... Saudi-Arabien, USA und Huthis – Die USA und Kriegsverbrechen im Jemen – Das Machtdreieck der Hadi-Regierung – Feminismus im Jemen – Mitschuld der USA am Jemenkrieg – Training für saudische Piloten in Großbritannien – Israel und die Emirate auf Sokotra – und mehr
Sep. 15, 2020: Yemen Accountability Project – Aid obstruction puts millions at risk – The old city of Sanaa looses its identity – Saudi Arabia, US and Houthis – The US and war crimes in Yemen – The power triangle of the Hadi government – Feminism in Yemen – US complicity in the Yemen war – Training of Saudi pilots in Great Britain – Israel and the Emirates on Socotra – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-679b-yemen-war-mosaic-679b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavitrus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
cp12b Sudan
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Mercenaries / Söldner
cp13c Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13d Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Older introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
Neue Artikel / New articles
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Film: Yemen, a Crisis made in America
What happens to a country on the brink of starvation when aid dries up during a global pandemic? CNN's @nimaelbagir reports on the crisis in Yemen.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=931359157360113 = https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2020/09/14/yemen-aid-suspension-coronavirus-child-malnutrition-elbagir-pkg-exclusive-intl-hnk-vpx.cnn = https://twitter.com/CNNSitRoom/status/1305649422446014464
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
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Yemen Accountability Project
The Yemen Accountability Project (YAP), a student-led organization at CWRU, documents and analyzes war crimes and crimes against humanity (CAH) that have occurred during Yemen’s ongoing civil war. YAP is a part of the Global Accountability Network, working alongside the Syrian Accountability Project and the Venezuelan Accountability Project.
The Yemen Accountability Project (YAP) was founded in 2018 as a cooperative effort between legal scholars, non-governmental organizations, students, and other interested parties. The project’s members investigate and analyze open-source materials covering the Yemeni Civil War. Once the documentation is synthesized, the YAP team catalogs the information relative to applicable bodies of law, including the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Yemeni Penal Law, and other relevant treaties of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Customary International Law (CIL). With this analytical base, YAP creates documentation products in a narrative and graphical format, as well as a trend analyses of ongoing crimes.
In September 2020, YAP published its white paper, “Aiding and Abetting: Holding States, Corporations, and Individuals Accountable for War Crimes in Yemen” that explores the atrocities that have led to the loss of over 100,000 lives since 2015 and offers policy proposals for accountability actions.
https://case.edu/law/centers-institutes/cox-international-law-center/yemen-accountability-project
Full report:
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Aiding & Abetting: Holding states, corporations, and individuals accountable for war crimes in Yemen
This report explores a prevalent question amid the ongoing strife: How can civilian victims of the war in Yemen seek justice for the grave crimes perpetrated against them? The report takes a broad perspective, pointing to instances that occurred before the violence, when the weapons and systems used to devastate the region were sold, gifted, and traded to perpetrators of the violence. This perspective implicates actors who aided and abetted the crimes against the Yemeni civilian population and provides a mode of liability for future parties seeking to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The report begins with a brief history of the conflict, moving then to a discussion on war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crucial distinction between the two. The report then outlines conduct by relevant actors in the fray, including both state and corporate actors. The report later explores avenues of accountability for bringing relevant actors to justice for aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity, and finally, puts forth proposals for policy actions that can make an impact now and in the future resolution and reckoning of this humanitarian crisis.
While external interference is not the sole driver of the violence in Yemen, repeated interventions in the Arabian Peninsula over the last century have had a debilitating effect on local nations. This has often led to the view in many Western Nations, where political realities complicate the situation, that further intervention is viewed as necessary to prevent an even greater harm. Meanwhile, defense industries continue to exert enormous influence on policy makers in all of these nations, and the lack of a cohesive foreign policy by the United States and the United Kingdom have resulted in a lack of political will to extract forces from the region.
In this geopolitical context, the Yemeni Civil War is unlikely to end in the near future, with the Arabian Peninsula unlikely to see stability as long as the war pervades. One question that remains at the forefront of the violence in Yemen is whether and how civilian victims of the violence in Yemen may seek justice for the crimes perpetrated against them. Importantly, crimes against Yemeni citizens did not begin with airstrikes or indiscriminate uses of artillery. Rather, the crimes began when weapons, guidance systems, and intelligence were sold, gifted, and traded to perpetrators of the atrocities seen in Yemen today. This wider perspective on criminality in Yemen implicates those who assisted, aided, and abetted heinous acts against Yemeni civilians. Who can be considered aiders and abettors, and how might they be held accountable? This white paper addresses this question and presents the avenues of accountability for those who have aided and abetted crimes against civilians in Yemen.
and the first presentation of the project in Feb. 2019: http://observer.case.edu/yemen-accountability-project-aims-to-document-war-crimes/
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Yemen: Aid Obstruction Puts Millions at Risk
Foreign Donor Funding Critical Amid Houthi, Government Interference
The Houthi armed group and other authorities are severely restricting the delivery of desperately needed aid in Yemen, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The situation is exacerbating the country’s dire humanitarian situation and weakening its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.#
Frau und Tochter das Haus verlassen, in deren Beisein sind Sie mit dem Fahrrad weggefahren.
The 65-page report, “Deadly Consequences: Obstruction of Aid in Yemen During Covid-19,” details systematic interference in relief operations by Houthi authorities, Yemen’s internationally recognized government and affiliated forces, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council. Despite increased needs, donors slashed funding in June 2020, partly because of the obstruction, forcing aid agencies to cut food, health care, and water and sanitation support to millions of people in need. The parties to Yemen’s five-year-long armed conflict should immediately end the obstruction. Donors should increase funding to aid agencies while pressuring the local authorities to respect the humanitarian principles of independence and impartiality. The United Nations should establish an independent inquiry into the extent of obstruction and shortcomings in the humanitarian community’s response.
“Millions have been suffering in Yemen because the Houthis and other Yemeni authorities have denied the UN and other aid agencies unhindered access to people in need,” said Gerry Simpson, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “Yemen’s decimated healthcare sector and the unchecked spread of Covid-19 make the obstruction and recent donor aid cuts catastrophic.”
Human Rights Watch, in May and June, interviewed by phone 10 Yemeni healthcare workers, 35 aid workers from UN and international nongovernmental organizations, and 10 donor representatives about aid obstruction and the Covid-19 response in Yemen.
A decade of political and economic crisis and over five years of conflict between the Houthis and a coalition of countries led by Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognized government have crippled Yemen’s health care and other social services, triggering cholera and other disease outbreaks and widespread malnutrition. The UN calls Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 80 percent of the country’s 30 million people needing some form of aid. While funding the aid effort, the Unites States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, and others have sold arms to the Saudi-led coalition, worsening Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.
UN agencies and nongovernmental aid organizations have continued to reach millions in need, despite obstruction by the authorities. Aid workers described the wide range of obstacles they face, including hundreds of regulations severely restricting their work, lengthy delays in approving aid projects, the blocking of aid assessments to identify people’s needs, attempts to control aid monitoring, dictating or interfering with aid recipient lists to divert aid to authority loyalists, and violence against aid staff and their property.
Since late 2019, the UN and donor countries have increasingly pressed the Houthis to help agencies do their work, which, in mid-2020, resulted in the Houthis signing a backlog of project agreements that profess non-interference with aid agencies’ independence. But aid workers question whether officials will honor the agreement or, as they have in the past, make some concessions while introducing new restrictions. Donor support to UN aid agencies collapsed in June, partly in response to the aid obstruction. As of late August, aid agencies had received only 24 percent of the US$3.4 billion they had requested for the year.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/14/yemen-aid-obstruction-puts-millions-risk
and full report: https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/14/deadly-consequences/obstruction-aid-yemen-during-covid-19
and shorter media reports: https://apnews.com/3526b9c133f6bf37e9ad147575fda6f6
https://www.dw.com/en/yemen-aid-obstruction-will-have-deadly-consequences/a-54927776
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88n-AT8mX0M
and
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'Egregious record': Yemen's Houthis denounced for blocking aid
And it is not just international aid organisations facing obstructions. Muna Luqman, executive director of Food4Humanity, described the Yemeni NGO's experiences with the Houthis.
"When our aid is delivered to the port in Hodeidah, we find that a portion of it will have been stolen before it leaves the port," Luqman told Al Jazeera. "There's also pressure to send aid to areas where [the Houthis] want it to go. We had a project in Hodeidah and they forced us to send it to Sanaa. We eventually found a compromise and split the aid, but the international organisations often simply agree with them."
For their part, the Houthis responded to HRW's criticisms by saying the group did not want to obstruct aid, and the allegations were coming from aid agencies that followed "political orders" from the United States.
Yemen's internationally recognised government and the United Arab Emirates-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), which was also accused of obstructing aid, did not respond.
The UN and the international community have pressured the Houthis into some concessions, with the rebel group agreeing this year to not interfere in the independence of aid organisations.
The UN has also publicly condemned Houthi restrictions, and refused to pay a 2-percent tax the Houthis attempted to force on aid organisations. The public censure risks blowback from the rebels, however, with the possibility they will clamp down on the work of international groups.
"We always want to do negotiations behind closed doors, to ensure that the best interests of the people that we serve are not at risk," Abeer Etefa, the WFP's Middle East senior spokeswoman told Al Jazeera.
"But when it's against humanitarian principles we speak out, such as what happened when we discovered the diversion of food assistance in areas under the control of the Sanaa-based authorities. There are red lines and we cannot cross these red lines."
But UN aid organisations were also criticised by HRW for shortcomings, including conceding to demands related to the control of the distribution of aid, giving money to corrupt ministries, and failing to investigate the complicity of UN bodies in aid diversion.
From her experiences working on the ground in Yemen, it is a criticism that Luqman shares.
She criticised international aid organisations for partnering with bodies affiliated with the Houthis, and said the UN had been too soft on the rebel group.
"International organisations allowed the Houthis to get away with it," Luqman said – by Abubakr Al-Shamahi
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Saudi Arabia and America Are Responsible for the ‘Houthi Threat’ in Yemen
America’s post-9/11 wars have had disastrous consequences. They have been a geopolitical bust, fragmenting rather than eliminating terrorist groups, enhancing Iran’s influence, and destabilizing the Middle East. The humanitarian consequences have been even worse: thousands of Americans killed, tens of thousands wounded, hundreds of thousands of civilians killed, millions of people displaced, al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic State loosed, and entire nations ravaged.
Perhaps the most scandalous war is Yemen.
