{{Short description|Yemeni intelligence organization}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}{{Infobox government agency | name = Political Security Organization | logo = Emblem of Yemen.svg | formed = {{Start date|1992|df=yes}} | jurisdiction = Government of Yemen | headquarters = Sana'a, Aden | chief1_name = }}
The '''Political Security Organization''' ({{langx|ar|جهاز الأمن السياسي|Jihaz Alamin Alsiyasii}}) ('''PSO''') is a state security and intelligence-gathering agency of Yemen. Formed in 1992, the PSO collects and analyzes domestic and foreign intelligence to ensure the safety of the Yemeni state, though the organization became more well known for repressing political opponents of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Since the establishment of the National Security Bureau (NSB) in 2002, the PSO's role in intelligence-gathering has been reduced but is still significant.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2013-04-04 |title=Yemen's Military-Security Reform: Seeds of New Conflict? |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen%E2%80%99s-military-security-reform-seeds-new-conflict |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=International Crisis Group |language=en}}</ref>
== Background == Prior to their unification, both North Yemen and South Yemen maintained their own internal security agencies. Security in the northern Yemeni Arab Republic was managed by the National Security Bureau, while the southern People's Democratic Republic of Yemen mainly utilized the Ministry for State Security.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1989-01-17 |title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988 |url=https://archive.org/details/countryreportson1988unit/mode/2up |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=United States Department of State |pages=1536, 1537, 1545}}</ref>
Just before the unification of Yemen in May 1990, both the National Security Bureau and the Ministry for State Security were abolished by their respective governments. A combined security service was established as part of the Ministry of Interior.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1991-01-12 |title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1990 |url=https://archive.org/details/countryreportson1990unit/page/1676/mode/2up |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=United States Department of State |page=1677}}</ref>
== History == The PSO was established in Presidential Decree No. 121 in 1992, merging the intelligence agencies of the North and South governments two years after the unification of Yemen.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=2009-12-15 |title=باسم الوحدة |trans-title=In the name of unity |url=https://www.hrw.org/ar/report/2009/12/15/256014#_ftnref15 |journal=Human Rights Watch |language=ar |access-date=2024-12-20 |trans-quote=The Political Security Service is Yemen’s internal intelligence agency, established by Decree 121 of 1992 under the name of the Central Apparatus for Political Security. Its powers of arrest and detention derive from this decree and not from any other law, and its detention centers are not official detention centers, as stipulated in the Yemeni constitution. The Political Security Service reports directly to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Political Security appears to be primarily responsible for arresting suspected leaders and organizers of the Southern Movement, as well as intellectuals and other senior figures involved in the movement whose influence extends beyond the local level.}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The PSO was repordelty involved in the recruitment of Yemeni returnees from the Soviet–Afghan War for government usage against southern separatists in the Yemeni civil war of 1994.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Knights |first=Michael |date=2010-01-06 |title=Strengthening Yemeni Counterterrorism Forces: Challenges and Political Considerations |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/strengthening-yemeni-counterterrorism-forces-challenges-and-political |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=The Washington Institute |language=en}}</ref> Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar facilitated the enlistment of many Islamists associated with the Islah party due to their hostility to the socialists in the south.<ref name=":0" />
The PSO began being involved in countering the presence of al-Qaeda in Yemen after the USS ''Cole'' bombing in October 2000.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=al-Muslimi |first=Farea |date=2014-03-12 |title=Yemen president dismisses powerful security head |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2014/03/yemen-president-security.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505221415/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2014/03/yemen-president-security.html |archive-date=2021-05-05 |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=Al-Monitor |language=en}}</ref> The United States cooperated with the PSO in the investigation into the bombing, though this collaboration was put into jeopardy in 2001 when PSO officer Abdul Salam al-Hilah was discovered to be a member of al-Qaeda, and was subsequently captured and detained at Guantanamo Bay.