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Urgent and Necessary Need to Establish an International Criminal Accountability Mechanism for Yemen

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Yemen
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Mwatana
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The passage of eight years of devastating conflict in Yemen is an important test of States’ commitment to upholding human rights values.

A criminal accountability mechanism for Yemen remains urgent and necessary, said Mwatana for Human Rights today. In this way, Yemen’s civilian victims are guaranteed their rights, reparations are provided, and those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law are held accountable.

In conjunction with the 51st session of the Human Rights Council, in Geneva, Mwatana called on States to lead efforts to establish a new international criminal accountability mechanism whose mandate includes investigating human rights and international humanitarian law violations and submitting public reports on the human rights situation in Yemen, as well as collecting, preserving, and analyzing evidence, and building files for future possible criminal prosecution.

Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, said, “States are involved in bargaining over political interests when it comes to accountability and redress in Yemen. They evade their moral, legal, and humanitarian duties towards victims in Yemen. Countries have taken a serious stand on the horrific violations in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Indeed, that is what the victims in Ukraine deserve. However, the problem of double standards and the sin of discrimination between victims and perpetrators have again emerged in the world.

The heavy record of human rights violations that have accumulated over the 8 years of devastating conflict in Yemen is an important test of the extent to which States are committed to uphold human rights values for all.”

Al-Mutawakel added, “If the international community is serious about its efforts to ensure lasting peace in Yemen, accountability and reparation are the two main pillars that must be taken into account. One of the first steps to this end is the establishment of an independent international criminal accountability mechanism for Yemen.”

Mwatana urged all human rights defenders around the world, both entities and individuals, to deal firmly with efforts to circumvent the demands of Yemeni victims to establish an independent international criminally-focused investigative mechanism for Yemen.

This statement shows digits of violations and abuses committed by the parties to the conflict in Yemen. These incidents have been documented by Mwatana since the Human Rights Council ended the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (GEE) in October 2021. Mwatana said that the documented incidents confirm the continuing suffering of civilians in Yemen, despite the truce in place since April 2022.

Since last September, Yemen has witnessed military escalations in several Yemeni governorates, increasing the levels of violence against civilians. The Saudi/UAE-led coalition intensified its air attacks until early this year. These attacks focused, in January 2022, on the governorates of Sana’a, Saada, Al Hodeidah, Marib, and Shabwa, causing civilian casualties, including women and children, and causing material damage to civilian objects. Mwatana, in cooperation with Human Rights Watch, issued a statement regarding 3 air attacks that killed about 80 civilians, including three children, and wounded 156 others, including two children.

Mwatana also documented three bloody ground attacks launched by Ansar Allah group (Houthis) on Marib and Taiz. On Sunday, October 3, 2021, a ground attack with 3 missiles launched by Houthis on the residential neighborhood of Al-Rawdah in Marib killed 2 children and wounded 9 other civilians. In late October 2021, a ground attack involving shelling on Al-Khair Mosque residential neighborhood in Taiz killed 3 children and wounded 3 civilians, including a child. Another ground attack on July 23, 2022, on a residential neighborhood in Taiz killed a child and wounded 11 others.

In early August 2022, military clashes took place in the center of Ataq city in Shabwa governorate, as UAE-backed forces controlled the city and large parts of the governorate. This resulted in civilian casualties and the devastation of a number of civilian objects.

With the termination of the mandate of the United Nations Group of Eminent Experts last October, Yemenis were left on their own with the scourge of war. The Group of Eminent Experts was the only independent international mechanism for documenting human rights and humanitarian law violations and publicly reporting on the human rights situation in Yemen.

Despite the deterioration of the humanitarian situation due to the armed conflict, a lack of funding for humanitarian aid to Yemen has been recorded. The Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan – which is seeking $4.27 billion – is only 42 % funded by the end of August 2022. The World Food Program also cut food rations last June for millions of civilians, the second major food cut in just six months.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that unless additional funding is secured, the risk of famine in some Yemeni areas will rise sharply in the coming months. The lack of funding has affected all sectors that have already collapsed as a result of the armed conflict, such as health, water, education, and food security.

