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United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said Thursday he was appalled by the increasing impact that the intensifying conflict in Yemen between the ‘Ansar Allah’ (Houthi) armed group, the government of Yemen and various affiliated forces is having on civilians. Turk strongly condemned the civilians’ increased suffering and fear caused by the violence.
“Civilians must never be targeted, and their protection must be the overriding priority,” said Turk. “As if the people of Yemen haven’t already endured enough misery, civilians are now bearing the brunt of this latest upsurge in fighting. Many are being forced to flee for their lives.”
The continued fighting in Yemen is snowballing, creating a burgeoning displacement crisis affecting more civilians every day. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that more than 130,000 people have fled their homes since the beginning of September.
Ground fighting, artillery fire, and both drone and missile strikes have killed and wounded at least 125 civilians since a wave of new attacks by ‘Ansar Allah’ at the start of August. The UN Human Rights Office has documented the killings of 32 civilians, including 15 children and three women, since the beginning of last month. On August 7 and September 7 and 9, ‘Ansar Allah’ forces allegedly attacked sites hosting internally displaced people in Ma’rib Governorate, which the Office documented.
The attacks on civilians contravene Article 51(2) of Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which holds that acts or threats of violence aimed at spreading fear among the civilian population, including individual civilians, are prohibited.
Since the Houthi group’s takeover in 2014, attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure have been rampant. More than 5.2 million people were internally displaced due to the ongoing war in Yemen long before the most recent escalation. The current fighting is worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis; the UNHCR estimates that more than 22 million people require humanitarian assistance, including internally displaced people and refugees.
In September 2020, human rights groups and Global Rights Compliance concluded that the Houthis’ intentional restriction of vital humanitarian aid and commercial shipping severely impeded Yemeni civilians’ access to food and water. They effectively used starvation as a weapon of war, contravening Article 54 of Additional Protocol I. In 2021, Human Rights Watch condemned Houthi rebels for indiscriminately firing artillery, rockets, mortars, and missiles into heavily populated areas in Marib governorate, which killed and wounded civilians.
Throughout the 12-year-long conflict, the parties’ international human rights violations have caused extensive harm to civilians. The attacks targeted homes, hospitals, schools, and markets, many of which were carried out deliberately and indiscriminately. The Houthi forces have also extensively deployed banned antipersonnel landmines and improvised explosive devices across fields, roads, and residential areas. As a result, Save the Children noted that child casualties from landmines and unexploded ordnance increased eightfold from 2018 to 2022.
UNHCR has declared an initial Level 1 emergency for Yemen, Djibouti, and Somalia, enabling the rapid mobilization of humanitarian aid and staff to boost their response through shelter, protection, and cash assistance to purchase necessities or facilitate a move to safety.
Turk also called for the immediate release of 73 UN Staff members who have been arbitrarily detained by the ‘Ansar Allah’ group, some for many years, calling the detentions intolerable and unacceptable.
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“Civilians must never be targeted, and their protection must be the overriding priority,” said Turk. “As if the people of Yemen haven’t already endured enough misery, civilians are now bearing the brunt of this latest upsurge in fighting. Many are being forced to flee for their lives.”
The continued fighting in Yemen is snowballing, creating a burgeoning displacement crisis affecting more civilians every day. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that more than 130,000 people have fled their homes since the beginning of September.
Ground fighting, artillery fire, and both drone and missile strikes have killed and wounded at least 125 civilians since a wave of new attacks by ‘Ansar Allah’ at the start of August. The UN Human Rights Office has documented the killings of 32 civilians, including 15 children and three women, since the beginning of last month. On August 7 and September 7 and 9, ‘Ansar Allah’ forces allegedly attacked sites hosting internally displaced people in Ma’rib Governorate, which the Office documented.
The attacks on civilians contravene Article 51(2) of Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which holds that acts or threats of violence aimed at spreading fear among the civilian population, including individual civilians, are prohibited.
Since the Houthi group’s takeover in 2014, attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure have been rampant. More than 5.2 million people were internally displaced due to the ongoing war in Yemen long before the most recent escalation. The current fighting is worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis; the UNHCR estimates that more than 22 million people require humanitarian assistance, including internally displaced people and refugees.
In September 2020, human rights groups and Global Rights Compliance concluded that the Houthis’ intentional restriction of vital humanitarian aid and commercial shipping severely impeded Yemeni civilians’ access to food and water. They effectively used starvation as a weapon of war, contravening Article 54 of Additional Protocol I. In 2021, Human Rights Watch condemned Houthi rebels for indiscriminately firing artillery, rockets, mortars, and missiles into heavily populated areas in Marib governorate, which killed and wounded civilians.
Throughout the 12-year-long conflict, the parties’ international human rights violations have caused extensive harm to civilians. The attacks targeted homes, hospitals, schools, and markets, many of which were carried out deliberately and indiscriminately. The Houthi forces have also extensively deployed banned antipersonnel landmines and improvised explosive devices across fields, roads, and residential areas. As a result, Save the Children noted that child casualties from landmines and unexploded ordnance increased eightfold from 2018 to 2022.
UNHCR has declared an initial Level 1 emergency for Yemen, Djibouti, and Somalia, enabling the rapid mobilization of humanitarian aid and staff to boost their response through shelter, protection, and cash assistance to purchase necessities or facilitate a move to safety.
Turk also called for the immediate release of 73 UN Staff members who have been arbitrarily detained by the ‘Ansar Allah’ group, some for many years, calling the detentions intolerable and unacceptable.
The post UN Human Rights Chief condemns intensifying conflict in Yemen and its effect on citizens appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.