Yemen’s political pirouettes often have been dizzying, and the KSA was not threatened. The Saudis had worked with Saleh before. The Houthis, named after the founder of the movement Ansar Allah ("Supporters of God"), while a form of Shia, were independent of Iran and made their own decisions, including marching on the capital of Sanaa, against Tehran’s advice, and ousting Hadi.
However, the spoiled Saudis felt entitled to have "their" man in Sanaa and created a "coalition" with United Arab Emirates; Kuwait, unwilling to buck its powerful royal neighbor; Qatar, not yet treated as an enemy; and an amalgam of the bought and paid for, most notably Sudan, Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan, and Egypt. This assemblage then attacked the Houthi-dominated Yemeni government and expected an easy victory within weeks.
Five and a half years later the Saudi royals have learned that money cannot buy everything. The UAE has largely abandoned the war after supporting Yemeni separatists who opposed Hadi as well as the Houthis, Kuwait has sought to promote a negotiated settlement, Qatar was expelled by the Saudis and Emiratis, and post-revolutionary Sudan has withdrawn its forces. Now the war is almost entirely the Kingdom’s problem – backed, shockingly, by the U.S., which is helping the KSA slaughter Yemeni civilians.
Arguments for American involvement are risible. Yemen does not matter to the US, other than the presence of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, thought to be the most dangerous national affiliate. The Houthis are focused inward, with no interest in normal times of interdicting oil traffic or threatening Saudi Arabia. They have no desire to be pawns of Iran or otherwise surrender their independence, which they are defending against Riyadh.
The Saudi royals’ desire for a puppet regime is unsurprising: after all, the KSA expects foreigners to do all the hard work, including Americans to act as the royals’ Praetorian Guard. However, contrary to President Trump’s view – his lips appear to be permanently attached to the derriere of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – Washington has no reason to turn the Saudis into defense dependents. There certainly is no reason to let Riyadh set American Middle Eastern policy.
However, the Obama administration, apparently desperate to placate the Kingdom after striking the nuclear deal with Iran, signed onto Riyadh’s dirty war. The US provided aircraft and bombs. Serviced the planes. Provided intelligence for targeting. And initially refueled Saudi aircraft as well. Alas, it turns out that the Saudis pilots were good at little more than bombing weddings, funerals, school buses, apartments, and other civilian targets, killing thousands of Yemenis.
Perhaps the most ironic impact of the coalition’s aggressive war was to make the Houthis dependent on Iran.
Although the Houthis became the only viable option for Tehran, the movement has retained its independence. Explained Rand: "The Houthis are not solely dependent on Iranian support, having created their own sources of revenue by taxing shipments through the Yemeni city of Al-Hudaydah’s port, rent extraction, and smuggling activities. These independent revenue streams provide the Houthis with some degree of leverage or at least autonomy when accepting Iranian offers of support. More important, the interests and goals of Houthi and Iranian leadership do not necessarily align on all issues.
If there is one common lesson to learn from the last two decades worth of endless wars it is the law of unintended consequences. Virtually nothing has worked out as it was supposed to. In the case of Yemen, Riyadh’s brutal aggression to prevent the Iranian-backed Houthis from dominating Yemen may end up cementing a close Iranian-Houthi alliance that dominates Yemen. That is yet another reason for America to end its shameful participation in Riyadh’s murderous war against its impoverished neighbor – by Doug Bandow
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Yemen’s Old City of Sana’a: Stripped of Its Identity
While the devastating human and economic costs of crises plaguing countries such as Lebanon and Yemen are highly visible, there’s another cost that hits at the heart of their people—the loss of identity. Just as the August explosion in Beirut has further chipped away at the old city’s quarters, the unprecedented floods in Sana’a have brought breathtaking, ancient towers to their knees. And for many Yemenis, this symbolizes yet another attack on their national identity. Old Sana’a has been a significant historical icon for generations.
For Sananis, the old city’s architecture is part of their identity and familial history. But, over the last decade, much of this history has been lost, and what remains is gradually slipping away. In July 2015, UNESCO added the historic city to the list of world heritage sites in danger. Damage caused by the floods last month is just the latest and most visible evidence of this. It symbolizes and adds injury to years of destruction from forces of conflict, abandonment, and neglect.
The heavy rains hit Old Sana’a particularly hard because of the already miserable posture of the war-torn city. According to initial UNESCO reporting, torrents besieged 111 houses either entirely or partially. One local news report now puts the number of damaged buildings and homes at around 1,000.
And the worst is to come if the rainy season continues on the current trajectory. The number of ravaged buildings and affected families will increase dramatically. Given the poor economic conditions in Yemen, most inhabitants will be unable to rebuild their homes, adding to the hundreds of thousands of Yemenis already displaced by the war and at risk of disease.
Underlying the crisis are actually five other factors—none of which are environmental: the bombing of several areas inside the city, a complete lack of attention to building maintenance and restoration, the spread of new construction replacing the ancient architecture, economic hardship, and the religious policies of Sana’a’s de facto authorities.
Since the Saudi-led coalition began its military campaign in March 2015, several airstrikes have battered Old Sana’a—and not just the buildings. “Since the city’s houses are made from clay, the bombing has affected them very heavily. We have seen several UNESCO-listed houses among the damaged places,” said Mohammed al-Hakimi, an environment journalist and editor of Holm Akhdar website.
Yet even before the current conflict began, successive governments were turning a blind eye to the plight in front of them. According to locals, no building maintenance has been done since 2004, when Sana’a was announced as the Capital of Arabic Culture.
When the Houthis took over Sana’a in September 2014, the situation only got worse—indifference turned into desecration. The Houthis began coating many of the ancient buildings with propaganda slogans and chants.
Moreover, the sprawl of modern-style construction began to invade the old city. “Many inhabitants sell their homes to market merchants who reconstruct them or turn them into commercial centers—dealing with them as normal properties, not ancient buildings needing to be taken care of. We have seen new markets emerge, new premises built, while white-brown buildings disappear,” said Mohammed, a merchant who had worked in the city’s old market for more than twenty years.
Without the needed assistance to maintain their homes and buildings, many struggling Sanani inhabitants have been pushed to abandon or sell their houses and close their businesses.
Many Sananis see the floods as the death knell for an old city already in danger of disappearing. The rains just revealed the reality.
Yemen’s increasingly severe rainy season—likely an effect of climate change—is playing a significant role, but what underlies the catastrophic situation is man-made. The war, its economic repercussions, and particularly the ongoing neglect threaten the historic city of Sana’a, a foremost symbol of Yemen’s national identity – by Ahmed Nagi (with photos)
https://carnegie-mec.org/2020/09/14/yemen-s-old-city-of-sana-stripped-of-its-identity-pub-82687
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War Crimes Risk Grows for U.S. Over Saudi Strikes in Yemen
When President Trump hosts the signing of a diplomatic agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, the White Home ceremony can even function tacit recognition of Mr. Trump’s embrace of arms sales as a cornerstone of his international coverage.
The president sweetened the Center East cope with a secret dedication to sell advanced fighter jets and lethal drones to the Emirates. However White Home officers are working to push by the weapons switch within the face of broader considerations that the president’s arms-sale insurance policies might result in costs of struggle crimes in opposition to American officers, a New York Occasions examination has discovered.
These considerations — stemming from U.S. assist for Saudi Arabia and the Emirates as they waged a disastrous struggle in Yemen, utilizing American gear in assaults which have killed 1000’s of civilians — would be the topic of congressional hearings on Wednesday. Home lawmakers are anticipated to query prime State Division officers over their position in preserving weapons flowing into the battle and burying current internal findings on civilian casualties and the legal peril for Individuals.
Interviews with greater than a dozen present and former U.S. authorities officers present that the authorized fears associated to the arms gross sales run far deeper than beforehand reported. Over the course of two presidential administrations, these considerations have prompted some officers to contemplate hiring their very own legal professionals and focus on the chance of being arrested whereas vacationing abroad.
Considerations intensified below Mr. Trump as senior officers pursuing his arms-sale agenda clashed with rank-and-file federal staff who evaluate and approve deadly exports.
No episode in current American historical past compares to Yemen, authorized students say, the place the US has supplied materials assist over 5 years for actions which have brought on the continual killing of civilians.
But reasonably than taking significant steps to deal with the potential authorized points raised by the Yemen struggle, State Division leaders have gone to nice lengths to hide them, information and interviews present.
When an inner investigation this yr revealed that the division had failed to deal with the authorized dangers of promoting bombs to the Saudis and their companions, prime company officers discovered methods to cover this. They ensured that the inspector normal stored particulars in a categorised portion of a public report launched in August, then insisted on closely redacting the categorised materials in order that even lawmakers with safety clearance couldn’t see it.
The State Division declined to debate its decision-making course of however mentioned in an announcement that it had put in place a method to minimize civilian casualties earlier than the final main arms sale to the Saudi-led coalition, in Could 2019. It added that the division had “continued to work tirelessly” on lowering civilian hurt in Yemen and elsewhere, citing redesigned insurance policies, expanded analyses and new coaching for companions, which the Saudis and Emiratis have been “eagerly accepting.”
Lawmakers blocked shipments for almost two years, till Secretary of State Mike Pompeo instructed his subordinates to avoid Congress. They did so by declaring an emergency over Iran, which prompted the inspector normal evaluate. That investigation not solely documented the longstanding authorized worries but additionally created a crucial report that would itself improve the authorized dangers, students mentioned.
“The findings could possibly be used as proof sooner or later in opposition to U.S. officers or the U.S. authorities,” mentioned Ryan Goodman, a New York College regulation professor who was a Protection Division lawyer within the Obama administration.
With the civilian dying toll rising in Yemen, the American position within the struggle has change into a major political difficulty.
Beneath Mr. Obama, prime State Division officers might have confronted questions of American complicity in crimes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. As a substitute, they set the matter apart.
As considerations over such strikes have been intensifying in Washington, a State Division lawyer examined whether or not American officers who permitted arms gross sales to the Saudis and their companions confronted authorized dangers.
Drawing on the Worldwide Prison Court docket case in opposition to Charles Taylor, the Liberian warlord, that the US has cited in Qaeda prosecutions, the lawyer reached an alarming conclusion in a 2016 memo: American officers, together with the secretary of state, could possibly be charged with struggle crimes for his or her position in arming the Saudi coalition, in accordance with six present and former authorities officers with data of the authorized memo – by Michael LaForgia and Edward Wong
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/14/us/politics/us-war-crimes-yemen-saudi-arabia.html = https://unfoldtimes.com/war-crimes-risk-grows-for-u-s-over-saudi-strikes-in-yemen/
and
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US officials concerned by potential for war crime charges over Saudi arms sales: Report
Some officials have hired their own lawyers to discuss fears of being arrested while travelling overseas due to the US's continued sale of weapons used in Yemen
Several US officials have hired private lawyers over fears they could be arrested and charged with war crimes while travelling abroad over the sale of US weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates which are used in the war in Yemen.
