... Jemens Krise der psychischen Gesundheit – Biden dient weiterhin der saudischen Kriegsmaschinerie – Jemen: Strafgerichtsbarkeit zur Verfolgung politischer Gegner– Schlacht um Sokotra – Altstadt von Sanaa: Ein Modell grüner Architektur – Westlicher Einfluss und Neo-Orientalismus – und mehr
Oct. 1, 2021: Human rights in Yemen in 2020 – Suffering of children after 7 years of war – Mwatana for Human Rights – Marib: Civilians between shelling and mines – Yemen’s Mental Health Crisis – Biden continues to service Saudi war machine – The use of Specialized Criminal Courts to persecute adversaries – Battle for Socotra – Old city of Sanaa: A model of green architecture – Western influence and neo-orientalism – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-762b-yemen-war-mosaic-762b
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus 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
cp12b Sudan
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13c 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
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B H P)
A Tragedy Without Justice: Human Rights in Yemen in 2020
The war in Yemen is entering its seventh year. Throughout the conflict, devastation, destruction, division, horrific violations and deepening social rifts have created an almost complete separation between Yemeni men and women and their inherent rights to life, dignity and freedom, while the country experiences the most severe man-made humanitarian disaster.
In this annual report, Mwatana for Human Rights provides an extensive review of particular violations that occurred and the overall human rights situation in Yemen during 2020. Mwatana, whose work covers all Yemeni governorates, has documented—through fact-finding, evidence examination, and detailed research—hundreds of incidents that appear to violate international humanitarian law and international human rights lawome of which may amount to war crimes. The report presents some incidents as examples, highlighting different types of abuse committed by the warring parties.
The parties to the conflict in Yemen continued to commit grave violations, undermining Yemenis’ ability to live, in flagrant disregard of the basic rules of international law and humanitarian standards. The warring parties, including the Saudi/UAE-led coalition as well as armed groups on the ground, such as Ansar Allah group (Houthis), have increasingly resorted to bureaucratic measures and other restrictions that have prevented basic items necessary for survival reaching vulnerable groups. Saudi/UAE-led coalition air strikes caused heavy loss of life and damage to vital infrastructure in the country. As documented in this report, ground attacks with indiscriminate and highly inaccurate weapons, like mortars, on populated areas by the Ansar Allah group (Houthis), government forces, and armed groups loyal to the Saudi/UAE-led coalition have caused significant material damage and loss of life. The landmines and booby traps left by the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) have claimed the lives of dozens of civilians, including women and children.
The report includes incidents highlighting the harsh conditions of detention, including the atrocious practices of torture and other forms of inhumane treatment, by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council forces and Ansar Allah group (Houthis), as well as forces affiliated with the Hadi government. In 2020, Mwatana documented a significantly higher number of incidents of civilians who experienced various forms of torture in detention centers run by the forces of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council. Unofficial detention sites and detention centers remain overcrowded, holding both civilian detainees and combatants.
During 2020, Mwatana for Human Rights provided legal support to victims of arbitrary detention in 19 Yemeni governorates through the work of 23 field lawyers who provided assistance and legal counselling in 541 incidents. The team’s continuous follow-up aimed to secure the release of victims of arbitrary detention, or improve conditions of detention, for example, the person’s environment or access to medication, etc., as well as pushing for detention procedures to proceed in accordance with national and international laws. During 2020, 277 people who had been arbitrarily detained and whose detentions were documented by Mwatana during the conflict were released, including detainees to whom Mwatana provided legal support. Many victims of detention-related abuse remain in detention.
The Ansar Allah group (Houthis), government forces and armed entities loyal to the Saudi/UAE-led coalition have been recruiting and using children in combat, security and logistical operations. In addition, Mwatana found an increase, compared to 2019, in the number of documented sexual violence incidents.
The report includes incidents of attacks on hospitals and medical staff. Strikingly, Mwatana documented more than double the number of these incidents by the parties to the conflict in 2020 than in 2019. The warring parties bear responsibility for the incessant damage to the already dilapidated medical sector during a time of extremely dangerous humanitarian conditions due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The report also includes documented attacks on schools and educational facilities, including various forms of attack and abuse, such as air and ground strikes, and military occupation and use.
The report also includes, for the first time, one chapter dedicated to other ways in which the warring parties have harmed civilians, including through the use of live ammunition and hitting civilians with military vehicles, as civilians continue to be killed and wounded by warring parties in various ways, and the report seeks to highlight some of these patterns of civilian harm.
