Dhalea Ceasefire

  • Country/entity
    Yemen
  • Region
    Middle East and North Africa
  • Agreement name
    Dhalea Ceasefire
  • Date
    20 Apr 2016
  • Agreement status
    Multiparty signed/agreed
  • Interim arrangement
    Yes
  • Agreement/conflict level
    Intrastate/local conflict ( Yemeni Civil Wars (1994) (2011 - ) )
  • Stage
    Ceasefire/related
  • Conflict nature
    Government/territory
  • Peace process
    Yemen peace process
  • Parties
    Representatives of Government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi:
    Ahmad ‘Abadi al-Mu’akar 
    Mohammad Ghalib al- Dhahiri 
    Lieutenant Colonel ‘Ail ‘Abdu al- Ghriani 
    Tahir ‘Abad al-Assad 
    Feysal Satah Shooqran 
    Ahmad Naji al-Sarari 
    Mohammad Mahmood Safian 
    Mohammad ‘Abad al- Shajri 

    Representatives of Ansar Allah and the General People's Congress:
    Abdu Salah al-Salami 
    ‘Abdu Salah al-Mashraqi 
    Murad Ghalib Mazahim 
    Na’ran ‘Abdu al-Jalil al-Siadi 
    Mohammad Salah al- Niham 
    ‘Ali Ahmad al- Siadi 
    Mohammad Hussein al- Na’iri 
    Sa’id ‘Ali al- ‘Ansoob
  • Third parties
    Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • Description
    Two-tier ceasefire agreement, first calling for a ceasefire and separation of forces, which is verified by a commission. Then, during the second stage, the ceasefire introduces confidence building provisions including an exchange of remains, prisoners, guarantees of rights of citizens, movement of citizens and humanitarian aid, and an exchange of mine maps.

Local agreement properties

  • Process type
    Formal structured process
  • Rationale
    Similarly to the other ceasefire agreements of 2016, this is part of a sub-set of local agreements as part of a series of identical provincially applied agreements, under a broader national effort. The distinction of local level actors does not seem as clear in this agreement where other agreements have involved religious or southern groups, this describes representatives of the 'two main sides' which can be assumed as the Houthis and the GPC and President Hadi's government. There is similar formality by mention of the powers of the committee in relation to implementation. The agreement is set into two stages which provide for the committee monitoring the ending of military operations and the separation of forces, followed by confidence building measures . There are clear provisions laid out regarding safe and free travel for people and humanitarian supplies. There are provisions for the exchange of the deceased from both sides, which is a detail which does not exist in all other similar agreements around this time, so the practice is generally persistent in relation to this set of agreements but with some slight differences laid out in the texts, depending on the province in question.
  • Is there a documented link to a national peace process?
    Yes
  • Link to national process: articulated rationale
    There is a reference in the text to the original national agreement made on 10/04/2016, while it does not explicitly reference this as the national process the agreement name is indicative, thus it is not directly quoted here but is considered a link. For all of these local ceasefire agreements in the sub-set, there is a provision in the national text which outlines the implementation of a De-escalation and Coordination Committee, which would consist of military and official government individuals with the aim of coordinating with local committees to encourage implementation. It is possible that this presence is always involved across these agreements, whilst not always explicitly mentioned in the text. In this case, there is more reference to 'the committee' directly in reference to the national agreement signed in Saudi Arabia (while this is not always the case across this set of ceasefire agreements).
  • Name of Locale
    Al Dhali'(Ad Dhale) governorate
  • Nature Of Locale
    Region
  • GPS Lat/Long (DD)
    13.707094, 44.737615
  • Participant type
    Central state actor
    Local armed group
  • Mediator, facilitator or similar
    No mention of mediator or similar

Local issues

  • Ritual/prayer and process (including use of scripture)
    Page 1, Untitled preamble, In the Name of Allah the Merciful

    Page 1, Untitled preamble, Praise be to Allah (O, you who believe. Enter in Islam completely, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is for you an enemy open.) Peace and blessing be upon His Noble Messenger and upon his family and companions and those after:
  • Grievance List
    Page 1, 2-There will be a full end of all forms of military operations, including advances, retreats, expansions and developments on new places in the general governorate.

    Page 1, 2-There will be an end and prohibition of the abuse of citizens and travellers on roads and checkpoints. Their rights will be preserved.
  • Cattle rustling/banditry

    No specific mention.

  • Social cover

    No specific mention.

In the Name of Allah the Merciful

Praise be to Allah (O, you who believe.

Enter in Islam completely, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan.

Indeed, he is for you an enemy open.)

Peace and blessing be upon His Noble Messenger and upon his family and companions and those after:

Based on the agreement signed in South Dhahran in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 10/4/2016 between us as the two sides, the committee agreed on a ceasefire in the Governorate of Dhalea, Saudi Arabia, on 20/4/2016 in the City of Dumet.

It was agreed on the following points:

Firstly:

1-It is confirmed that there will be a ceasefire in all its forms and shapes, starting from (22:00) 10 in the evening of the Wednesday corresponding to 20/4/2016, on all fronts of battle (Maris/Dumet and Hamak/al-Khashiba) and those places of fighting which come under these.

2-There will be a full end of all forms of military operations, including advances, retreats, expansions and developments on new places in the general governorate.

3- The Committee will directly supervise the ceasefire.

4-There has been established a monitoring, control, contact, communication and coordination operations room for the Committee.

Secondly:

After the period of ceasefire, retreats and advances, the following steps will be implemented:

1-The Red Crescent and the Red Cross, or whoever represents them, will facilitate the exchanging of deceased from the two sides, if any.

In addition, these organisations will be protected while doing so.

2-There will be an end and prohibition of the abuse of citizens and travellers on roads and checkpoints.

Their rights will be preserved.

3-There will be facilitation of the passage and entry of humanitarian aid and relief.

Their distribution will be supervised.

4-The mine maps will be delivered to the military members in the Committee.

In the case [these maps] are not found, their location will be determined.

5-The Prisoners Committee will return the prisoners and process the list of prisoners and detainees from both sides.

It will also coordinate the final steps of their release with the Central Prisoner’s Committee.

Side 1:

Ahmad ‘Abadi al-Mu’akar

Mohammad Ghalib al- Dhahiri

Lieutenant Colonel ‘Ail ‘Abdu al- Ghriani

Tahir ‘Abad al-Assad

Feysal Satah Shooqran

Ahmad Naji al-Sarari

Mohammad Mahmood Safian

Mohammad ‘Abad al- Shajri

Side 2:

Abdu Salah al-Salami

‘Abdu Salah al-Mashraqi

Murad Ghalib Mazahim

Na’ran ‘Abdu al-Jalil al-Siadi

Mohammad Salah al- Niham

‘Ali Ahmad al- Siadi

Mohammad Hussein al- Na’iri

Sa’id ‘Ali al- ‘Ansoob