An investigation by the New York Times, which included interviews with more than a dozen current and former government officials, found that officials were concerned that the sale of arms - one of President Donald Trump's foreign policy cornerstones - could lead to charges of war crimes against American officials.
On Wednesday, those concerns will be the subject of congressional hearings, as House lawmakers are expected to question top State Department officials on just how and why the US has kept a steady flow of weapons open to the Gulf states inflaming Yemen's civil war.
The legislators are also expected to ask about the alleged cover-up of internal findings on civilian casualties and the legal risks that could potentially face American officials abroad.
The NYT found that over the course of two presidential administrations, such concerns have grown to a level that some officials have hired their own lawyers to discuss fears of being arrested while travelling overseas.
The newspaper said those concerns have intensified under US President Trump, as rank-and-file staff watched arms sales be forced through by the administration despite internal objections as well as those from Congress.
At the heart of those concerns lies last year's $8.1bn arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which was blocked by bi-partisan legislation before being vetoed by President Trump and pushed through via an emergency declaration.
During the past five years, legal scholars have warned that the US's support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is unprecedented and puts the United States in a position to be accused of providing material support to a military offensive that has continuously killed civilians.
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The Yemeni Government’s Triangle of Power
The internationally recognized Yemeni government’s continued relevance on the ground, even after losing its interim capital of Aden last year, is largely due to its hold on the country’s oil and gas producing regions. These form what could be called the government’s triangle of power, drawn between the cities of Marib, Ataq and Sayoun in the governorates of Marib, Shabwa and Hadramawt, respectively, which account for all of Yemen’s oil and natural gas production. Control of Yemen’s oil and gas fields represents an immense strategic resource, both for their current revenues and future potential as hydrocarbon exports continue to recover.
Marib, Shabwa and Hadramawt, while rich in natural resources are also relatively sparsely populated, while the inverse dynamic is at play in areas held by the Yemeni government’s main rivals in the ongoing conflict: The armed Houthi movement and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) control the country’s most densely populated areas, which are also relatively devoid of easily exploitable natural resources. It should come as no surprise, then, the government has found its grip on these areas increasingly challenged by its rivals.
Should Marib city fall into the hands of the Houthis it would also put government-held Shabwa governorate and its oil fields in Bayhan and Uqlah under serious threat. This is why government brigades based in Shabwa, namely the Bayhan military axis, have been heavily involved in the battles to the west in Qaniah and Al-Abdiah fronts along the border between Marib and Houthi-held Al-Bayda governorate.
Shabwa also came under threat from the STC following the breakdown in relations between the separatist group and the Yemeni government.
The Houthis and the STC have multiple motivations for wanting a piece of the government’s triangle of power. Among their chief concerns is that both groups control heavily populated regions of Yemen that lack substantial local revenue bases to support them.
Even after being expelled from its interim capital, Aden, the Yemeni government was still a player on the ground due to its control of the Marib-Ataq-Sayoun triangle. The government and its Saudi supporters are aware that losing any corner of this triangle would risk stripping Yemen’s ‘legitimate’ government of meaningful significance in the country, and they have thus fought with renewed fervor to hold these positions.
https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/11542
and main points https://twitter.com/SanaaCenter/status/1303997541672005632
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Hört den Frauen einfach zu
Den Feminismus im Jemen an westlichen Standards zu messen, ergibt keinen Sinn. In einem Land, in dem es keine Menschenrechte gibt, kann es auch keine Frauenrechte geben.
Es gibt einen Text über das Leben der Frauen im Jemen von Claudia Fayein, einer französischen Ärztin, die 1951/52 im Jemen arbeitete und nach der Revolution und der Absetzung des Königs 1962 das Land mehr als zwei Dutzend Male bereiste. Die sozialistisch-republikanische Revolution sprengte die finstere Isolation, in der das jemenitische Volk bis dahin gelebt hatte. Claudia Fayein beschreibt die zahlreichen Neuerungen im täglichen Leben, gerade für Mädchen und Frauen.
Zudem beschränkte sich der Wandel auf die Städte und erreichte nicht die Dörfer, in denen die Mehrheit der Bevölkerung lebte. Fayeins Buch erschien 1990 und behandelte drei verschiedene historische Phasen, zwischen 1965 und 1989. Man sollte annehmen, dass sich in all den Jahrzehnten das patriarchalische Denken und die Mentalität der Frauen, sich als weniger wert zu betrachten, allmählich verflüchtigt hätten. Aber leider ist dem nicht so. Während Hunderttausende von Jemenitinnen ihre Ausbildung vorantrieben und studierten, sowohl im Land als auch außerhalb des Landes, und der Feminismus inzwischen fast jede Frau mit Internetanschluss erreicht, hat sich das Bewusstsein der Frauen im Hinblick auf ihren Wert und auf ihre Verantwortung in der Gesellschaft fast nicht verändert.
Die soziale und ökonomische Transformation konnte nicht in eine psychologische und mentale Transformation überführt werden.
Es gibt zahllose Missverständnisse über den arabischen Feminismus im Allgemeinen und den jemenitischen Feminismus speziell.
Wir haben feministische Bewegungen im Jemen, aber es fehlt ihnen eine soziale Basis. Sie beruhen auf persönlichen Leistungen einzelner, auf individuellen Anstrengungen, und oft sind sie voller Hass und Ressentiment gegen die jemenitische Gesellschaft. Die jemenitische Gesellschaft wird als illiterat, dumm und zurückgeblieben verdammt. Die Feministinnen versuchen, bei den Frauen ein Bewusstsein für ihre Probleme zu wecken, und zwingen ihnen eine Ideologie auf. Aber keine versucht, mit den Frauen über ihre Verantwortlichkeiten in ein Gespräch zu kommen, keine gibt den Frauen den Raum, um sich zu öffnen und sich auszutauschen über die patriarchalische Mentalität, wie sie von ihr betroffen sind, und wie sie ihren eigenen Wert und ihr Recht auf Gleichbehandlung und Emanzipation anerkennen könnten. Insbesondere in den sozialen Medien beschränkt sich der Feminismus darauf, die Männer zu verurteilen, ja sie zu beschimpfen und ihnen die Schuld an allem zu geben.
Ich bin Feministin, und ich denke, dass das Patriarchat eine Realität ist. Aber ich glaube nicht, dass die Männer unsere Feinde sind, und ich halte weder die vorherrschenden feministischen Bewegungen im Jemen noch die Diskussionen in Europa über arabischen Feminismus für zielführend.
Zunächst einmal ist das Problem im Jemen im Kern immer noch ein humanitäres Problem. Wir haben keine Menschenrechte, und ohne Menschenrechte gibt es auch keine Frauenrechte. Die Frauen sind dabei, die Hoffnung zu verlieren, sie leben in ständiger Furcht, sie sorgen sich um ihre Familien, sie kämpfen um das tägliche Brot. Das alles zu ignorieren und die Frauen immer nur daran zu erinnern, wie schlimm ihr Leben ist und wie sehr sie sich unterworfen haben, wird keinerlei Änderung bringen, im Gegenteil.
Weiterhin gibt es keine Solidarität, keine Kollektivität in diesen feministischen Strömungen. Sie klammern sich an ihre Vorstellungen vom westlichen Feminismus und verschließen ihre Augen vor den Gegebenheiten im Jemen.
Ich selbst brauchte zwei Jahre des Ingenieurstudiums, um mir über den Feminismus und über meine Rolle als Frau klar zu werden. Ich wollte Ingenieurin werden, weil ich daran glaubte, dass ich auf diese Weise allen Frauen dieser Welt zeigen würde, dass wir das sein können, was Männer sein können. Darüber vergaß ich, was ich eigentlich selbst wollte.
Wir brauchen Vorbilder, im Mittleren Osten und besonders im Jemen, die den Frauen die Kraft geben, die patriarchalische Mentalität zu überwinden, die ihnen zeigen, dass es möglich ist zu überleben, und dass es auch möglich ist, in Frieden mit sich und den anderen zu sein – von Altaf Merzah
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New UN report offers grim reminder of US complicity in the brutal war in Yemen
If you want a graphic example of how U.S. intervention can very often make the situation worse, look no further the civil war in Yemen
While the United States may not be bombing Houthi targets alongside Saudi and Emirati warplanes, the fact is that Washington’s diplomatic, intelligence, and military support to the Saudi-led coalition since the war began has made it a party to the conflict. As the U.N. Expert Group on Yemen concluded in its latest report this week, “third States, including Canada, France, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United Kingdom…and the United States of America, continued their support of parties to the conflict including through arms transfers, thereby helping to perpetuate the conflict.”
Whether U.S. officials care to admit it or not, Washington is the most significant enabler of Saudi Arabia’s biggest foreign policy disaster in decades — helping to sustain an indiscriminate, bloody, and ineffective military campaign that has produced nothing but tens of thousands of civilian deaths, massive displacement, a catalogue of war crimes (one case more heinous than the next), starvation, and a further degradation of Yemen’s already poor public infrastructure.
Why the United States would want to be associated with any of this is beyond any rational explanation. Yet the natural question — why on earth is the U.S. still involved in one of the region’s most intractable internal conflicts — has still not been sufficiently answered. U.S. policy in Yemen is a twisted mess of contradictions, with the U.S. State Department encouraging a negotiated political solution to the war at the very same time it pushes billions of dollars in defense equipment
the truth is that U.S. policy on both Saudi Arabia and Yemen is not just on Trump‘s shoulders. It’s a bipartisan failure spanning two presidencies. It was President Barack Obama, not Donald Trump, who agreed to plunge the United States into Yemen’s civil war to begin with.
The U.S. is presented with two, clear options in Yemen. The first is a continuation of the status-quo, where Washington pays lip service to diplomacy while taking actions that fuel the war and make a potential diplomatic solution even less palpable to the combatants. If Washington takes this road, it should expect the same results: more civilian casualties, a deeper deterioration of Yemen’s overall humanitarian situation, a more emboldened Saudi and UAE coalition that takes U.S. support for granted, and a proliferation of the very terrorist groups the U.S. seeks to combat.