In its annual report, Mwatana has also devoted space to illustrate conduct that affected the rights and civil liberties of Yemenis during 2020. The warring parties continued committing violations against journalists and media professionals. The parties also restricted freedom of movement and subjected civilians to additional arbitrary restrictions that deepened their suffering. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council and government forces used force to break up peaceful gatherings.
Finally, the report sheds light on the human rights situation in regards freedom of belief in Yemen, and devotes a chapter of the report to addressing attacks on personal freedoms by the parties to the conflict during 2020
https://mwatana.org/en/a-tragedy-without-justice/
Report in full: https://mwatana.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Human-Rights-in-Yemen-in-2020-En-1.pdf = https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Human-Rights-in-Yemen-in-2020-En-1.pdf
(** B H)
Yemen: Endless suffering of children after 7 years of brutal armed conflict & massive humanitarian crisis
More than 3,500 children were victims of one or more grave violations in Yemen between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020, highlights the third report of the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed conflict in Yemen. The denial of humanitarian access, killing and maiming, and the recruitment and use of children were the most prevalent of the 8,526 grave violations against children.
The staggering rise in incidents of denial of humanitarian access to children in the country (4,881) during the two-year period was, by far, the most verified violation against boys and girls. Two thousand six hundred (2,600) children were killed or maimed during the same period, mostly through the indiscriminate use of mortar and artillery shelling including in residential areas, ground fighting, anti-personal landmines, and other explosive remnants of war.
“The atrocities and immense suffering endured by children in Yemen are the result of an armed conflict that will invariably leave in its wake a generation of Yemeni children scarred for life. It is urgent for all parties to actively work towards a political solution of the conflict if they hope to save children from further harm. Boys and girls are the future of Yemen. Parties to conflict must protect them from use and abuse and start treating children as the precious asset they are”, said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba.
The protracted conflict across Yemen, the intensification of hostilities in 2019 and 2020, the multiplication of active frontlines and armed groups and forces, compounded by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in acute suffering for Yemeni children, their families, and their communities.
The verification of information for all grave violations by the United Nations on the ground was difficult. Aggravating factors in monitoring and reporting during 2019 and 2020 were due to security and access restrictions, including threats against and detention of monitors as well as fear of retaliation. The intensity of the conflict and hostilities also hindered the ability to document and verify violations. Lastly, the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions further exacerbated these existing access challenges.
The recruitment and use of 861 children was verified and often connected to other grave violations, in particular killing and maiming, with two third of recruited children used in active combat. The Special Representative emphasized the need to address the root causes of recruitment, including poverty, unemployment and/or limited access to education and called on all relevant parties to immediately release all children from their ranks and prioritize their reintegration into their communities and to civilian life.
Of great concern is also the deprivation of liberty of 111 children, held for alleged association with opposing parties to the conflict. The Special Representative reminds that children should be considered primarily as victims, and that depriving them of their liberty should only be used as a last resort and for the shortest period, in accordance with international juvenile justice standards. She further calls on the international community to continue to support the reintegration of released children, including through the Global Coalition for Reintegration of Child Soldiers.
Attacks on education continued with 37 incidents of attacks on schools and the military use of 80 schools, further impairing the right of boys and girls to an education with over two million children currently out of school in Yemen.
Grave violations against children in Yemen between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020
8,526 grave violations against 3,503 children
Recruitment and use: 861 children
Killing and maiming: 2,612 children
Rape and other forms of sexual violence: 14 incidents of sexual violence affecting 7 girls and 7 boys. *Actual number is likely much higher as rape and other forms of sexual violence against children is highly underreported for fear of stigmatization, cultural norms, lack of awareness, fear of reprisals, and lack of adequate support services and avenues for accountability
Abduction: 86 children abducted
Attacks on schools and hospitals: 72 attacks on schools (37) and hospitals (35)
Denial of humanitarian access: 4,881 incidents
and a shorter media report: https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/over-100-yemeni-children-held-captive-armed-groups-un
(** B P)
Mwatana for Human Rights: Our story
Establishment
On May 22, 1990, the Republic of Yemen was established with a constitution articulating the importance of democracy, political pluralism, freedom of the press and freedom to form civil associations in its constitution. This was a pivotal moment that led to the emergence of Yemeni political parties, newspapers, civil society organizations, and unions. Despite the relentless authoritarian efforts to control this emerging field and limit its activity and impact to create a “formal” democratic experience, many of these structures remained. Since that time, the voices of these organizations have been valiantly struggling to expand freedoms and defend democracy and human rights under an undemocratic Yemeni regime.