The consequences of the Ukrainian war have affected Yemenis who are suffering from the conflict, the deteriorating economic situation, the collapse of the local currency, and the disruption in the payment of civil servant salaries.

Vulnerable groups, especially children, bear a double burden for the continuation of the conflict in Yemen. In his report on children and armed conflict, issued in July 2022, the Secretary-General of the United Nations expressed concern at the large number of children killed and injured during the reporting period due to the conflict in Yemen, as well as the number of cases of humanitarian access being denied, children being recruited and used, and schools and hospitals being used for military purposes.

Mwatana for Human Rights called on parties to the conflict to abide by the truce, to give priority to opening all roads to Yemeni cities, especially Taiz, to clear landmines, and to pay the salaries of civil servants. Mwatana said that the truce should be a precursor to ending the conflict permanently.

In the report “Returned to Zero“, Mwatana for Human Rights and the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School concluded that the parties to the conflict failed to provide reparations to civilian victims in Yemen. The report finds that the responses of warring parties to civilian harm have been insufficient, both in relation to the scale and severity of the civilian harms caused, and in comparison to their international legal obligations.

The statement below shows the most important patterns of human rights violations committed by the parties to conflict in Yemen that caused serious harm to civilians and civilian objects during the period from September 2021 until late August 2022.

Air Attacks

During the period between September 1, 2021, and August 31, 2022, Mwatana documented about 23 airstrikes by the Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces targeting civilians and civilian objects. Most of these airstrikes were concentrated in Shabwa and Marib governorates, killing approximately 117 civilians, including 17 children and three women, and injuring 174 others, including 19 children and five women.

Drone Attacks

Mwatana has recently observed the intensive use of drones by the parties to the conflict, especially by Ansar Allah group (Houthis). It documented 17 drone attacks in seven Yemeni governorates. These attacks were concentrated in Hodeidah and Marib governorates, killing 19 civilians, including nine children and two women, and injuring 31 civilians, including 15 children and five women.

Ansar Allah group (Houthis) is responsible for 11 of these attacks, while the Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces are responsible for three attacks; the UAE-backed Joint Forces in the West Coast are responsible for two attacks; and Yemeni government forces are responsible for one attack.

Ground Attacks

During the period between September 2021 and August 2022, Mwatana documented at least 59 ground attacks that killed at least 39 civilians, including 16 children and six women, and injured at least 154 civilians, including 68 children and 18 women. Most of these attacks were concentrated in Taiz, Ma’rib, and Saada governorates.

Ansar Allah group (Houthis) is responsible for 32 of these attacks; government forces are responsible for six attacks; the forces of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) are responsible for five attacks; and the UAE-backed Joint Forces are responsible for four attacks in the Western Coast and Shabwa governorate. Mwatana was not able to identify the party responsible for one attack.

Moreover, civilians in the districts of Manba, Razih, and Baqim in Saada governorate also suffered from Saudi ground attacks. During the period covered by this statement, Saudi border guards launched 11 ground attacks, out of the total number of ground attacks documented by Mwatana, on Yemeni civilians and African migrants. These attacks resulted in the killing of two children and injuring of 16 civilians, including seven children and two African children.

Landmines

Incidents of landmine explosions increased alarmingly compared to those documented by Mwatana last year, especially with the entry into force of the truce, as some areas have been opened to civilians without the complete removal of landmines. During the period between September 2021 and August 2022, Mwatana documented at least 88 incidents of landmine explosions, half of which occurred during the truce period. Most of these incidents took place in Al Hodeidah governorate. The exploded landmines killed at least 63 civilians, including 23 children and two women, and injured at least 109 civilians, including 65 children and nine women. The Ansar Allah group (Houthis) is responsible for 79 of these incidents.