Or, alternatively, Washington can cut the cord on this conflict and truly support a U.N. peace process that is, at best, suffering from all kinds of logistical and substantive problems. Choosing this course would not only distance the U.S. from a war it has no direct national security interest in participating in, but would also send a much-needed message to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and any other security partner in the Middle East that Washington will no longer spend precious resources and moral capital on disputes only the region can resolve – by Dan DePetris
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/09/11/new-un-report-us-complicity-brutal-war-in-yemen/
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Revealed: Censored videos show Saudi pilots bombing Britain
The UK’s Royal Air Force is refusing to release video footage that shows fighter pilots from Saudi Arabia conducting air attacks in Britain, as part of a controversial military training scheme which involves 25 civilian airports.
Saudi air force pilots are being allowed to conduct “air-to-ground training sorties” in Britain, Declassified has found.
Video recordings of the bombing sorties are being withheld by the RAF, which refuses to release the footage in case it upsets diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.
An oil-rich dictatorship, Saudi Arabia is one of the UK’s closest military allies. The RAF is providing support to the Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
British officials felt the footage was so sensitive that they decided it was not in the public interest to disclose the tapes.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) said in response to a freedom of information request by Declassified that disclosure would reveal the “effectiveness and capability” of Saudi pilots, as the videos show “the impact of the air-to-ground attacks, such as how much damage they can initiate”.
Saudi Arabia’s air force heavily relies on British training, support and equipment to stay in operation.
More than 100 Saudi air force pilots have learnt to fly at RAF bases in the UK over the last decade, with some undergoing training as recently as July.
All of the Saudi pilots “are trained to the same standards as RAF combat ready pilots,” according to the MOD.
Yahya Assiri, a former Saudi air force officer, told Declassified: “Saudi Arabia couldn’t continue its violations of intenational human rights and humanitarian law in Yemen without the support of its Western allies.”
Comment by Iona Craig: Saudi pilots practice their bombing sorties in the UK. So where are the IHL and laws of war training facilities for Saudi officers? In which of the RAF bases and 24 civilian airfields Saudi Arabia uses in Britain for their bombing dry runs does that happen?
https://twitter.com/ionacraig/status/1304324593122004992
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Israel and the UAE Hope to Turn Yemen’s Remote Islands into an Intel Gathering Hub
Often a flashpoint for tensions between international rivals and a major chokepoint for much of the world’s maritime transit, the waters surrounding Yemen have become a much-vaunted prize for regional intelligence services.
In the wake of the recent normalization of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in August, it is becoming increasingly clear that Tel Aviv is set to take on an increasingly active role in the war on Yemen, a war that the UAE – together with Saudi Arabia – launched over six years ago.
Yemen’s strategic islands, particularly the sparsely populated archipelago containing Socotra located at the mouth of Gulf Aden in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, is of particular importance. Often a flashpoint for tensions between Iran and the United States, Yemen and the Saudi Coalition, and a major chokepoint for much of the world’s maritime transit, the waters surrounding Yemen, particularly the island of Socotra, have become a much-vaunted prize for regional intelligence and security apparatus. Now, both the UAE and Israel are working to establish military and intelligence centers on Socotra, which lays some 240 kilometers east of the coast of Somalia and 380 kilometers south of the Arabian Peninsula.
According to one Yemeni source, the United Arab Emirates and Israel have already completed logistical operations to establish intelligence-gathering bases and new military facilities on the island. A presence on Socotra will not only allow the new alliance to establish a foothold against Yemen’s Houthi-led opposition, but will allow it to conduct surveillance on Oman, Iran, Pakistan, and China, who, in recent years, has established a presence on the nearby horn of Africa.
Last week, an Emirati ship arrived on Socotra laden with personnel from the UAE and Israel and transporting weapons and communication equipment according to a local source on the island. Even before the UAE-Israel normalization deal was announced, the two countries were sending delegations to Perim Island, known as Mayyun in Arabic, a volcanic island in the Strait of Mandeb at the south entrance to the Red Sea.
In Socotra, locals report that the same Emirati-Israeli team arrived on an Emirati aircraft various times throughout the year to examine locations in the Momi district on the east of the island and the Qatnan locality on its western coast.
Issa Salem Bin Yaqoot al-Soctari, the head of indigenous tribes on the island, said in a statement recently that the UAE has brought Israel to Socotra and that both sides have already started building new bases there. With much consternation, al-Soctari complained of the UAE’s “policy of repression, starvation, and intimidation” against the island’s residents. Mirroring Israel’s policy in Palestine, al-Soctrai also accused Emirati forces of intentionally changing the Island’s demographics by housing foreigners on the island en masse.
Israel has few friends in Yemen
Israel is far from a welcome presence in Yemen and local support for the Palestinian cause is nearly universal. Large demonstrations have already taken place in Abyan, Taiz, and Shabwah against the normalization of ties with Israel and against any Israeli presence in Yemen.
Officials in Yemen’s easternmost province of al-Mahrah told MintPress that the security cooperation between UAE and Israel is being actively supported by Saudi Arabia and aims to help the Saudi-led coalition carry out its long-held goal of tightening control over the province by gathering intelligence on the ground. Intelligence gathering operations on Socotra would also cast neighboring Oman under UAE and Israeli radars.
Socotra has been a prize for the UAE, and indeed for Israel, for years. The Emirati-backed separatist militant group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), has already effectively captured Socotra and established a secret relationship with Israel following talks with officials in Tel Aviv sponsored by the UAE.
The Chinese connection
The establishment of a strong central intelligence-gathering facility on the Yemeni islands not only has local and regional implications but, supported by the United States, represents a bold bid for Israel’s geopolitical and strategic dominance in the region and could pay off for the U.S.-Israeli axis along with its newly minted Gulf Arab allies.
Israeli and UAE radars on Socotra, located at the mouth of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, could not only examine sea and air traffic in the region but also could help Israel, a strong ally to India, monitor Pakistan, a country which Israel views with animus and one that is strongly opposed to normalization. Both the UAE and Israel – and more importantly the United States – could also keep a close eye on the Gwadar Port of Pakistan. The Gwadar Port is still under development. A jewel in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) crown, once complete, the port is slated to compete directly with Dubai and would allow China to export goods should the United States decide to block China from access to the straits of Malacca.
Yemenis are concerned that the presence of Israel on Socotra not only could pose a security risk but could also undermine China’s efforts to develop Yemen’s economy under the Belt and Road Initiative – by Ahmed Abdulkareem
https://www.mintpressnews.com/israel-uae-develop-intel-gathering-hub-socatra-yemen/271050/
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
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Yemen COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Snapshot - As of 12 September 2020
As of 12 September, the number of reported confirmed COVID-19 cases in Yemen had reached 2,013 with 583 associated deaths and 1,213 recoveries. Over the past week, 51 new confirmed cases, 16 deaths and 80 recoveries were reported. The highest number of confirmed cases continue to be reported in Hadramaut (926 cases, 299 deaths and 503 recoveries), though this may in part reflect the number of tests conducted in the governorate. Although the number of cases reported has declined, indicators suggest that the virus continues to spread and the number of confirmed cases and deaths fall below actual numbers. A lack of testing facilities and official reporting, and people delaying seeking treatment because of stigma, difficulty accessing treatment centres and the perceived risks of seeking care are some of the reasons behind the perceived decline in case numbers. The COVID-19 response continues to focus on testing, surveillance and case management, while procuring oxygen, personal protective equipment (PPE), and monitors are a priority.
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Film: Covid in Yemen: The city where all the doctors fled - except one - BBC News
During the height of the pandemic in Yemen, there was only one functioning hospital in the city of Aden, which is home to more than a million people. Afraid of Covid-19 and with barely any PPE available, most doctors fled - leaving Dr Zoha as the only doctor left in the city willing to treat Covid patients. Nearly six months since the virus spread in Yemen, the BBC is the first international broadcaster to reach the country to see how people are dealing with the pandemic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60iQxGOyd_s
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IOM Yemen COVID-19 Response Update (23 August - 05 September 2020)
While official reports indicate that the number of reported COVID-19 cases is decreasing, there is limited available data to inform the epi curve, due to insufficient testing and surveillance, and with fewer people reporting willingness to approach health facilities for support. IOM continues to work within UN frameworks to scale up COVID-19 testing and surveillance activities, while ensuring service continuity in locations that host large displaced and migrant communities and supporting Yemen’s public health system. The economic crises, characterized by a fuel crisis in northern governorates, a depreciating currency and a decrease in remittances into the country, continues to exacerbate the burden on conflict affected communities.
IOM teams continue to monitor countrywide COVID-19 movement restrictions.
In the month of August, 2,935 displacements were recorded through IOM Yemen’s Displacement Tracking Matrix. While over 10,000 COVID-19 related movements were recorded in previous months, no IDPs cited COVID-19 as a reason for displacement in August, and conflict activities have continued displace families from Hudaydah, Al Bayda and Taizz governorates.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-covid-19-response-update-23-august-05-september-2020
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Yemen Fact Sheet - UNHCR continues to adapt to challenges related to COVID-19, August 2020
UNHCR continues to sensitise refugee, internally displaced Yemeni and host community families to better protect themselves against COVID-19.
A month before the first case was confirmed in Yemen in April, all UNHCR’s programmes were adapted to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 transmission. UNHCR incorporated COVID-19-related information in all its awareness-raising and outreach programmes, such as protection assessments, emergency distributions and at cashpoints. Partners’ staff were trained to share information about preventative measures, and leaflets were widely distributed, in line with the WHO and public health authorities’ protocols.
Families living in concentrated areas such as IDP hosting sites and Kharaz refugee camp were sensitised to refer those with symptoms in a humane and safe manner.
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2 new cases of coronavirus reported, 2,011 in total
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26083
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2 new cases of coronavirus reported, 2009 in total
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26071
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4 new cases of coronavirus reported, 2007 in total
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26061
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4 new cases of coronavirus reported, 2,003 in total
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26054
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Yemeni women take the lead in the fight against COVID-19
With limited access to personal protective equipment (PPE), women just like Umm Zakariya, took things into their own hands to protect the health of their communities and loved ones.
Established in the northwest district of Kuhlan Affar, these Yemeni women are leading efforts to produce PPE, including face masks and suits, for frontline healthcare workers and the people affected by COVID-19.
Umm Zakariya, 38, is a volunteer trainer and supervisor at the protective masks production centre. “Over 12 days, volunteers were trained in sewing and producing surgical face masks and protective clothing,” she explained. “These girls and women are very enthusiastic about working and contributing to the community. Once we had sewing machines and tools for making PPE, we put our shoulder to the wheel.”
Having started in early June, these women have already produced thousands of masks and several suits to help keep their community safe from COVID-19.
Community-based initiatives in Hajjah Governorate are considered critical to ensure PPE availability and to control the spread of COVID-19. In particular, the need to manufacture face masks and protective clothing that conform to medical specifications was highlighted throughout the training and implementation process to ensure frontline healthcare workers could benefit too.