16 years into the birth of this moment came the hotly contested 2006 presidential election: one of the most important checkpoints for the emerging Yemeni democracy. It was at that time that the founders of Mwatana for Human Rights, Abdulrasheed Al-Faqih and Radhya Al-Mutawakel, met. Each with their respective experiences and acquaintances, they agreed to establish a civil rights organization together that would work to promote human rights and freedom.
To that end, they submitted an official request to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in accordance with the legal procedures of early 2007. Even after they fulfilled all the necessary legal requirements, the Ministry refused to grant the permit due to the past human rights work of the two founders, which encompassed working to rectify human rights violations against the peaceful Southern Movement, during the Saada wars, and generally of press freedom. In one attempt to obtain the permit, a government official said, “even if you come trying to establish a dancing group, you will not be given the permit. These are orders from above.”
Despite this, the two founders continued their human rights advocacy, eventually establishing relationships with international organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Open Society Foundations. Through these experiences, they were exposed to various mechanisms in human rights work, such as monitoring and documenting violations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
The two founders’ exposure to these pioneering international human rights strategies reinforced their conviction that Yemen needed a Yemeni human rights organization that worked with new human rights standards, mechanisms and determinants. They imagined an organization that enjoyed independence, competence, commitment, and faith towards rights causes, free from the negative professional and institutional barriers that weakened civil society and reduced its impact. They felt that the organization should work within a victim-centered framework with staff of both genders handling various cases. It should be governed by clear policies, procedures, and rules of conduct, with a focus on achieving impact in the short, medium and long terms. It should be committed to specialization within clear and strict limits, and avoid confusing political work with other related fields on one hand, and the human rights field on the other hand.
Institutional building
In addition to all the war challenges and its various violations, Mwatana constantly reflects at an institutional level to see if its operations and activities are in line with its vision, objectives and strategic plan. Despite the complex country situation, Mwatana always strives to design efficient and effective work plans that interact with various local, regional and international human rights actors. Engaging in this type of institutional building is what has helped Mwatana take steps towards achieving its goals: documenting and limiting human rights violations, advocating for justice for victims and holding perpetrators of human rights violations accountable.
As the organization grew, it also parallelly worked to develop efficient and effective financial and administrative systems based on effective policies that were in line with determinants of good governance. Such policies include preventing conflicts of interest, combating corruption, and ensuring transparency and accountability.
Gender Equality
One of the factors that makes Mwatana the strongest is its strong women representation. 52% of the staff are women, across various units and at all levels. This underlines the organization’s firm belief in the importance of female leadership and women’s rights. The organization’s statute states that the representation of women shall not be less than 50% of the organization’s human resources.
Units and Managements
Mwatana carries out its operations through ten specialized units and managements:
Research and studies unit
Legal support unit
Accountability and redress unit
Media and Communications unit
Advocacy unit
Projects and programs management
Evaluation, monitoring and learning management
Finance management
Human resources and operations management
Data and information management
Mwatana is also working on establishing an eleventh unit: a training unit that will eventually become the nucleus of Mwatana Academy.
Operations and mandates
Mwatana seeks to achieve its vision, mission, objectives, and strategic plan to serve human rights through a combination of integrative processes:
https://mwatana.org/en/ourstory/
(** B K pS)
Houthi indiscriminate shelling and mines killed, wounded 2032 civilians in Marib city: Report
A report released by Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations (YCMHRV), also known as Rasd Coalition, has shed light on civilian casualties in Marib city as a result of Houthi indiscriminate shelling on residential areas as well as randomly planted landmines.
Entitled ‘MARIB .. Civilians between shelling and mines’ the report documented 2032 cases of deaths and injuries due to mines and Houthi-launched missiles and artillery shelling on populated areas in the government-held city of Marib.
“The field monitors of the Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violation (Rasd Coalition) verified the Houthi militia’s responsibility for the killing and wounding of (2032) civilians, including (294) children, (132) women and (104) elderly men, through the deliberate targeting of populated neighborhoods and IDPs camps and a number of civilian objects that have been subjected to continuous missiles and artillery bombardment and drone attacks, as well as the planting of mines and IED networks in every place they have reached, and at the areas under the control of the legitimate government in the governorate,” YCMHRV said in its report.
According to the 81-page report, the death toll of civilians reached 440 since December 2014, including 91 children, 42 women, and 36 elderly people.
In February, the Iran-backed Houthi militia renewed a full-scale offensive to seize oil-rich Marib city, which is home to over one million IDPs.