Child Recruitment and Use

During the period between September 2021 and August 2022, Mwatana documented at least 73 cases of recruitment and use of 91 children, including one girl. Ansar Allah (Houthis) armed group bears responsibility for recruiting at least 79% of these children, mainly in Saada and Dhamar governorates. The UAE-backed Transitional Council is responsible for recruiting 12% of the total number of child recruitment cases; government forces are responsible for 5%; the Joint Forces are responsible for 3%; and the Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces are responsible for 1%.

Arbitrary Detention, Enforced Disappearance, and Torture

During the period between September 2021 and August 2022, Mwatana documented the arbitrary detention of 104 civilians, the disappearance of 60 civilians, and the torture of 10 civilians, one of whom was tortured to death, by the Ansar Allah group (Houthis).

In the same period, Mwatana documented the arbitrary detention of 58 civilians, and the enforced disappearance of 36 others, the torture of 18 civilians, three of whom were tortured to death, by government forces.

The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council was responsible for the arbitrary detention of 23 civilians, the disappearance of 48 others, and the torture of 17 civilians, five of whom died as a result of torture. Mwatana also documented that the UAE-backed Joint Forces arbitrarily detained 15 civilians, and disappeared eight others. The UAE-backed Hadhrami Elite Forces are responsible for three cases of enforced disappearance of civilians, and one case of torture.

Mwatana also documented that people found a group of bodies of Yemeni and Ethiopian migrants piled near an informal detention facility in southern Saudi Arabia. The migrants had crossed the border from northern Yemen into Saudi Arabia the day before, according to those that collected the bodies. A doctor examined the bodies of seven Yemenis found with the group, and the medical report revealed that two of the bodies had gunshot wounds, and the remaining five bodies had marks of torture.

Attacks on Schools

During the period between September 2021 and August 2022, Mwatana documented 128 incidents of attacks on, or attacks affecting, schools and educational facilities, including 121 incidents of occupation and use for military purposes, three incidents of ground shelling, and two airstrikes, one by a drone, in addition to two incidents of bombing schools.

Ansar Allah group (Houthis) bears responsibility for 115 of these incidents, while the UAE-backed Transitional Council forces are responsible for six of the incidents. Government forces are responsible for three incidents; the UAE-backed Joint Forces in the West Coast and Shabwa governorate are responsible for three incidents; and the Saudi/UAE-led coalition is responsible for one aerial attack.

Attacks on Healthcare

In the period between September 2021 and August 2022, Mwatana verified 25 attacks on medical facilities and staff. Most of these incidents were armed incursions into medical facilities and threats and attacks on medical staff working in such facilities, in addition to two ground attacks and five air attacks.

Government forces are responsible for 10 of these incidents; the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) is responsible for five incidents; the Saudi/UAE-led coalition is responsible for five incidents; the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council forces are responsible for four incidents; and Al-Qaeda is responsible for one incident.

Denial of Humanitarian Access

From September 2021 until the end of August 2022, Mwatana documented at least 85 incidents of denial of humanitarian aid, most of which involved impeding the access of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel, as well as interfering in the process of implementing humanitarian activities or looting relief materials, and threatening and arresting humanitarian personnel. Mwatana also documented three air attacks on two water facilities in Ma’rib and Saada governorates, and one air attack on a drugstore in Al-Jawf governorate.

Ansar Allah group (Houthis) is responsible for 59 of these incidents; government forces are responsible for 14 incidents; the UAE-backed Joint Forces are responsible for five incidents; the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council is responsible for four incidents; and the Saudi/UAE-led coalition is responsible for three incidents.

Frequent obstructions of humanitarian relief work, as well as attacks that damage and destroy objects essential to the survival of the civilian population, underscore concerns that the warring parties are using starvation as a method of warfare. In the report “Starvation Makers”, Mwatana documented dozens of incidents that prove how the Saudi/UAE-led coalition and Ansar Allah (Houthis) used starvation as a weapon of war during the armed conflict.