Yemen: The American intelligence and its agencies managed to infiltrate local civil society organizations and redirect their efforts from serving Yemeni society and meeting its needs to fulfilling American objectives and intelligence requirements.

According to the confessions, American intelligence set up several key programs to infiltrate local civil society organizations and redirect their efforts to serve American interests in Yemen.

Shaping Civil Society Policies to Serve American Intelligence

In this context, spy Abdul-Moin Azan said, "The civil society program at the Democratic Institute was ostensibly run by a Yemeni employee named Bushra Al-Laswas, aimed at establishing and enhancing the role of local civil society organizations in public life in Yemen."

He added, "However, on the intelligence side, the hidden agenda of the program was to recruit a large number of civil society organizations and local associations in Yemen, playing a significant role after being extensively proliferated."

Azan confirmed that the Democratic Institute played a significant role in proliferating civil society organizations in Yemen and reshaping their priorities to meet the needs of the American embassy and its intelligence agenda in Yemen.

He noted that "a large number of recruited individuals provided information sources for the institute, the embassy, and American intelligence without a doubt."

Azan explained that one of the American programs prepared to infiltrate civil society organizations was the Civil Society Governance Project, funded by the GIZ organization. This German organization aimed, through the governance project, to unify procedures and standards for managing civil society organizations by preparing a guide containing governance standards and procedures.

He added, "They asked me to hold a workshop for ten organizations selected from different governorates, and I attended with them." He pointed out that the project workers were Asim Al-Ashari and Ilham Al-Badani.

According to spy Mohammed Al-Waziza, the workshop trained participants from organizations selected from the governorates, including Sanaa, on the specified standards in the guide prepared by an external consultant who also conducted the training for the workshop.

"Middle East Partnership": America's Gateway to Infiltrating Civil Society

Regarding the Middle East Partnership Initiative, spy Abdul-Qader Al-Saqaf said the initiative directly engaged with civil society organizations to win over people, interact with youth and women, and hold workshops.

He added, "They had a dedicated office dealing with these organizations through a program called the Middle East Partnership (MEPI). Their role was to spread contrary awareness, moving within civil society among youth and women. This was one of the negative roles played by the American embassy."

Spy Abdul-Moin Azan said, "My intelligence roles and tasks through the Middle East Partnership Initiative involved maintaining good relations with recruited representatives from civil society organizations and local associations in different regions in Yemen, connecting them to the American embassy, and continuing communication with them to obtain information as requested by the political section and the embassy."

He continued, "Also, recruiting new personalities from representatives of new organizations and attracting them. These people would provide information according to what the American embassy requested. Recruitment and attraction primarily targeted organizations and their representatives receiving financial grants from the initiative."

"Community Accountability": Another Infiltration Approach

In the same context, spy Shaif Al-Hamdani said, "Some civil society organization members were developed from early stages, participating in international visitor programs, and rising to governmental positions, even becoming ministers in human rights. They controlled numerous civil society organizations across the country, with investment in these individuals coordinated among various American embassy offices and agencies."

Spy Abdul-Qader Al-Saqaf added, "Some meetings in Sanaa included workshops, or even private meetings with civil society leaders and human rights organizations. Some were sent to training or exploratory visits to the USA, where intensive meetings aimed at recruiting them to perform required roles upon their return."

One of the American intelligence projects infiltrating civil society organizations was called "Community Accountability," funded by the National Endowment for Democracy. It involved training five civil society organizations in five governorates on a guide prepared last year, detailing community accountability procedures, like how an organization can hold a community hearing session.

He added, "After selecting the organizations, coordination began for a workshop to train these organizations on the guide in Aden."

Additionally, an audio recording of spy Raafat Al-Akhaly from a workshop training elements on implementing community accountability activities revealed, "The concept we worked on was accountability but in a mild, participatory manner. The idea was for youth and community accountability committees to meet with relevant officials, such as the director of the education office or health director, explaining the nature of the work initially."

He continued, "Before doing anything, start by explaining the idea to build trust and work together. There were many initial reservations, but gradually, as the accountability mechanism became clear, trust was built, and obtaining information became easier, though not all information was obtained."