Since then, fierce fighting has been taken place between the rebels and government forces, resulting in the killing of hundreds of fighters on both sides.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/29168
and full report:
(** B K pS)
Marib.. Civilians between shelling and mines
Day by day, the Houthi targeting of residential neighborhoods and camps of internally displaced people in Marib governorate has been increasing rapidly and frighteningly since the beginning of the year 2020, in conjunction with a large-scale attack launched by the Houthi militia on the governorates of Marib and Al-Jawf from several directions, not paying attention to the life and safety of civilians who are protected by the force of national laws and legislation, as well as international conventions, treaties and charters regulating war.
The report is based on a careful analytical study of the facts and events related to (allegations of human rights violations). it depends on a fact-finding process which is based on international monitoring and documentation standards, starting with receiving communications and complaints and collecting preliminary information on each incident and violation, conducting field visits to verify that information, interviewing the victims and their families, recording the testimonies of witnesses, and ebding with the final conclusion included in this report, supported by documents, evidence, and proofs that prove its credibility and eliminate any doubts about it.
During the reporting period, the team of “the Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations " received a number of (1,287) reports and complaints related to the bombing and mine explosion incidents carried out by the Houthi militia against the civilian population in the areas under the control of the legitimate government in Marib Governorate including (871) incidents of missile attacks, (119) incidents of artillery shelling, (44) incidents of drone attacks, and (262) incidents of landmines, explosive devices and unexploded ordnance.
These incidents were distributed to (347) bombing incidents in which the Houthi militia used ballistic missiles, (232) of which were intercepted by the air defense system, and (41) missiles fell without causing human casualties or material damage while the rest caused civilian casualties and property damage. The incidents of bombardment with "Grad/1" missiles, or what is known as "Katyusha" amounted to (509) incidents, including (263) missiles that fell in areas emptied of residents and did not result in any human losses or material damage. In addition, there are (3) incidents in which the militia used thermal missiles, and (3) other incidents in which "Organ" missiles were used, only one of which missed its target.
The Houthi militia also used "mortar" artillery shells in 109 incidents of shelling, including only 17 incidents that did not cause human or material losses whereas howitzer shells were used in (9) artillery shelling incidents, all of which caused material damage to property without any human losses. In addition to the attack by (44) drones, (37) of which were shot down and (7) other aircraft exploded, causing civilian casualties and property damage.
As for the explosion incidents that were reported, they were also distributed to (170) explosions of an explosive device, 70 of which caused civilian casualties and damage to property, the explosion of (67) anti-personnel mines, (22) anti-vehicle mines, and (3) unexploded ordnance, all of which resulted in civilian casualties and extensive property damage.
The "Rasd Coalition" team has dealt with more than (352) incidents, which are the total incidents that resulted in human casualties, including (141) incidents of missile firing, (42) incidents of artillery shelling, and (7) incidents of an attack in which a drone was used, in addition to (70) incidents of explosive devices explosion and (89) incident of explosion of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines. On the other hand, the team ignored the number of (697) other incidents that did not result in any human losses or material damage, and the number of (244) incidents whose damage was limited to civilian property and objects and there is no room to mention them here. Despite all the constraints and obstacles, which the local authority and its security and military
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QRHeYG-V-1eZEGW5OpRPewhjDhsENd9q/view
(** B H)
Yemen’s Mental Health Crisis and Its Implications for Security
While Yemen is in many ways embroiled in a frozen conflict—an enduring state of war in which little progress is made on either side—this characterization obscures the ongoing psychological trauma experienced by its victims. In Yemen—whenever this war ends—the collective memory of violence will endure well into the post-conflict future. For Yemeni society to truly heal from the brutality there must be a collective mechanism for processing trauma that acknowledges, rather than attempts to bury, the reality of the violence as a lived experience. The absence of this kind of process post-conflict foreshadows a grim cycle of soft peace and hard war.[4] For those living in the shadow of a former war – especially children who are too young to have ever experienced peacetime – conflict is the norm.[5] For a society to escape the memory of the violence that surrounded them, they must become normalized to peace.[6]
If mental trauma and illness in Yemen is left untreated after the frozen conflict has thawed, the nation’s collective trauma accumulated from the conflict will endure into the post-war period. Therefore, it is imperative to examine some of the drivers of deteriorating psychological wellbeing in Yemen (including those which existed pre-conflict), establish the extant medical resources available in the country, and probe the link between mental health and security—the final, key element in convincing stakeholders to prioritize the issue post-conflict. Any attempt to conduct peacebuilding in Yemen that fails to address the country’s mental health crisis will likely fail to provide any meaningful security for the country and its citizens in the long-term.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is an ongoing global “mental health crisis” caused by stress and anxiety related to the worldwide lockdown and the secondary effects of COVID-19.[7] But for Yemenis, COVID-19 and its attendant anxieties is just one mental health trigger in the country amid a mental health crisis. It has become something of a cliché at this point to say that Yemen is facing a crisis; almost every day we seem to read about how Yemen is “on the brink” of some sort of disaster. Much is written about how and why Yemen is facing disaster from a logistical and practical perspective, how they are physically confronting the next big outbreak of violence and disease, what sort of precautions they are taking, etc. However, not enough is written about how Yemenis emotionally deal with the trauma inherent to living through war, or to the relationship between the psychological welfare of Yemen’s citizens and the country’s basic security.
