Yemeni Activist Tawakul Karman Among Three Women Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Anchor Marco Werman talks to Letta Tayler, a Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch, about Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakul Karman.

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Marco Werman: As we mentioned earlier, the third recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is Tawakul Karman. The Yemeni pro-democracy activist heard the news in the capitol, Sanaa.

Tawakul Karman: [speaking Arabic]

Werman: Karman said she didn’t even know she was nominated. She dedicated her share of the Nobel to “all the martyrs and wounded of the Arab Spring.” Letta Taylor is a Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch. She knows Tawakul Karman and is familiar with her work.

Letta Taylor: Tawakul Karman is an irrepressible force and one of the pivotal figures behind the Yemen protests. She’s also one of the few role models for women in Yemen. And I think that awarding this prize to a Yemeni activist and to a woman at that provides a jolt of energy and inspiration to the hundreds of thousands of Yemeni protestors who’s eight-month struggle has been largely forgotten in the midst of other world crises.

Werman: Letta, I understand that you had an interesting phone conversation with Tawakul Karman earlier this year when the demonstrations in Yemen just began.

Taylor: Yes, I called Tawakul and asked her what she was up to. And she very breathlessly told me that she was in the process of organizing a peaceful revolution inspired by events in Tunisia to force the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who’d ruled the country for 33 years. And I was very skeptical. I thought well, good luck, this is Yemen, change is almost impossible. Little did I know that eight months later the protests would be going strong.

Werman: And what’s her background? Is she a grassroots activist or a professional, like a lawyer?

Taylor: She’s just been primarily a full time activist for the past several years. She’s also a mother of three. I don’t know when she sleeps. I don’t know when she eats because she is constantly on the go. She began as a journalist and comes from a prominent family. She has a lot of friends in high places, which I think has helped protect her to some degree. Nevertheless, she’s received numerous threats to her life. She’s been beaten. She’s been threatened with the jambiya which is the traditional dagger than Yemeni men wear strapped to their waist. So she’s certainly not immune to danger. As a journalist she founded a news service called Women Journalists Without Chains and this was almost a precursor to Twitter. She would send out news alerts, mostly on government violations against journalists, activists and others exercising free speech or free assembly. And soon gained dozens then hundreds, then thousands of subscribers before the authorities shutdown her operation.

Werman: Interesting, so she’s well-known in Yemen. Apparently some Yemenis though, even those that oppose President Saleh are not happy that Ms. Karman has gotten the prize. Why did they take issue with it?

Taylor: I believe that Tawakul Karman is a controversial figure to some degree and I think that’s because she is a woman in a male-dominated society, and does manage to do what most men cannot do. So I think there is some resentment. Also, Tawakul is very publicity savvy and I think some of her detractors see her as a publicity hound. I would say instead that she is a shrewd and gifted communicator in a country where this is unusual.

Werman: Right, so if it’s unusual, I mean how active have women been in the uprising in Yemen? Are they able to be activists there? I mean apparently Tawakul is.

Taylor: Yes, many women actually have been active in the uprising, a surprising number given the restraints that they face in the country. While Tawakul is one of the leaders, many other women, increasing numbers have played an important role in the protests and they’re braving beatings, harassment, and in many cases shame from relatives. I’ve spoken with young women who told me that they are protesting fervently, telling their parents they’re going to visit a relative or going to the market when instead, they’re joining rallies. With Tawakul receiving the peace prize perhaps more women in Yemen will fell that they can come out of the shadows and join protests.

Werman: Letta Taylor, a Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch in New York filling us in on Tawakul Karman, one of the three Nobel Peace Laureates announced today. Thanks very much, Letta.

Taylor: Thank you very much for having me.

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