocated freedom for SMS (mobile phone) news services, which had been tightly controlled despite having been unregulated by the Press Law of 1990. The only service that was not granted a license to continue was Bilakoyood, which belonged to WJWC.^[9] As a result , from 2007 to 2010, Karman regularly led demonstrations and sit-ins in Freedom Square in Sana'a.^[10]

During the ongoing 2011 Yemeni protests Tawakel Karman organised student rallies in Sana'a to protest against Ali Abdullah Saleh and his government. She was arrested once, amid complaints her husband did not know her whereabouts, however she was released on parole on 24 January. She then led another protest on 29 January where she called for a "day of rage" on 3 February^[7] similar to that of the 2011 Egyptian revolution that were in turn inspired by the 2010–2011 Tunisian revolution. On 17 March, she was re-arrested amidst ongoing protests.^[11]

On 18 June she wrote an article entitled "Yemen's Unfinished Revolution" in the New York Times in which she assailed the United States and Saudi Arabia for their support for the "corrupt" Saleh regime in Yemen in because they "used their influence to ensure that members of the old regime remain in power and the status quo is maintained. American counterterrorism agencies and the Saudi government have a firm grip on Yemen at the moment. It is they, not the Yemeni people and their constitutional institutions, that control the country." She also criticised American intervention in Yemen as a by-product of the war on terror and the bombing of the USS Cole that led to financial and military support for Yemen's security agecies such as the Central Security Forces, the National Security Agency and the Republican Guard, which are under the control of Saleh's family, which in turn she said commits human rights abuses. Citing this she said that democracy in Yemen would depend on the attitude of the United States to accede to democracy. She then called for "American officials to engage with the leaders of Yemen’s democracy movement and abandon their misplaced investment in the old regime’s security apparatus, which has killed more innocent women and children than terrorists...We only ask that you respect international standards on human rights and the Yemeni people’s rights to freedom and justice. On behalf of many of the young people involved in Yemen’s revolution, I assure the American people that we are ready to engage in a true partnership. Together, we can eliminate the causes of extremism and the culture of terrorism by bolstering civil society and encouraging development and stability."^[2]

Tawakul Karman Al-Mekhlafi, along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee, was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work."^[3] More specifically, the committee cited her for "in the most trying circumstances, both before and during the Arab Spring...[of playing] a leading part in the struggle for women's rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen."^[12] Upon announcing the award, former Norwegian Prime Minister and chairman of the committee to decide the award Thorbjorn Jagland said that: "We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society." He later added that the prize was "a very important signal to women all over the world"^[13] and that despite the events of the Arab Spring "there are many other positive developments in the world that we have looked at. I think it is a little strange that researchers and others have not seen them." He had earlier said that the prize for the year would be "very powerful...but at the same time very unifying [and would] not create as strong reactions from a single country as it did last year." The committee also said that Karman had "played a leading part in the struggle for women's rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen" in what was described as the "most trying circumstances both before and during the Arab Spring." Geir Lundestad, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, said that the award sought to "want to point to the role of women and the inferior role of women and how this role can be improved. I mean, women suffer in wars and if we are to have peace, we have to have democracy with full rights for women and we also have to have women as peace builders. So this year, it was the year of the women."^[10] The prize money for the award is US$1.5 million.

In reaction to the award Karman, while camped out in Sana'a during ongoing anti-government protests, said that: "I didn’t expect it. It came as a total surprise. This is a victory for Arabs around the world and a victory for Arab women" and that the award was a "victory of our peaceful revolution. I am so happy, and I give this award to all of the youth and all of the women across the Arab world, in Egypt, in Tunisia. We cannot build our country or any country in the world without peace,"^[13] adding that it was also for "Libya, Syria and Yemen and all the youth and women, this is a victory for our demand for citizenship and human rights," that "all Yemenis [are] happy over the prize. The fight for democratic Yemen will continue,"^[14] that she "dedicate[s] it to all the martyrs and wounded of the Arab Spring… in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Syria and to all the free people who are fighting for their rights and freedoms"^[12] and "I dedicate it to all Yemenis who preferred to make their revolution peaceful by facing the snipers with flowers. It is for the Yemeni women, for the peaceful protesters in Tunisia, Egypt, and all the Arab world."^[15] She also said that she did not know about the nomination and found out about the award via television.^[16] At 32, she is one of the youngest winners of a Nobel Peace Prize.^[17]

Other reactions included Shadi Hamid, the director of research at the Brookings Doha Centre, who said the award was "surprising. People were very excited and thought this year would be the year of the Arab Spring. I am not sure what the rationale was exactly, but I think this might be interpreted as a slight to the Arab world."^[10]

• Renowned activist and press freedom advocate Tawakul Karman, interviewed by Nadia Al-Sakkaf, Yemen Times, 17 June 2010
• Yemen: A tale of two protests, Al Jazeera English documentary

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