Background

The armed conflict in Yemen was sparked widely when the armed group Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthis) took control of the capital, Sanaa, on 21 September 2014, after a series of small wars in Sa’dah, Al Jawf and Amran, and then the invasion of the rest of the provinces to the south of Yemen. This conflict entered a new level by announcing the start of military operations on 26 March 2015 by a coalition of nine countries and led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in support of President Abd Rabboh Mansour Hadi and his government. Over the past five years, the coalition and its forces and groups have controlled more than 80 percent of Yemen’s territory, while Hadi and the majority of his government officials still live in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, while the coalition continues to support and empower armed groups opposed to President Hadi’s government and constantly undermine it, according to both UN and international reports.[1]

The conflict in Yemen is into its fourth year. The number of victims and those affected by the humanitarian catastrophe is ever increasing, as is the difficulty of ending and addressing the humanitarian, social, economic, and political fallout of the conflict.

The parties to the conflict in Yemen have different views on many issues, but they have all participated in the systematic stripping away of public freedoms, committed serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and attempted to justify these violations by exchanging accusations and blaming each other for the consequences, offering biased interpretations of facts and using the other sides’ abuses for political purposes. The deterioration of the human rights situation is similar in areas under the control of the President Hadi’s government and the Saudi/UAE-led Coalition and in the areas under the control of the Ansar Allah armed group (Houthis).

During 2018, indicators on the ground reflected continuing, and in some cases, increased, military operations in different areas across the country. The governorate of Al Hudaydah, in western Yemen, has seen increasing military operations since June 2018, particularly on the frontlines on the western coast, as well as north, south, and east of the primary frontlines (around 140 kilometers radius) as part of a military operation launched by the Saudi/UAE-led Coalition and allied groups to take control of Al Hudaydah.

Al Hudaydah city is one of the largest residential areas in the country, and Al Hudaydah port is one of the largest ports in Yemen. Al Hudaydah port is also the country’s most important port, capable of receiving humanitarian aid and commercial consumer products to cover the needs of millions of residents in 11 Yemeni governorates[2] still under the control of the Ansar Allah armed group (Houthis).

Al Hudaydah battle has been brutal on civilians. The fighting has led to the displacement of 81,000 families. Airstrikes and shelling have hit hospitals, buses carrying internally displaced persons (IDPs), farms, villages, warehouses owned by the World Food Program, and private businesses. The Houthis have laid mines, which have killed or maimed many civilians. The battle for Al Hudaydah threatens to cut the most important supply line of food for millions of Yemenis, because it could close the strategic port which has brought in two-thirds of the humanitarian aid and basic goods Yemenis needed throughout most of the conflict. Some districts and streets in the city of Al Hudaydah have become battlegrounds, already threatening the operations of the Port.[3] These developments, which happened while the Houthis imposed additional customs fees on the goods imported into the country,[4] have caused the economic situation to further deteriorate. To make matters worse, the value of the Yemeni rial also plummeted to record lows in 2018.[5] Together, these developments have resulted in a catastrophic increase in the price of food.

Despite the continued violence, there have been small steps towards peace, achieved through the constant efforts by local and international civil society, the United Nations, and increasing international pressure on the warring parties, particularly after the Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi was killed.[6] In December, the Houthis and Hadi government met for the first time in more than two years in Stockholm, Sweden, resulting in three agreements:

  • An agreement on the city of Al Hudaydah and the ports of Al Hudaydah, Al Saleef, and Ra’s Issa;
  • The creation of an executive mechanism to activate an agreement on the exchange of prisoners and detainees;
  • An understanding on Taizz.

The agreements were intended as confidence building measures, and dealt with some of the issues civil society organizations had been proposing since 2017 as urgent steps needed to begin to address the humanitarian catastrophe. The parties also agreed to look into a framework for negotiations for a next round of meetings, which were originally scheduled to take place at the end of January 2019 but were indefinitely delayed.

On 21 December 2018, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2451 on Yemen, which supported the agreements between the Yemeni government and Ansar Allah (Houthis) concluded in Stockholm.[7] UN Security Council Resolution 2451 also reiterated the need for the unhindered flow of commercial and humanitarian supplies and humanitarian personnel into and across the country and called on the Government of Yemen and the Houthis to remove bureaucratic impediments to flows of commercial and humanitarian supplies, including fuel. The Resolution also called upon all parties to ensure effective and sustained functioning of all of Yemen’s ports, onward road access throughout the country, and the reopening and safe and secure operation of Sana’a airport for commercial flights within an agreed mechanism. It also called for the development of the national economy, support for the Central Bank, and the payment of pensioners to retirees and salaries to civil servants.[8] Resolution 2451 was the first resolution on Yemen passed by the Security Council since 2015.

Despite the increasing international pressure during 2018, there was no clear indication of a decrease in human rights violations and other abuses across the country, and UN and international efforts in Yemen did not stop the deterioration of the humanitarian situation. This was the main theme of 2018: Humanitarian conditions in the country deteriorated at an unprecedented rate, with a very high risk Yemen would sink into famine.[9] With the exception of the relative cessation of hostilities in Al Hudaydah, which ensured the continued functioning of the main seaport, and the flow of basic materials and humanitarian aid to millions of civilians following the Stockholm Agreement, as a model of the positive impact that UN and international efforts can achieve, in case of their collusion and intensification in order to protect civilians and achieve peace.