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Polio programme accelerates efforts to respond to new polio outbreaks in Sudan and Yemen
Joint statement by WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region Dr Ahmed Al Mandhari and UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Region Ted Chaiban
“The recent vaccine-derived polio outbreaks confirmed in Yemen and Sudan are consequences of increasingly low levels of immunity among children. Each outbreak has paralysed children in areas that have been extremely difficult if not impossible to reach with routine or supplementary polio vaccination for extended periods of time.
“These outbreaks do not come as a total surprise. In Sudan, extensive population movement by nomadic communities, people displaced by conflict, frequent movement between neighbouring countries and restricted access in some areas have made it enormously difficult to reach every child with vaccines. The cases in Yemen are clustered in the Sa’adah Governorate in the war-ravaged country’s north-west, an area that has very low routine immunization levels and has been inaccessible to the polio programme for more than two years. The last house-to-house campaigns in this area were in November 2018.
“Polio is a devastatingly contagious disease, transmitted from person to person through close contact. The only way to stop it is through vaccination using oral polio vaccine. Vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks are a siren call that immunity levels in affected communities have become unacceptably low.
“For WHO, UNICEF, governments, and partners across these two countries, outbreaks like these threaten to undo decades of progress achieved by the polio programme.
cp2 Allgemein / General
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Interactive Map of Yemen War
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MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-september-14-2020-map-update/
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2020 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-september-13-2020-map-update/
Latest Updates on Yemen, 13 September 2020
https://english.iswnews.com/15229/latest-updates-on-yemen-13-september-2020/
MILITARY SITUATION IN YEMEN ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2020 (MAP UPDATE)
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-september-12-2020-map-update/
SAUDI-BACKED FORCES SUFFER ANOTHER SETBACK IN YEMEN’S MARIB PROVINCE (MAP UPDATE)
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There are dangerous repercussions for Yemen from UAE-Israel normalisation
Gulf normalisation with Israel is picking up pace due to the tremendous electoral pressure imposed by US President Donald Trump on the states which are existentially linked to America for their security. Another common denominator that unites all of the normalisers is their participation in a military coalition fighting in Yemen that still claims to be there in order to protect the legitimate government-in-exile and allow it to return to the country.
Five years since the coalition’s intervention, it seems that Yemen is facing more serious challenges than before. Rival local parties now face the entry of another regional player that is intended to provide the coalition with protection from accountability as it continues to target Yemen and its sovereignty. The coalition wants to impose the option of splitting Yemen up by attracting Israel to areas where the security, strategic and vital interests of most regional countries meet.
The first wave brought on by the normalisation agreement between Israel and the UAE hit the beaches of the Socotra Archipelago. The islands were almost closed by military influence and multinational intelligence activity under the Saudi and UAE umbrella, most of which was carried out by Israel.
All the people in Socotra are aware that the enemy is now located in their country, and its experts move about freely under that Arab umbrella. They are redirecting the archipelago’s function from being a vital part of Yemen to being a stab in the back of Arab national security. This hurts the dignity of Socotra’s people, who are Yemenis through and through, with an established affiliation of Yemeni Arab Muslim identity.
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Joint INGO Statement on Yemen – 75th session of the UN General Assembly
We are now sleepwalking towards a seventh year of war, and the people of Yemen can only surmise that the world has forgotten them. The UN Secretary General called in March for a global ceasefire tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in Yemen this call has not translated into reality on the ground, at the expense of the lives and livelihoods of ordinary civilians.
Two-thirds of the population – 20 million people – are hungry, and nearly 1.5 million families currently rely entirely on food aid to survive. Ongoing restrictions by warring parties in a country that imports 90% of its food, coupled with a currency crisis, has led to food shortages and price increases. The global COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation; the resulting economic slump across the world has led to a dramatic drop in remittances sent back by Yemeni diaspora, a major source of income for the country. The latest data shows that another million people are set to fall into crisis levels of hunger before the year end. Women and children are the worst affected, with 1.4 million pregnant or breastfeeding women and over two million children suffering from malnutrition.
Yemen’s conflict remains the main driver of food insecurity, ruining the economy and driving farmers from their land. As recalled in UN Security Council Resolution 2417, international humanitarian law requires that warring parties meet the basic needs of the civilian population – including food.
Ongoing fighting continues to take a devastating toll on civilians. Airstrikes, shelling and ground fighting continue, with 10 new frontlines having emerged since the beginning of 2020. In July and August 2020 alone at least 33 civilians were killed in airstrikes – including 21 children. Intense fighting, particularly in Marib and Abyan governorates, jeopardises civilian lives, causing mass displacement and depriving people of access to essential services. Civilian infrastructure continues to be hit by all parties with impunity, and medical and water infrastructure – essential for an effective response to COVID-19 – have been hit during air raids almost 200 times since the conflict escalated in March 2015, equivalent to once every 10 days. Despite widespread violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, committed by all parties to the conflict, those responsible are not being held to account.
Yemen is now a drastically under-funded crisis.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/joint-ingo-statement-yemen-75th-session-un-general-assembly
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Saudi-Emirati military talks to support Yemeni gov't forces
The Saudi-Emirati military coalition revives coordination one year after Abu Dhabi withdraw its troops from the Yemeni southern port city of Aden.
The new commander of Saudi-led coalition joint forces (JF) in Yemen, Gen Motlaq al-Ozaimi'e, on Saturday met with the Emirati land troops commander, Gen Saleh al-Aamiri, and held talks on military operations in support of the Yemeni national army, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
The meeting also addressed the efforts jointly exerted as part of the coalition ongoing operations to support Yemen's legitimacy, SPA added.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19831.html
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Beyond Yemen's Militiadoms. Restarting from local agency
This Conflict Series Brief analyses the intertwined layers of conflict in Yemen and their implications for war resolution efforts. The local-foreign nexus between Yemeni and external actors needs to be disentangled to separate domestic drivers and the regional and/or sectarian dimensions of the conflict. Competing ‘militiadoms’ are on the rise, thus transforming the traditional Yemeni pattern of hybrid security governance into a multiple security governance scenario. The Brief examines the Yemeni crisis in all its complexity, focusing on existing and emerging dynamics. Interference by foreign state powers is both a cause and a consequence of the protracted conflict, while the potential for peace must be sought at local level. This approach will help to identify strategies for mitigating and possibly resolving the crisis – by Eleonora Ardemagni
https://www.academia.edu/42842469/Beyond_Yemens_Militiadoms_Restarting_from_local_agency
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AUDIO: Der Krieg gegen Jemens Kinder
Von den 230.000 Kriegstoten im Jemen sind 140.000 unter fünf Jahre alt. Wohl in keinem anderen Krieg gibt es ein derart kinderfeindliches Missverhältnis in den Opferzahlen. Dies liegt vor allem auch daran, dass von den von der Saudi-Emirate-Koalition vorsätzlich als Kriegswaffen eingesetzten Sekundärphänomenen wie Hunger und Epidemien die Kleinsten und Schwächsten am heftigsten betroffen sind.
https://diefreiheitsliebe.de/politik/audio-der-krieg-gegen-jemens-kinder/
Artikel vom Januar 2020: http://justicenow.de/2020-01-20/der-krieg-gegen-jemens-kinder/
(A P)
On its 30th anniversary, Islah stands for unity and state of rule
The Islah party has been siding with the government against the Houthis rebellion since the Houthis’ late leader declared his insurgence against the state in 2004.
The Houthis military expansion in rural and urban centers including their takeover of the capital Sana’a in 2014 -has been marked by bold resistance by the Islah to the rebellion and constant support to the government against the rebels.
Yet, the Houthis have been retaliating from the Islah’s leaders and assets along their way of military expansion across Yemen.
The Houthis intimidation included murder of Islah’s leaders and members, blowing up of their residences and confiscation of their funds.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-41935
My remark: How Islah party paints itself.
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Yemen Food Security Outlook Update, August 2020
Fuel shortages ongoing in northern areas while Riyadh Agreement talks stall
Key Messages
Conflict across much of western Yemen continues to disrupt livelihoods, reduce access to income, and drive poor macroeconomic conditions. Overall, an estimated 17 to 19 million people are expected to be in need of humanitarian food assistance in 2020. Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes are widespread. Although not the most likely scenario, Famine (IPC Phase 5) would be possible if food supply is cut off for a prolonged period of time.
For the first time in 2020, the exchange rate has stabilized in northern areas. After appreciating slightly in early July, the exchange rate in the north has remained fairly stable at just over 600 YER/USD throughout August. Meanwhile, the exchange rate in southern areas of Yemen continued to depreciate in August after some relative stability in July, reaching 794 YER/USD in the fourth week of August. The exchange rate in the south is over 10 percent higher than the peak exchange rate observed in late 2018 during the crisis.
In July, COVID-19 control measures mainly affecting urban areas were eased
https://fews.net/east-africa/yemen/food-security-outlook-update/august-2020
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Ölbombe im Roten Meer
Seit Jahren verrottet ein Tanker an Jemens Küste – nun droht der Rumpf zu reißen. Experten warnen vor einer Umweltkatastrophe.
Die von Saudi-Arabien gestützte jemenitische Regierung erklärte, die Huthis kontrollierten das Gebiet um den Hafen von Ras Isa und seien deshalb für das Schiff zuständig, verwehrten internationalen Experten aber den Zugang. Die Huthis wiederum sehen das Problem in der Seeblockade ihrer Gebiete durch die Kriegskoalition.
Nach Medienberichten erheben die Rebellen zudem Anspruch auf den Erlös aus dem Verkauf des Öls und benutzen das Schiff als Faustpfand: Sie drohen mit einer Zerstörung des Tankers, falls sie im Krieg in die Defensive geraten sollten. Auch bemühen sich die Huthis, den Streit zu internationalisieren. Sie verlangen, eine Inspektion des Schiffes solle von einem unparteiischen Drittstaat wie Schweden oder Deutschland überwacht werden, wie die Nachrichtenagentur AFP meldet.
Um aus der verfahrenen Lage herauszukommen, sollten die Huthis zunächst einer Untersuchung des Schiffes durch die UN zustimmen, sagt Doug Weir von der Organisation Ceobs, die sich mit den Folgen von Konflikten für die Umwelt befasst. Anschließend werde die Staatengemeinschaft den Huthis Zugeständnisse machen müssen, die vielen nicht recht sein dürften, schreibt Weir.
