Sunday Times 2
Yemen war: UN investigation mission is only hope to address ‘horrific crimes’
View(s):GENEVA, Switzerland – The UN Human Rights Council’s decision last week to renew an investigation into possible war crimes committed by parties involved in the Yemen conflict brought a faint glimmer of hope on a bloody war that the international community seems to have long forgotten.
It is difficult, however, to say whether the extension of the mandate of the UN experts, who are looking into human rights violations, will force the warring factions to sit at the negotiating table. Given the disastrous situation in Yemen, this seems the only hope the country can cling to right now.
A turn for the worse
After the UN-sponsored talks between the warring parties failed to take place in early September, fears mounted that the conflict may irremediably take a turn for the worse, as if the cholera outbreak and the famine threatening some 22 million people weren’t bad enough.
The continuation of the investigative mission led by UN experts, despite accusations of bias and lack of independence by the Saudis and the Emiratis, is perhaps the only tool left to wake up the world to the tragedy of Yemen and keep the consciences of the parties in check.
The UN investigation led by the Tunisian, Kamel Jendoubi, has brought to surface horrific crimes committed by the Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni government forces on one side, and the Houthi rebel forces on the other.
But the council’s renewal of Jendoubi’s mandate succeeded by a razor-thin three votes, with a majority of Arab and African countries voting against it or abstaining. A no vote would have meant giving regional players and their proxies a free hand to butcher countless Yemenis virtually undisturbed.
The vote showed how divisive the decision was and how the war on Yemen remains a controversial terrain where geopolitical interests of the three key players, Saudi Arabia and the US on one side and Iran on the other, will continue to clash in Yemen as well as in other conflicts of the Middle East.
Some Western countries and in particular the US, UK, France and Spain, have come under increasing criticism for their arms sales to Saudi Arabia, with Amnesty International saying they should also be held accountable for war crimes in Yemen. Two of them, the UK and Spain, sitting on the council, voted in favour of the mandate.
Horrific crimes
The work which Jendoubi and his colleagues hope to continue has so far investigated violations committed between September 2014 and June 2018.
From the recruitment of child soldiers to the creation of torture prisons, to the random kidnappings of women and children who are sexually abused and sold, the UN experts produced a report, titled Situation of human rights in Yemen, including violations and abuses since September 2014, that tells of Islamic State group-like practices performed by Saudi and Emirati defence forces and their proxies.
The report unequivocally blames both the Arab coalition and the Yemeni government as well as the Houthis of committing horrific crimes in Yemen, suggesting they may constitute war crimes under international law.
The coalition, according to the report, is using systematic torture and rape against prisoners and civilians, recruiting child soldiers and using blockades of food and fuel as collective punishments that have brought the country’s population on the brink of famine.
The Houthis, who are a minority Shia group allegedly backed by Iran, are indiscriminately using weapons with wide area effects in a situation of urban warfare, in particular in the besieged area of Taiz. They also stand accused of practising torture of prisoners, persecuting minorities and recruiting child soldiers as young as eight.
“The findings are unequivocal: individuals in the government of Yemen, from among coalitions members including Saudi Arabia and the UAE and from the de facto authorities [the Houthis], have committed acts that, subject to determination by a competent court, may amount to international crimes,” said Kate Gilmore, deputy high commissioner for human rights.
The military campaign
Since 2015 Saudi Arabia has been leading a military campaign in Yemen with the logistical support of the UK and the US, aimed at reinstating the legitimate government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, after the Houthis took control of the north of the country and the capital Sanaa.
In retaliation for the Houthis’ launch of ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia, since 2015 the coalition has imposed a blockade of Yemeni sea and land ports, thus disrupting the distribution of food, fuel and medicines amongst other essential goods. Prior to the conflict, Yemen imported nearly 90 per cent of its food, medical supplies and fuel.
As a result, about 22 million out of a population of 29.3 million are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, including 11.3 million in acute need. Some 2.9 million children and women are acutely malnourished, and less than 50 per cent of health facilities are functioning in the country, with 18 districts with no doctors. Clean water is less accessible and Yemen is suffering from the largest outbreak of cholera in recent history.
Coalition air strikes have caused most of the documented civilian casualties, so far. In the past three years, such air strikes have hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities, the UN experts said.
According to UN figures, from March 2015 to June 2018, there were at least 16,706 civilian casualties, with 6,475 killed and 10,231 injured in the conflict. However, the real figure is likely to be significantly higher.
- Barbara Bibbo is an Italian journalist living between Doha and Geneva. She has worked at Al Jazeera English for eight years, doing extensive research on international issues and world-leading figures for the Talk to Al Jazeera show.
Courtesy the Middle East Eye. A longer version of the article appears on www.middleeasteye.net