Human Rights violations: Yemen is at top in human rights violations in the world. It is the result of years of wars which involve numerous local and international players. It is cited as worst humanitarian crises. There are ongoing conflicts, cholera, COVID, floods and now huge famine. Before we get into the details we need to get some basic facts straight. Yemen is a country in the Middle East. It lies in the southern tip of Arabian Peninsula. Its population is thirty one million people. Twenty two million of them require humanitarian assistance. It is sixty six percent of the entire population. Nearly twenty thousand have been killed in armed conflict.
This article discussed the complicated war in Yemen. The actors involved HOUTHIS, ROYG, KSA, Emiratis, USA. All of them are pursuing their own agenda and each one of them is involved in human rights violation and damaging international law. We will also discuss in detail the humanitarian crises people of Yemen are facing from hunger to health issues, killings as well as sexual violence. How different coalition are involved in these crimes.
The role of US in fueling this war and making it worst humanitarian crises will also be discussed. How the backing of KSA by United States worsen the conflict. The extent to which US the super power of world is responsible for this war.
The current situation and stance of the players involved will also be analyzed. Whether the crises are worsening or not?
BACKGROUND:
The modern Yemeni state was formed in 1990. Abdullah Saleh who previously ruled northern Yemen now became ruler of the new Yemen. But the modern state unification didn’t remain intact long. In 1994 southern separatists seceded for several months. This increases the differences between north and south. The cultural and religious division and struggle for unification worsen. In 2007 they reemerged as southern movement and start to get autonomy within Yemeni state. Houthis a group from highlands in north emerged and start opposing Saleh government. Houthis were minority SHIA’s of Yemen.
ARAB SPRING:
In 2011 massive protest against SALEH government started due to unemployment and corruption in government. HOUTHIS were one of the major player in protest to overthrow SALEH government. KSA intervened and ousted SALEH as president and made HADI the president who was previously vice president from 1990 to 2011. But this change in government did not calm the situation of the country. As major reason behind protests against SALEH government was the authoritative rule. People want freedom and democratic rule. But the new government was also same authoritative and based on powerful elite. So the struggle for political stability continues. Yemen continues to suffer under President HADI after the revolution. The initiatives that have come out of the revolution were brokered by Gulf power (KSA, being one of the most prominent member of GCC) who return same old elite to power. The conflict to rule the state continues among different players. By 2014 the situation become more and more tense and patience of rebellions deteriorated especially of the HOUTHIS. HOUTHIS who are often part of protest against government and considered themselves marginalized. Also were very active in the Arab spring against the SALEH government. But this time they joined hand with SALEH. As they feels they have been sidelined by the GCC. The HOUTHIS along with allies of SALEH take over the YEMEN capital SANA in 2014. The president HADI fled to Saudi Arabia.
These were the incident which results in war that causes worst crises in history ever. KSA along with some other countries formed a coalition to return their man to power. Saudis had three major concerns
1. Bring their man HADI back to power.
2. Secure their own southern border from Iran backed HOUTHIS rebels.
3. They also wanted to limit the growing influence of Iran in region.
This follows by intense fight between Saudis and HOUTHIS. There are massive airstrike by Saudis which results in death of thousands of civilian. There are many other worst outcomes and impacts of war which will be discussed later. After two years the war is still continued but its dynamics have been changed. In 2017 the alliances of HOUTHIS and SALEH ends. SALEH even show the will to talk to the Saudi coalition. Exactly after forty eight hours later he was killed by the HOUTHIS.
YEMEN WAR IS A PROXY WAR:
Presently, Houthis are still in great power. The capital of Yemen SANA is still under their control. This gives them an edge in war. But how a single group which at one time do not have enough military backing have upper hand in war. Saudi Arabia thinks that Iran is helping them, as HOUTHIS are SHIA Muslims. Iran being the biggest SHIA power of world had supported the HOUTHIS openly. But they do not accept allegations of supporting them militarily. But the reports of international media and Saudi insist that Iran had provided weapons in Yemen war. Few years ago there was an attack on Saudis oil facilities. Although HOUTHIS claims that they have done it. But the coalition forces are not accepting this. The statement of US defense Secretary MARK ESPER,
“It is clear based on detailed exploitation conducted by Saudis, United States and other international investigative teams that the weapons used in the attack were Iranian-produced.”
So all these elements makes the war a proxy war. The element that Saudi Arabia and Iran which are two rival states. They are backing opposite sides in a foreign country or land.
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS:
The Yemen war had led to increase in human rights violations. All the actors are involved in committing crimes against human rights. There have been sexual violence, arbitrary killings and detentions, no freedom of speech, food blockade, torture and violation of other human rights.
UNLAWFUL AIRSTRIKES:
The Saudi led intervention was a campaign of relentless airstrikes. There were 19000 attacks in the last four years. They claim they are targeting the enemy human rights association blames the coalition of bombing medical centers and educational institute. This results in killing of thousands of Yemeni civilians.
FORCING HUNGER:
In 2015 KSA created a land, air and sea blockade around Yemen making it impossible for supply to get in and out. The HOUTHIS are also blamed for blocking, destroying and taking aids. This has resulted in severe hunger and poverty. Yemen is going to face worst famine in history. 60 % of population is facing hunger strikes. Children are suffering malnutrition. Out of total 30 million people 21 million are in need of humanitarian aid. That is around two third of population.