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UN-Houthi agreement on Safer Tanker facing financial challenge, report
British ambassador to Yemen, Michael Aron, on Friday revealed that there is a semi-complete agreement between the Houthi Group and the United Nations for granting UN experts access to the aging FSO Safer oil tanker.
The tanker, moored of Yemen's Hodeidah seaport with more than 1.1 million barrels of crude oil onboard, has had no maintenance for five years.
Aron told the Alsharq Al-Awsat Newspaper that there is progress on efforts to address it but the agreement is facing a financial problem.
"We need between three and four million dollars, and we are currently talking with some donors, especially Germany," the newspaper quoted Aron as saying, adding that the UK had already provided three million dollars.
"If we get the funds before the end of the month, the team could be in Djibouti," Aron said, according to the paper.
Commenting on remarks of an official from the Yemeni Safer exploration and production operations company which operates the tanker, Aron said unloading the tanker is possible and important but should happen after the UN experts access it.
If we do that first, the Houthis will prevent experts from boarding it, he said, adding, "The priority is given to the visit of the experts. After that we will discuss the outcomes with the Houthis".
Recently, the Safer company's official said unloading the cargo is the only option recommended now and should happen before taking any other action, warning the tanker's systems are deteriorating.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19786.html
My comment: They need US$ 3 or 4 million from “donorss”. What a BS is this?
and
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UK Minister Blasts Houthis for Taking Safer as ‘Hostage’
UK Minister for the Middle East James Cleverly criticized the Houthi militias for taking the Safer oil tanker as hostage and said that it was unacceptable for the Iran-backed group to have its grip on the livelihood of Yemenis and the environment.
Cleverley’s remarks were made in response to a question posed by the Friends of Yemen Group at the UK’s Labour Party.
He also urged handling the derelict tanker without any delay.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/26056
My comment: The British position on Yemen is highly hypocritical.
and
(A P)
Saudi Arabia calls for urgent action to avert imminent explosion of Yemen supertanker
Saudi Arabia which has been leading a military coalition fighting in Yemen has called on the United Nations and the international community to take urgent action to prevent the explosion or sinking of the decaying Safer oil tanker off Yemen's western coast.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19856.html
(A H K P)
SAVE THE CHILDREN'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD REPORT OF THE UN GROUP OF EMINENT INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL EXPERTS ON YEMEN.
“We are horrified by the findings of this report, which gives an accurate picture of the systematic violations of international law committed by all parties to the conflict, including the killing and maiming of children and the destruction of schools. It is telling to see a recommendation for the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Yemen to the International Criminal Court.
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(* B K P)
Sana'a YPC refutes UN report on coalition released oil tankers
The Houthi-run Yemeni Petroleum Company (YPC) on Sunday refuted a report issued by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on oil derivatives that the Arab coalition allowed in Yemeni northern areas under Houthi control.
The diesel and petrol shipments released during the past three months totaled 139,000 tons, the YPC said in a statement.
These "oil derivatives, which were released by the coalition forces, make up 15% of the actual need in normal conditions, but not a third [of the needs] as the OCHA report said.
"The other tankers released, according to the OCHA report, belong to private factories," it added.
The diesel and petrol cargoes released in 110 days, since late last May, made up 11 percent and 20 percent of the two derivatives, respectively, actually needed, the statement read.
The YPC accused the Saudi-led coalition of detaining 19 oil tankers, two of which full of fuel oil, two of cooking gas, and 15 carrying 409,055 tons of petrol and diesel.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19854.html
and
(* B H K)
YPC: Released Quantity of Oil Is Less Than One-Third of Stated Amount in OCHA Report
The Executive Director of the Yemen Petroleum Company, Eng. Ammar Al-Adrai, said that the total released quantities of diesel and gasoline during the past three months amounted to 139 thousand tons, not exceeding 15% of the actual need in the normal situation.
Al-Adrai explained that the released quantity is less than one-third of the stated amount in the OCHA report, since the rest of the released vessels are belonged to the private sector factories.
"The amount of released quantities of petrol and diesel for 110 days, since May, covers only 11% of the actual need of diesel and 20% of gasoline," he said.
He pointed out that the aggression coalition is still detaining 19 oil tankers, including two ships that are loaded with diesel and two ships of gas.
And he indicated that 15 oil tankers that are loaded by 409 thousand and 55 tons of gasoline
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=14934
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(* B H)
Understanding how UNHCR engages with communities in Yemen: Community engagement survey report (September 2020)
Community engagement and two-way communication with affected populations are critical to understanding refugees and internally displaced persons' needs and how they want UNHCR and its partners to address them. It also allows UNHCR to inform displaced communities and individuals about how to access services. It supports communities to strengthen pre-existing capacity and their own resilience to shock, such as conflict, natural disaster or epidemy, notably COVID-19. Listening and talking to the communities it serves is inherent in UNHCR humanitarian response and an integral to UNHCR community-based protection approach.
In Yemen, community engagement has been an essential part of UNHCR's response to the crisis. UNHCR and its partners engage and communicate with communities using both physical and virtual modalities, including face to face meetings, posters, leaflets, hotlines, text messages, and social media. It is essential for emergency responders to understand different groups and individuals' information needs, their preferred channels, and trusted sources. Any engagement with communities must also take into consideration socio-cultural norms and traditional practices that may impact specifics groups' – such as women, children, elderly persons, and persons with disabilities – access to information and opportunities to impart information to other members of the community or humanitarian partners.
(B H)
SFD Yemen: Starting a new project for 81 villages, 27 teams from @Ruawfd help form 81 Village Cooperative Councils #VCCs and prepare needs and initiative plans for each village in Shahara #Amran.
@Tamkeen allocates finance to fund 50% of the largest infrastructure initiatives
https://twitter.com/SFDYemen/status/1305085207716835328
(* B H)
Lost youth: Yemeni children open Smurfs car wash to help their father
Three brothers, the youngest just seven, know little of normal life for their age and are focused on earning money to survive
It is a Friday afternoon and three young brothers are washing cars outside.
For these skinny children, there is no school and there are no holidays. They started this business four months ago, and they work here washing cars every day from 8am until 6pm.
The boys are organised into a team: one washes the car, another wipes it and the youngest sweeps it. Their customers are men and women from across Yemen's capital, Sanaa.
The eldest child is Mohammed, 14, next is Mukhtar, 10, and there is Khaldoon, just seven.
The boys know little of a normal childhood and are focused on earning enough money to survive. The only nod to a childhood is the name of their business. It's called the Smurfs Car Wash Centre.
Mohammed, the eldest brother, told Middle East Eye: "The situation is difficult nowadays, and my father alone can't provide for our family, so we decided to help him."
Children of the brothers' ages should be enjoying their childhood, studying and playing games in the park.
The three brothers said they used to study in the morning and work in the afternoon.
"We all study, but since Ramadan [May] there have been no classes, and we have been working here," Mohammed said. "We will go to study as soon as schools reopen."
The schools were closed because of the spread of the coronavirus, and Unicef said in July that following the move, 7.8 million children are currently unable to access education.
Even if the children have not given up on the idea of studying, they are no longer dreaming of becoming doctors, teachers or any job that needs qualifications. Instead, they've got their minds set on a larger carwash centre.
"If we stop work, there is no one to help us, so we have to work to help my father," said Mohammed.
"I hope to have a big carwash service in the future, and this one can be the beginning."
Working for 12 hours washing cars is hard work even for adults, it is even harder for children, toiling under the harsh sun, so sometimes the brothers hire other children to help them.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-children-car-wash-business-lost-childhoods-help-father
(B H)
Yemen Emergency Crisis Response Project Fifth Additional Financing (P172662) - Social Impact Assessment (SIA) For Component 3 (Emergency Cash Transfer) August 24, 2020
The intensification of the crisis in Yemen since 2015 led to the suspension of the Social Welfare Fund (SWF), leaving the already vulnerable SWF beneficiaries without any social protection support. Increased food and non-food basic commodity prices, loss of assets and livelihoods, and internal displacement, have further exacerbated the situation. In response, the World Bank approved the Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) Component under the ongoing Emergency Crisis Response Project. The ECT component is implemented by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and delivers emergency safety net support to SWF beneficiaries. The ECT component is managed and implemented by UNICEF through a Project Management Unit (PMU), with funding and technical assistance from the World Bank/International Development Association along with co-financing from the US Department of State NEA. DFID contributed first through a World Bank Multi-Donor Trust Fund and later through parallel funding.
https://www.unicef.org/yemen/reports/yemen-emergency-crisis-response-project
(* B H)
UN suspends 70 percent of Yemen reproductive programs
The United Nations on Thursday announced suspension of 70 percent of reproductive health programs in Yemen as of this September due to low funding.
Starting from September, 70 percent of reproductive lifesaving programs were suspended in Yemen due to lack of funding, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) tweeted.
The Sana'a-based al-Sabeen Hospital for Maternity and Childhood is one of the remaining facilities and still supported by UNFPA to provide lifesaving services for mothers and newborns, it added.
For months, UN agencies have complained severe shortage in Yemen's humanitarian response plan funding, and called on donors to urgently intervene in order to aid millions of people.
Earlier on Thursday, al-Sabeen Hospital for Maternity and Childhood said the UNFPA has withdrawn its support for medicines, operational expenses and incentives to maternity staff.
This made the hospital unable to support free births, pregnant healthcare, and emergency and caesarian operations, it added in remarks carried by the Houthi-run Saba.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19790.html
(* B H)
UNICEF: Eight million children out of school in Yemen
The United Nations Children’s Fund has said that around eight million children are now out of school in Yemen due to the war and Covid-19 pandemic. UNICEF gave the details in a tweet with a video earlier this week to mark International Literacy Day 2020.
“Before Covid-19 hit Yemen,” said the agency, “more than two million children were out of school.” Now, due to the closure of schools around the country, an additional 5.8 million children are out of education. “The longer children are away from school, the more risk they face and the less likely they are to return.”
A UNICEF report in June explained that most public school teachers have not been paid in more than three years. “At least 2,000 schools – one out of eight overall — are unfit for use because of the conflict; either destroyed, used for military purposes or taken over as a shelter for displaced people.”
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200910-unicef-eight-million-children-out-of-school-in-yemen/
and
(* B H)
Hundreds of Schools in Yemen Attacked by Warring Parties
In the past five years, at least 380 schools in Yemen have been attacked, caught in crossfire or occupied by militant groups, according to a new report by Yemeni and Britain-based rights groups.
The report, released last month by Mwatana for Human Rights and Ceasefire Center for Civilian Rights, blames the Saudi-led coalition for 153 airstrikes on or near schools. It says the Houthi military that controls Yemen’s north, as well as forces with Yemen’s internationally-recognized government in the south, are responsible for most of the other abuses.