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |year=2001 |title=Human Rights Watch World Report 2000: Yemen: Human Rights Developments |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k1/mideast/yemen.html |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Joscelyn |first=Thomas |date=2011-04-26 |title=Yemeni government official doubled as al Qaeda operative, leaked assessment shows |url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/04/yemeni_government_of.php |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=FDD's Long War Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> The PSO came under further scrutiny in February 2006 when 23 members of al-Qaeda escaped from a PSO detention center and later organized the revival of the group in Yemen.<ref name=":3" /> The escape was widely presumed to be an inside job in some part facilitated by members of the PSO.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kimball |first=Sam |date=2024-12-26 |title=Whose Side Is Yemen On? |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/08/29/whose-side-is-yemen-on/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128060630/https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/08/29/whose-side-is-yemen-on/ |archive-date=2015-01-28 |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=Foreign Policy |language=en-US}}</ref>
In response to American reluctance to working with the PSO thereafter, President Ali Abdullah Saleh created the National Security Bureau in 2002 with US support and financing.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Bhalla |first=Reva |date=2011-04-21 |title=Islamist Militancy in a Pre- and Post-Saleh Yemen |url=https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/islamist-militancy-pre-and-post-saleh-yemen |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180415053418/https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/islamist-militancy-pre-and-post-saleh-yemen |archive-date=2018-04-15 |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=Stratfor}}</ref> While the PSO and the NSB cooperated at times, they mostly operated independently and engaged in a power struggle within the Yemeni government. President Saleh likely created the NSB, which was headed by his brother Colonel Ammar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, in reaction to the heavy presence of jihadists within the PSO which may have jeopardized his rule.<ref name=":5" /> After the 2006 prison escape, the status of the NSB was significantly boosted, with the most qualified officers to it rather than the PSO and foreign governments preferring to work with it in countering al-Qaeda.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> While the NSB was originally meant to replace the PSO, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar worked against its phasing out, leading to the coexistence of the two.<ref name=":0" />
In March 2014, as a part of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi's government reshuffle, the PSO's longtime director Ghaleb al-Qamesh was dismissed in place for Jalal al-Rowaishan.<ref name=":3" /> Rowaishan was later replaced by Hamoud al-Sofi in November 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |last=al-Jabarni |first=Adnan |date=2023-11-23 |title=Bios: The Houthi Delegates to Riyadh |url=https://sanaacenter.org/the-yemen-review/sept-oct-2023/21363 |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-05-01 |title=Former Yemeni intelligence chief and defected Houthi member arrives in Egypt |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20150501-former-yemeni-intelligence-chief-and-defected-houthi-member-arrives-in-egypt/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Middle East Monitor}}</ref> Abdu al-Hudhaifi was announced to be the new PSO chief during Hadi's controversial December 2015 cabinet reshuffle.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2015-12-02 |title=Yemen cabinet reshuffle uncovers bitter rivalry between leaders |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/yemen-cabinet-reshuffle-uncovers-bitter-rivalry-between-leaders |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518073056/https://www.newarab.com/news/yemen-cabinet-reshuffle-uncovers-bitter-rivalry-between-leaders |archive-date=18 May 2024 |access-date=2025-01-24 |work=The New Arab |language=en-EN }}</ref>
=== Yemeni civil war === Following the takeover of Sanaa in September 2014, the Houthis seized control of the PSO and NSB and took files, records and equipment belonging to the organizations.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Horton |first=Michael |date=2023-02-28 |title=Hot Issue – Yemen's Fragmented Future |url=https://jamestown.org/program/hot-issue-yemens-fragmented-future/ |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=The Jamestown Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=2017-03-03 |title=2016 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Yemen |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2016-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/yemen/ |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=United States Department of State |language=en-US}}</ref> Similarly to other institutions in the midst of the Yemeni civil war, the Hadi-led government maintains its own appointments to the PSO and NSB in the areas under its control.<ref name=":7" />