The HOUTHIS had imposed severe movement restrictions of aid inflow into Yemen’s third largest city, TAIZZ, which has had a devastating impact on the local residents. Since 2015, the fight for control of TAIZZ between the HOUTHIS and coalition forces has led to indiscriminate shelling and attacks against civilian areas.
UN is focusing on these issues and is looking to solve this and also investigate the corruption by UN official there.
MIGRANT ISSUES:
There are some groups of smugglers or mafia in the country that kidnap migrants. They torture them and extort them for money. Migrants find their life at risk. HOUTHIS are also involved in detaining and beating migrants.
Sexual violence:
There is increase in domestic violence against women. There is character assassination of women forcing them to stay in homes. The cases of child marriages had increased since the conflict. Women in detention had faced sexual violence. Violence against women has increased 63 percent since the conflict escalated, according to UNPF.
ARBITRARY DETENTION:
All the groups involved in war are erratically detaining people. They are torturing them. They kidnap children, women and older ones as well. Since late 2014, Human Rights Watch has documented dozens of cases of the Houthis carrying out arbitrary and abusive detention, as well as enforced disappearances. Houthi officials have also used torture and other ill-treatment. There are reports that they beat them with iron rods.
ATTACKING CIVILIANS:
HOUTHIS kidnap and kill civilians. It includes students, journalists, teachers, doctor and minority groups.
LANDMINES:
HOUTHIS forces are continuously violating the international war laws. They are using antipersonnel landmines. It also violates the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Yemen is also part of that treaty. These landmines have caused about 9000 civilians death including hundreds of children, since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen. HOUTHIS are also using tanks.
US aiding war crimes in Yemen:
Saudis airstrikes on Yemen have killed thousands of people. There blockade had caused severe economic and food crises resulting in starvation. Although all this has been done by the Saudi Arabia but the blame also extends to great power United States. US had supported KSA since WWII. They are selling them arms, providing them military aids and training them how to use their weapons. During some past years Saudi Arabia had been largest buyer of US weapons. Just since march 2015 US had done 22 billion weapons sale with Saudi Arabia. The recent deal of Abrams tanks is also for Yemen. US also sell banned cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. There is f-16 fighter jet deal. These are the jets Saudis are using in Yemen. But America’s aid to Saudi Arabia goes way beyond weapon sales. And it’s directly contributing to the current fight. That’s because Washington is literally helping to refuel Saudi planes.
There have been debates in US about the war crimes in Yemen and idea of stopping support in Yemen war. In Trump presidency there was a bill presented against aiding Yemen war but it failed to pass. US find themselves in very complicated space as there are human rights violations but also US and Saudi relation is very important. They cannot stop the weapon sales.
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS:
Changing previous policy, US president Joe Biden had decided to end the support of Saudi led offensive operation in Yemen war. US will still sale weapons to counter the HOUTHI attack. But they will not support any offensive operation. US had also asked Saudi Arabia to open blockade.
CONCLUSION:
The gulf countries in the Saudi coalition, the allies like United States, France and United Kingdom who have been supporting them and providing them weapons and logistics support, also Yemen armed groups are all responsible in human rights violations. According to UN they could all be liable for atrocities when war will be over. So situation in Yemen is that all actors are fighting to achieve different goals or sometime shared goals despite UN many attempts at peace deals and ceasefire. This doesn’t look to slow down following current trend. The humanitarian situation is worsening. The fight is getting deeper with new actors emerging. But as with any war scholars say diplomacy is the only way to put an end to this war In Yemen and bring political stability and maintain peace.
REFERENCES
1. “Who Are the Houthis?” Who Are the Houthis?. Last modified December 18, 2018. https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/who-are-the-houthis-22592#:~:text=The%20Houthis%20were%20formed%20by,began%20about%20a%20decade%20ago.&text=Th.
2. “War in Yemen.” Global Conflict Tracker. Accessed May 17, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-yemen.
3. “Yemen crisis: Why is there a war?,” BBC News, November 2, 2021, accessed May 13, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423
4. “YouTube.” Accessed May 17, 2022. https://youtu.be/FJzSwOQMPrI.
5. “World Report 2020: Rights Trends in Yemen.” Human Rights Watch. Last modified January 14, 2020. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/yemen.
6.”Yemen Humanitarian Needs Overview 2022 (April 2022) – Yemen.” ReliefWeb. Accessed May 17, 2022. https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-needs-overview-2022-april-2022.
7. “The US May Be Aiding War Crimes in Yemen.” YouTube. December 12, 2016. https://youtu.be/CwwP3SiBIC8.
8. Day, Stephen W., and Noel Brehony. Global, Regional, and Local Dynamics in the Yemen Crisis. Basingstoke: Springer Nature, 2020.
9. Day, Stephen W. “America’s Role in the Yemen Crisis.” Global, Regional, and Local Dynamics in the Yemen Crisis, 2020, 51-68. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-35578-4_4.
This Article is written by Muhammad Hammad Khan, a graduate of Strategic Studies from National Defense University, Islamabad
Leave a Reply