And as some schools start to re-open their doors this week, teachers say the ongoing violence is robbing not just children, but the entire country of a future beyond the current suffering.
“People already don’t think that much about education anymore,” said Ahmed Muhammad Haimed, a History teacher at the school that was bombed in 2017, terrifying young Aldeen. “If they continue fighting, people will only be able to try to survive.”
https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/hundreds-schools-yemen-attacked-warring-parties
and the full report (had already been linked before): https://mwatana.org/en/undermining-future/
(B H P)
Qatar Fund For Development supports UN-Habitat to remove and reuse debris in Yemeni city
(B H)
UNICEF Yemen Humanitarian Situation Report: 1 - 31 July 2020
Funding Overview and Partnerships
UNICEF appeal is for $535 million as part of the 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC), which is aligned to the 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP). While UNICEF continues vigorous fundraising for its 2020 HAC appeal, it has received less than $17 million. A total of $173 million is carried forward from 2019 to meet growing needs, leaving an overall funding gap of $345 million as of 31 July 2020. UNICEF Yemen will revise down its current HAC appeal to $453 million in the coming month; the downward revision takes into consideration the constrained implementing environment and the new COVID-19 appeal, which will cover activities that require adjustments or expansion due to the pandemic.
UNICEF is concurrently mobilizing resources for its COVID-19 response in Yemen, appealing for $103 million as part of the global COVID-19 response. As of 31 July, UNICEF received $29 million against $103 million of funding requirements. Despite the funding gaps and operational constraints, UNICEF continues to implement its responses using alternative modalities. The Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) reached 524,340 million people with COVID-19 messages while keeping physical distancing. As schools and child-friendly spaces have been closed since March 2020, UNICEF is exploring to provide distance learning and remote psychosocial support (PSS) and mine risk education services.
As part of continuing efforts to strengthen risk prevention and management measures, UNICEF continued to implement recommendations from the 2019 Office of Internal Audit and Investigation Internal audit report
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unicef-yemen-humanitarian-situation-report-1-31-july-2020
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(B H)
Film: In #Marib.. paintbrush can be the strongest weapon to deliver a message of #peace
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1305571011946000390
(B H)
IOM Yemen | Rapid Displacement Tracking (RDT) - Reporting Period: 06 - 12 Sep 2020
In the first eights months of 2020, conflict and natural disasters have resulted in new patterns of displacement, particularly in Marib, Al Hudaydah, Al Dhale'e, Taizz, and Al Jawf governorates.
From 01 January 2020- 12 Sep 2020, IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 22,905 Households or 137,430 Individuals have experienced displacement, at least once.
Between the 6th Sep 2020 and 12th of Sep 2020, IOM Yemen DTM tracked 541 Households or 3,246 individuals displaced at least once, the highest number of displacements were seen in:
(B H K)
Houthi violence in Yemen displaces thousands of students
Up to 14,000 Yemeni students have relocated to the Marib governorate, after being displaced due to the continuous atrocities committed by the Houthi militia, state news agency Saba reported.
The students had to flee their homes in the governorates of Al-Jawf, Al-Baidha, and Yemeni capital Sanaa.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1734221/middle-east
My comment: As claimed by the Hadi government. It’s fighting, shelling and air raids, what displaces people, not “Houthi violence”.
(* B H K pS)
Two million displaced Yemenis at risk as Houthis push offensive on Marib
The government stronghold in the north has been under attack for months, but aid agencies warn of dire consequences for the hundreds of thousands of IDPs sheltering in the town if it falls
Nearly 2 million displaced Yemenis are under threat as Iran-backed Houthi rebels intensify their offensive near the northern city of Marib.
The rebels are pushing towards the city on multiple fronts, seeking to take the last government-controlled major city in the north, a pro-government military source told The National.
The rebels have reportedly shelled the camps for the displaced, killing people and causing panic.
Local and international humanitarian organisations are warning of imminent disaster if the rebels continue their attacks.
“The city hosts 141 IDP camps [with] over 2 million residing in these camps that include the largest IDP camp in Yemen – Al Jufainah settlement located south-east of Marib that hosts 8,000 families,” Najeeb Al Saadi, the head of the executive unit in Yemen for internally displaced people, told The National. “The situation will worsen and get more complicated if the Houthis continue their offensive towards the city.”
He described Marib as “the last safe haven” for the millions of Yemenis who fled from across the country’s north as the rebels took ground after their coup d'etat in 2014 and ensuing fighting.
The International Organisation for Migration reported that between January and May 9,500 more households were displaced to Marib from nearby areas – many for the second time – as fighting increased .
“These people have nowhere to flee to if the Houthi rebels take control over [Marib city],” Mr Al Saadi said.
International aid groups are also sounding the alarm.
and also https://republicanyemen.net/archives/25436
My remark: By an UAE news site, 2. link by an anti-Houthi news site.
(A H P)
Dr. Majda Al-Khatib, Director General of Al-Sabeen Maternity and Childhood Hospital : ( The World Health Organization has withdrawn from supporting the Diphtheria Center in the hospital, which is one of the most dangerous diseases spread during the aggression and siege )
https://twitter.com/ghalebalsudmy/status/1303346917536157697
(A H K)
The executive unit of administration of IDP camps recorded the displacement of 2,945 households from Al-Jawf, Al-Baydha and Marib governorates.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1304855819448614912
(A H)
Partners Relief: These aren’t just building supplies, they are much much more - they are the love in action. That love is building 100 shelters for families in #Yemen that had their homes damaged, and in some cases totally destroyed, by heavy rain and flooding (photos)
https://twitter.com/PartnersRelief/status/1304701687542677505
(A H K)
#Houthis' attacks on #Yemen's #Marib since January have caused new waves of displacement. Yesterday dozens of families fled their homes in the districts of Rahaba, Mahilyah and Madghal to Marib city, a home to around 2 million IDPs
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1304195914769354752
(B H)
Will life finally smile at Neama?!
Merely war forced Neama and her family to leave their home and run for their lives after experiencing fear and disappointment. The destruction caused by war all around them, the gun-shooting and the bombing left them no other choice. They left their home, and they left everything behind them; their belongings, their money and their loved ones…putting one step into the dark, the unknown future, hoping to find a sparkle of hope that could guarantee a decent life for them.
With the intensified armed fight, turning Haradh in Hajjah governorate into a ghost town, Neama Khwamil left to settle in the Al-Daya’a area in Kuaidana district.
Neama already suffered several illnesses, including atrophy and psychological issues, and needs a monthly visit to the doctor, which doubles the burden of her poor family.
Neama describes the first days of displacement as dark and gloomy. There was no shelter for her, no food to feed the hungry children, and no hope looms on the horizon that her tomorrow will be better after being forced to leave her home.
Neama tried to adapt to the new situation by establishing a shelter from sticks of wood and reeds, hoping that it will protect her four children against the intense heat of the sun; it was the best option available. She began raising a few sheep and poultry to start a new life.
With difficulty, the family struggled to adapt to this new life year after year, until the summer of 2020.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/will-life-finally-smile-neama
(B H)
From the Wreck of War to the Tragedy of Displacement: Success Story
"Due to the war and armed conflict, we lost our house and just about everything in it; thus, my family and I were forced to flee,” Ahmed Abdullah Abdurabbu said. He is a 40-year-old man who has 9 people in his family, (a wife, 2 sons, and 5 daughters). They had a hard time fleeing from Ma'shara sub-district, Mahliyah district to Al Rawda area, Naja sub-district, Al Jubah district, Ma'rib Gov. The whole family used to live a simple and quiet life before the war began, as they had a house to live in, and a daily wage that Ahmed earned to provide the basic needs for his family.
When the situation became gradually worsen, Ahmed's life with his family changed from bad to worse, where they encounter danger every day. “The most difficult thing I faced is when I see my children sleeping at night on that worn mat without mattress or blankets to cover them from the cold weather. Before displacement, I used to look after them every night," Ahmed expressed his feeling.
Luckily, Ahmed was one of the beneficiaries who received the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) kit from Building Foundation for Development (BFD)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/wreck-war-tragedy-displacement-success-story
(B H)
Photos: #Marib’s largest Al Jufainah displacement camp.This #IOM graphic shows large waves of migration since Sept 2018, a majority are women and children.
https://twitter.com/Piccolinanne/status/1304015266117046273
(B H)
Yemen: UNHCR Operational Update, 10 September 2020
In a recent country-wide survey on the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of 16,500 IDPs, IDP returnees and host community families, 44 per cent reported challenges in accessing health services due to low income. Almost all (89 per cent) replied that they heard of COVID-19 through radio and TV.
However, some 78 per cent reported being unable to purchase the required hygiene products due to their high costs. Half of those answered that COVID19 disrupted their work such as reduction of business or loss of job, and 40 per cent said they did not have a source of income even before COVID-19. The results will be incorporated in UNHCR’s response, such as safeguarding and strengthening access to health, provision of hygiene products and washable facemasks and increasing cash assistance to enhance resilience.
A project to produce facemasks for cash-for-work and COVID-19 prevention has begun in the Abs district, Hajjah governorate community centre, with 40 tailors (31 IDPs and 9 host community members). A total of 14,000 face makes will be made, for purchase by UNHCR and subsequent distribution to front-line workers such as members of community-based protection networks and the rest, left at the tailors’ disposal for extra income.
The Shelter Cluster team in Hudaydah Hub, led by UNHCR, continues to coordinate the flood response with shelter partners and provided 12,620 families so far with basic household items and emergency shelters in Hajjah, Hudaydah, Raymah and Al-Mahwit governorates out of estimated 24,000 identified affected families.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-operational-update-10-september-2020
(B H)
In the last two months, torrential rains caused floods in different parts of #Yemen. #Ibb governorate was not spared, and people living in camps have been the most affected by these floods, as water and sanitation conditions badly deteriorated.
To assist the most vulnerable people, including the displaced and marginalized, @MSF distributed kits including hand and wash soaps, towels, water containers, mosquito nets, plastic sheeting and blankets to more than 240 families in Alshaier district in #Ibb
@MSF team also established a mobile clinic & did medical consultation for 105 people -53 were children under 15 years old. (photos)
https://twitter.com/msf_yemen/status/1303692666086010890
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A K pS)
Houthis intensify recruitment of black Yemenis to warfronts: Translated story
Marib Press, a Yemeni news website, reported that the Houthis “have intensified their campaign of recruiting the black, marginalized Yemenis of African origin” to the rebel militia’s warfronts against the government.