In October, the total number of people in Yemen living in pre-famine conditions and totally reliant on external aid to survive was about 14 million Yemenis, around half of the population of Yemen, according to the UN. Mark Lowcock, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, warned of an “imminent and great big famine engulfing Yemen: much bigger than anything any professional in this field has seen during their working lives.”[10]

Around 1.25 million public sector employees began to experience the third year of their monthly salaries going unpaid, with only a few exceptions. This increased the severity of the humanitarian crisis. Around 24 million Yemeni people (out of a total of 30 million) are now in need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN. There was also an increase in parties to the conflict looting significant amounts of humanitarian aid and imposing more impediments on aid reaching beneficiaries. Through the combination of these factors, an unprecedented number of Yemenis found themselves face-to-face with death and hunger.

In Hajjah and Sa’ada governorates, both on the border with Saudi Arabia, civilians found themselves in a similar situation as the civilians in Al Hudaydah. The military operations in some districts in the two governorates escalated, but these battles received less coverage in the international media than fighting in other areas. Parties to the conflict were under less scrutiny and more easily able to violate international human rights law and international humanitarian law with impunity in these areas. Civilians became easy targets for the warring parties.

Civilians in Taizz continue to pay a high cost. In addition to the ongoing conflict between the Ansar Allah armed group (Houthi) and the resistance groups and forces loyal to President Hadi, armed confrontations have erupted among the armed groups (resistance groups) that are fighting for power and control inside the city. Along with a situation in what can be described as a state of insecurity and chaos, which made the lives of civilians vulnerable to further violations in light of the deterioration of the humanitarian and human rights conditions for more than four years of conflict between the Houthis and the resistance groups and forces loyal to President Hadi. The city of Taizz has witnessed myriad violations throughout the war by various parties to the conflict, ranging from indiscriminate attacks (shelling and airstrikes) that have struck densely populated neighborhoods, to the use of landmines by Houthis, which have killed and maimed many local residents in nearby villages and neighboring districts, including children, the elderly, and women.

The city of Taizz suffered under a siege, which forced tens of thousands of its residents to choose between undergoing the difficult process of being displaced from their homes or remaining and potentially falling prey to hunger and disease. The Stockholm agreement included understandings on a ceasefire, the opening of crossings, and the opening of the crossings and airport in Taizz. This agreement was intended to address the difficult humanitarian situation and reach a permanent cessation of hostilities, but the agreement was not implemented. The suffering of the people continued, without any progress made to normalize life in Taizz city.

As human rights violations increased, people’s ability to object and express themselves decreased. Work in the civil, humanitarian, rights, development, and media field are facing a growing number of violations and restrictions, most of which are concentrated in areas controlled by the Houthis. The space available for these kinds of work is shrinking every day, making the dark situation in Yemen even darker.

This is taking place at a time when law enforcement institutions are being disabled and undone, including judicial institutions in most areas control of different parties. These practices will eventually enable armed groups to exert greater influence over the lives of millions of civilians and are creating conditions likely to increase the occurrence of horrific human rights violations.

Violations and abuses in Yemen, as well as potential perpetrators of crimes, remain subject to some scrutiny. The Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen (GEE) issued its first report in August 2018, concluding that forces affiliated with both sides to the ongoing armed conflict in Yemen had committed war crimes. On 28 September 2018, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen for another year and requested that the Group submit a comprehensive written report to the High Commissioner for presentation to the Human Rights Council in September 2019.

[1] UN Experts Panel Report: https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/ar/sanctions/2140/panel-of-experts/reports .

[2] Hudaydah, Raymah, Al Mahwit, Hajjah, Amran, Saadah, Sana’a, Dhamar, Al Baydha, Ibb, and parts of Taiz.

[3] Doctors Without Borders, Influx of war wounded as fighting intensifies in Hodeidah, Hajjah, Saada and Taiz, https://www.msf.org/yemen-influx-war-wounded-fighting-intensifies-hodeidah-hajjah-saada-and-taiz

[4] The Houthis are imposing additional taxes on goods in areas under their control by creating new places to impose customs fees in the governorates of Dhamar, Ibb, and Al Baydha.

[5] The value of the Yemeni rial to the US dollar reached, in October 2018, 800 YER per 1 USD, compared to 380 YER per 1 USD at the beginning of the year and 215 YER per 1 USD before the beginning of the conflict.

[6] Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist opposed to the regime, and he was killed on 2 October 2018 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After Saudi Arabia decided to kill him, there were a number of international responses that aimed to pressure the Arab Coalition, which is led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to stop the fighting on the western coast and sit down for negotiations and start peace talks in Sweden for the ports and the besieged city of Al Hudaydah.

[7] Resolution 2451 (2018), Adopted by the Security Council at its 8439th meeting, on 21 December 2018 (http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/2451)

[8] Resolution 2451 (2018), Adopted by the Security Council at its 8439th meeting, on 21 December 2018 (http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/2451)

[9] OCHA News, https://www.unocha.org/story/yemen-we-are-losing-fight-against-famine-un-humanitarian-chief

[10] UN warns of unprecedented famine in war-torn Yemen, https://www.france24.com/en/video/20181024-un-warns-unprecedented-famine-war-torn-yemen

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Mark Lowcock, Remarks to the Security Council on the Humanitarian Situation in Yemen, https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-relief-coordinator-mr-mark-4