While the initially their activities remained the same, the PSO and NSB were slowly absorbed into the intelligence apparatus of the Houthis, who injected their own members into them.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Salisbury |first=Peter |year=2017 |title=Yemen: National Chaos, Local Order |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/publications/research/2017-12-20-yemen-national-chaos-local-order-salisbury2.pdf |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=Chatham House}}</ref> In August 2019, the Houthis merged the PSO and NSB under the areas which they control with and replaced them with a single organization headed by former Deputy Minister of Interior Abdul Hakim al-Khaiwani, the Security and Intelligence Service (SIS).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-06-17 |title=The Houthi Supervisory System |url=https://www.acaps.org/fileadmin/Data_Product/Main_media/20200617_acaps_yemen_analysis_hub_the_houthi_supervisory_system_0.pdf |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=ACAPS}}</ref>
In January 2024, Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) head Rashid al-Alimi announced the merger of the PSO and NSB under areas of their control along with similar organizations belonging to the government-allied Southern Transitional Council (STC) into a single agency under PLC leadership as the Central Agency for State Security.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-06 |title=Yemen merges government, pro-Emirati intelligence agencies into unified agency |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240106-yemen-merges-government-pro-emirati-intelligence-agencies-into-unified-agency/ |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=Middle East Monitor}}</ref> The move was rejected and denounced by the STC as unilateral.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-02-05 |title=Yemen Situation Update: January 2024 |url=https://acleddata.com/2024/02/05/yemen-situation-update-january-2024/ |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=ACLED |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Activities == The primary goal of the PSO as listed in its establishment is to "identify and combat political crimes and acts of sabotage."<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=In the name of national security ... human rights violations in Yemen |url=https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/Yemen.pdf |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=International Federation for Human Rights}}</ref> In practice, the PSO assured the interests of President Saleh during his presidency and neutralized any threats to his regime. For this goal, the PSO practiced harassment, beatings, torture, forced disappearances and arbitrary detention against political opponents, including those affiliated or sympathizing with the Southern Movement, the Houthis and al-Qaeda.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /> According to Human RIghts Watch, PSO agents have infiltrated independent press, syndicates, and civic organizations and in some cases have forced said agencies to cease activities.<ref name=":4" /> In several cases the PSO has imprisoned journalists for criticism of the government.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2004-02-25 |title=Country Report on Human Rights Practices - Yemen |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/ci/79092.htm |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=U.S. Department of State |language=en}}</ref>
== Structure == The upper ranks of the PSO is composed exclusively of former army officers who report directly to the President of Yemen rather than the Ministry of Interior, though it acts as an independent entity outside of any judicial control or supervision.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2006 |title=Country Profile: Yemen |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Yemen.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060610132809/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Yemen.pdf |archive-date=2006-06-10 |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=Federal Research Division}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McGregor |first=Andrew |date=2007-05-10 |title=Yemen and the U.S.: Different Approaches to the War on Terrorism |url=https://jamestown.org/program/yemen-and-the-u-s-different-approaches-to-the-war-on-terrorism/ |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=The Jamestown Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> As of 2013, the PSO has approximately 120,000 listed members, though this statistic is likely to be heavily bloated due to the prominence of ghost members. A Yemeni intelligence officer claimed in an interview with the International Crisis Group that only 30 or 40 percent of the people listed on PSO payroll are actually workers for the organization.<ref name=":0" />
Under the degree which created it, the PSO was given the power to arrest and detain people and hold them in its independently operated detention centers.<ref name=":1" /> The organization is also granted the ability to conduct large scale investigations with their officers holding the same authority as of judicial enforcement officers.<ref name=":8" />
== See also ==
* National Security Bureau * Central Security Organization
== References ==
{{reflist}}
Category:1992 establishments in Asia Category:1990s establishments in Yemen Category:Government agencies of Yemen Category:1992 in Yemen Category:Intelligence agencies Category:Sanaa Category:Aden