The website learnt from “local sources in Ibb province” in central Yemen that the senior operatives in the militia, including the militia’s self-styled governor for the province Abdulwahed Salah, “have enlisted 110 dark-skinned people, most of them minors to join the ranks.”
“Upon finishing the conscription, the militia held a farewell party for the recruits and started to deploy them to the warfronts of Dhale’a, Marib, Beidha, and Aljawf,”
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-41994
(A)
A Houthi militant by the name Mohammed Wasel shot dead his mother, father and a neighbor and injured three other grils before fleeing his village in Aljarrahi. Source of the story: Multiple news websites.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-41993
(A P)
Houthi militants executed a man before his family after he had helped them gain some territory in his village of Mahiliya in the periphery of the government-held province. Source: Almashehad Alyemeni website.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-41993
(A P)
Hundreds of thousands rally to commemorate martyrdom of Imam Zayd
All over Yemen, the sacrifice of Imam Zayd is honoured
Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis in the capital Sana’a and a number of provinces have on Monday morning staged mass rallies commemorating the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Zayd bin Ali (peace be upon him).
A total of 25 marches took place in the capital, with mass participations in several districts of Sana’a province, while dozens more marches and events in the provinces of Dhamar, Jawf, Bayda, Ma’rib, Taiz, Amran, Hodeidah, Dhalea, Ibb, Mahwit, Hajjah and Raymah.
The participants raised banners and leaflets that carry freedom slogans and demanded a boycott of American and Israeli goods.
The attendees shouted the al-Sarkha, the slogan of Ansarullah, in addition to several other slogans in support of freedom and resistance.
https://uprising.today/hundreds-of-thousands-rally-to-commemorate-martyrdom-of-imam-zayd/
My remark: For Imam Zayd bin Ali: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zayd_ibn_Ali
(A P)
Houthis abduct 7 football players in the junior-national team
The Iran-backed Houthi militia has abducted 7 football players in the junior-national team and took them to an unknown destination.
Local sources said the players were detained at a Houthi checkpoint south Ibb province as they came from Aden, Yemen’s interim capital.
It is still unclear why the militias have abducted the young players.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/25449
(A P)
#Houthi militia kidnapped Sana'a University's Psychology Professor Dr. Adnan Al-Sharjabi and later stormed his apartment, terrified his family and looted his computer and USB drives.
https://twitter.com/Yemen24/status/1304995334792323075
and also https://twitter.com/RiyadhAldubai/status/1305169928274808837
(A P)
US first dubbed Taliban as terrorist icon now as peace maker: Houthis
Washington is negotiating with the very ones under the pretext of whose war it destroyed the world, a Houthi senior official tweeted on Saturday, satirizing the US sponsorship of Afghan talks.
However, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi added, "it's illogic that it has not publically unveiled the reality about how Taliban changed in its eyes from terrorist icons into peace makers, so that taxpayers could know new changes and to persuade the Congress into continuing war in Yemen."
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19828.html
(A P)
Parliament approves report of Foreign Affairs, Expatriates Committee
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3108969.htm
Parliament approves report of Agriculture, Irrigation, Fish Committee
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3108809.htm
(* B P)
[from 2014 ?] The Rise of the Houthi
The Houthi Islamic social movement is now the de facto government of Yemen. In recent months, following the Houthi occupation of the capital city of Sana‘a inSeptember 2014, the group has expanded their area of control into the south of Yemen. The Houthis have solidified their position in power by forming a coalition government with other Yemeni tribal and political groups. They are gaining control over more territory as the most powerful political force in Yemen. Since the initial conflict between the Houthis and the government of Yemen began in earnest in 2004, the Houthis have transitioned from a peaceful social movement to a violent anti-government movement, to a movement holding national political power and seeking to create a coalition government in Yemen (Dumm 2). With the flight of Yemeni President Hadi from thecapital Sana‘a and the recent campaign of Saudi anti-Houthi airstrikes with the stated aim of restoring Hadi to power, an understanding of the Houthi Islamic social movement is more important than ever. An examination of the Houthis as an Islamic social movement provides a framework that can be used to effectively explore the identity, beliefs, and background of the group. Applying social movement theory literature and historical analysis gives one the opportunity to examine the roots of the Houthi movement and the historical factors that led to the group‘s creation and popularity. This approach also offers perspective on the probable direction of a Houthi led Yemeni government in the future
https://www.academia.edu/19690034/The_Rise_of_the_Houthi
(* B P)
The Huthi Enigma: Ansar Allah and the “Second Republic” [2018]
The question of the changes prompted by the Arab Spring upheavals in the northernmost regions of Yemen – the Saʿda province and its adjacent areas – can be easily answered: The republican order, as it evolved during the 34-year reign of former President Ali Abd Allah Salih, no longer exists. The changes in the structures and the socio-political composition of power in Yemen’s North are of such breadth that a reintroduction of the regime-periphery relations of the republican period seems impossible. In Yemen’s North thetransformation process triggered by the Arab Spring thus reinforced the continuation of the changes in regime-periphery relationswhich originally had been set in motion by the onset of the SaʿdaWars in 2004 (Salmoni, Loidolt and Wells 2010) – by Marieke Brandt
https://www.academia.edu/28717477/The_Huthi_Enigma_Ansar_Allah_and_the_Second_Republic_2018_
(* B P)
[from 2018] Drivers of the Ḥouthī Conflict in Yemen (UWTSD, 2018)
The Ḥouthī conflict is one with many facets, ranging from tensions around Yemen’s resources, religious and military disputes to political quarrels between elites and the populations, all in the framework of tribal and more contemporary social networks.
https://www.academia.edu/36705624/Drivers_of_the_%E1%B8%A4outh%C4%AB_Conflict_in_Yemen_UWTSD_2018_
(* B P)
[from 2018] “Screaming in the Face of the Arrogant”: Understanding the Logic and Symbolism of Yemen’s Huthi Movement
Commonly described by Western media as a Shi’i Zaydi revivalist movement, a rebel group and an Iranian proxy, the Huthis (or Ansar Allah) exist marginally in the Western consciousness. The little knowledge that is recycled about the movement is typically misleading, and conducive to stereotypes and an underestimation of the group’s military and strategic capabilities. The reality of today’s Ansar Allah is both a skilled paramilitary force that has internalized the lessons of a decade and a half of war, as well as a political organization with the veneer of a social justice movement, which excels in the production of propaganda on the local and regional stages. The Huthis may, in fact, be the band of slogan-chanting tribesmen occasionally seen on major news networks, but they are also a remarkably resilient and dynamic entity that adapts to Yemen’s ever-changing political landscape – by Hannah Porter
(* B P)
[from 2018] Shifting patterns of identity among the Zaydi community in Yemen: a political question?
“I’m Zaydi, no problem. But when you come and tell me, ‘You are a polytheist (mušrik) an innovator in religion (mubtadiʾ), and your forefather went astray (aid l-dalāl),’ I will automatically question who I am and begin returning to my roots. This was one of the most important reasons that brought Zaydism back to life.” ----- I will start with an introduction of the history of the Zaydi faith and its fundamental theological doctrines, continue with an outline of the 1000 years Imamate until the coup in 1962 and subsequent civil war, before analysing the trail to the 1990 unification of North and South Yemen which provided new space for political activism that was cannily exploited by Zaydi activists. Then I will shed light on the Saʿdah wars (2004-2010) through which the Zaydi revival managed to develop a powerful social revolutionary and political component and solidified the Houthi movement. The concluding chapter will deal with the ‘fall’ of President Saleh in 2011 and the Zaydi revivalism which gained momentum thereafter, shedding light on the 2012 declaration by senior Zaydi scholars voicing preference for the Imamate as preferred political identity. (Dorlian 2013: 210) – by Matthias Sulz
(* B P)
[from 2019] The Huthis: Adaptable Players in Yemen’s Multiple Geographies
As water takes the shape of its container but maintains its own features, the Huthis of Yemen have demonstrated great adaptability to a fluid domestic and regional context, thanks also to a vague political identity. Framing the Huthi movement in the Yemeni Zaydi Shia tradition, this contribution explores the evolution of the Huthis as a political movement and militia, from the Saada wars (2004-10) to the civil conflict started in 2015. Viewing the Huthis as political actors within Yemen’s multiple geographies, it contends that the northern insurgents have been able to capitalize on internal and external dynamics, embodying a form of populist elitism. Pursuing the autonomy of the northern highlands, the Huthis have formally and informally penetrated the state they used to contest, transforming from local insurgents into, paradoxically, national contenders in a fractured and polycentric Yemen, despite their persistent local identity and goals – by Eleonora Ardemagni
https://www.academia.edu/39735192/The_Huthis_Adaptable_Players_in_Yemen_s_Multiple_Geographies
(A P)
Ansarullah slams Arab League as “trumpet of cheap propaganda for Riyadh and Abu Dhabi”
Yemeni liberation movement condemns League's inaction towards UAE betrayal of Palestine
(A)
Houthis-affiliated officer- led gang tortures citizen to death
A gang led by a Houthis-led security officer killed one citizen in Sana’a following six-hour torture.
The leaked video on the incident sparked popular rage across Yemen and among users of the social media.
The crime took place at Al-Subaee Phone store in Sana’a and the victim is one of the staff of the store.
The assailants accused their 24-year employee, Abdullah Al-Aghbari from Taiz, of stealing one smartphone.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-41895
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj0vr0SkFgU and https://twitter.com/RiyadhAldubai/status/1303727719998517248 https://deutsch.rt.com/international/106470-schrecklich-katastrophal-us-kriege-sind/
and
(A P)
Yemeni capital rally calls for Aghbari killers brought to justice
The Yemeni capital on Saturday hosted a massive rally calling for the killers of Abdullah Quid al-Aghbari be punished, after confessions by four of the accused were official televised.
The young man Aghbari was tortured to death by five people, whose crime was filmed by their own secret camera and later circulated on social media.
The footage triggered fury reactions from social media activists, leading to Saturday demonstration in Sana'a City.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-19810.html
and
(A P)
Protesters Demand killers of al-Aghbari be executed
For the third day in a row, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of the rebel-held capital, Sana’a, demanding justice be served against the killers of Abdullah al-Aghbari who died after enduring six-hour, nonstop torture.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/25421
and also https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1304118427162992647
and
(A P)
The Lawyers Syndicate assigned 11 volunteer lawyers to plead in the Abdullah Al-Aghbari case, however the public prosecutor of the East Municipality prevented them from attending the first court sessions, according to #HumanRights sources in Sana'a.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1305183848481918976
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp6 – cp19
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-679b-yemen-war-mosaic-679b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-678-yemen-war-mosaic-678
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-678 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-678:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
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