Section 9: Attacks on Schools

Many schools have been attacked during the conflict, and many damaged or destroyed as a result. All sides to the conflict have attacked schools. Particularly in areas where fighting continues, schools have sustained heavy damage, subjected to airstrikes and shelling, as well as occupation and use for military purposes. Schools have been used as military bases, as detention centers, as shelters for armed groups and other forces, and as supply centers for armed groups.

In 2018, Mwatana documented at least 60 attacks on or use of schools by the parties to the conflict, including two airstrikes, 22 cases of schools occupied, and 36 cases of other forms of schools used for military purposes. The armed group Ansar Allah (Houthis) was responsible for 52 of these incidents, whie the Saudi/UAE-led Coalition and forces loyal to the Coalition and President Hadi (the forces of the National Army, like the Giants Brigades (Al Amaliqah), the forces of the 22nd Mechanized Brigade, the forces of the 17th Infantry Brigade, the forces of the 35th Armored Brigade, and the Abu Al Abbas Brigades or the “Popular Resistance”) were responsible for eight other incidents.

Legal Framework

International humanitarian law prohibits direct attacks on civilian objects, including schools, unless they are being used for military purposes and become a military objective. Warring parties must distinguish between military and civilian objectives at all times, and refrain from carrying out attacks that will have a disproportionate impact on civilians. Warring parties must presume objects are civilian if there is doubt about their nature.

Warring parties must also take all feasible precautions to spare civilians under their control from the effects of attacks, including avoiding deploying forces in densely populated areas. Purposefully using the presence of civilians to protect military forces or areas or make them immune from attack is a war crime. Using schools for military purposes during conflict endangers students, teachers, and administrators by turning schools into targets for attack, and disrupts education. The Safe Schools Declaration, endorsed by Yemen in 2017, provides guidance to warring parties on how to protect educational facilities from military use during conflict.

Case Studies

  • On Saturday, 13 January 2018, at about 9 am, Saudi/UAE-led coalition aircraft bombed a warehouse of Hamzah bin Abdul Muttalib Primary School in Al Hamzat area in Sahar district of Sa’dah governorate.

The airstrike destroyed the warehouse and all the schoolbooks that were in it.[1]

  • On Monday, 5 February 2018, at about 1:30 pm, groups of armed men from the Southern Resistance and the Giants Brigades (Al Amaliqah) of the National Army raided Al Qa’qa’ bin Amr Primary and Secondary School in Hays in Al Hudaydah governorate.

The armed forces used the school to store weapons. The school was forced to stop classes. More than 1,200 students who had been studying at the school were thus deprived of their right to an education.[2]

  • Ansar Allah (Houthis) turned Hussain Mujalli Primary and Secondary School in the Rahban area in Sa’dah city into a military base to train children recruited for military purposes on 15 July 2018.

Ansar Allah trains the students to use Kalashnikov rifles and mortar shells at the school. The school, which had 1,350 students, was forced to stop classes. Classes remain interrupted.[3]

  • On Sunday, 12 August 2018, at around 10 am, the Al Najah Primary and Secondary School for Girls in Al Jahmaliyah area in Salah district in Taizz governorate was attacked, with the 22nd Mechanized Brigade, which is loyal to President Hadi, firing cannons at the school.

The 22nd Mechanized Brigate was attempting to force out armed men with the Abu Al Abbas Brigade (supported by the UAE) from the school, who had been occupying it for two years. The attack caused significant damage to the school buildings. After the armed men of the Abu Al Abbas Brigade left the school at about 2 pm the same day, members of the 22nd Mechanized Brigade took up positions inside the school. The school remains closed to students.[4]

[1] Mwatana for Human Rights’ interview with eyewitnesses, 15 February 2018

[2] Mwatana for Human Rights’ interview with eyewitnesses, 1 October 2018

[3] Mwatana for Human Rights’ interview with eyewitnesses, 27 July 2018

[4] Mwatana for Human Rights’ interview with eyewitnesses, 15 August 2018