There is an unprecedented mental health crisis in Yemen. While mental illness has always been a problem in the country, six years of conflict have taken an unprecedented psychological toll on the population. The government lacks the capacity to deal with an issue of this subtlety and magnitude, and the current warring parties do not care about the physical well-being of the people (let alone their psychological wellbeing).
There is a cultural stigma surrounding mental health in Yemen in that experiencing poor mental health and seeking treatment for it are both viewed negatively by society. Despite the increasing prevalence of mental health issues, the disease itself remains in many cases a source of stigma and shame for the families of those affected. A significant number of children, women, and men who experience mental health issues are neglected by their families as a result, and sometimes even abandoned and disowned by them. [8] People in Yemen generally live in large multigenerational homes where conflict often ensues but is rarely addressed outside the family household. Abuse, both verbal and physical, is often considered an acceptable way of dealing with such issues in the absence of mental health and domestic violence awareness.
In rural areas especially, mentally ill people who are afflicted with any kind of socially unacceptable disorder may be locked away in cages or chained up by family members who do not know how to deal with them. While certain Yemeni methods for managing mentally ill individuals can appear shockingly inhumane, they are often the only options available to most Yemenis, who simply lack the resources and understanding to manage complex illnesses. Alternatively, many Yemenis in rural areas spend all their savings on sending their loved ones to Qur’anic therapeutic centers, which offer hope to families desperate for a cure but do not offer medically sound treatments.
Yemen’s addiction to Qat, a mild narcotic leaf chewed by 90% of the male population, is reflective of Yemen’s mental health crisis.[9] Qat, which produces the required neurotransmitters to induce serotonin, can be considered another form of self-therapy for those suffering from depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. In my interviews, many doctors claim qat’s popularity is due to it being the only widely available psychoactive substance present in the country that is deemed socially acceptable. Women and men and children of all ages use the plant everyday as a form of self-medication.
Such self-medication reflects the structural barriers to mental health care in Yemen, starting with poor education about mental health and limited resources for those in need of therapy or medication. Chronic mental health illnesses in Yemen often require expensive medication and supervision, and based on my conversations, only 50 mental health specialists exist in the entire country.[10] These specialists are mainly concentrated in cities, meaning that people outside urban areas are often unaware of their very existence and/or could never afford to travel to receive treatment. Those lucky enough to have access to professional psychiatric help can end up at the mercy of specialists who use outdated methods of diagnosis and treatment, such as electroconvulsive therapy, shock therapy, and lobectomy. Even Al-Amal hospital in Sanaa, considered to offer the best mental health care in the country, is compared to a prison by many doctors. These same medical professionals also note many organizations working in the field are present in Yemen, but they simply lack the resources to significantly help their patients. According to one doctor I spoke to, 80 percent of his patients relapse due to family pressure to end treatment for mental health illnesses.[11] – by Raiman Al-Hamdani
https://pomeps.org/yemens-mental-health-crisis-and-its-implications-for-security
(** B K P)
Humanitarian Crisis Ravages Yemen: Yet Biden Administration Continues To Service Saudi War Machine
The reason Houthi insurgents battling for control of Yemen are attacking the Kingdom is because it continues offensive operations – after spending more than six years slaughtering Yemenis with attacks on weddings, funerals, school buses, apartments, and myriad other civilian targets. Even worse may be the Saudi blockade of Yemen.
This, too, is an offensive weapon of war, but the U.S. continues to support the Kingdom as it limits Yemeni access to food and fuel. (A recent report by two human rights groups accuses the Saudis and Houthis alike of using "starvation as a method of warfare.") Washington’s failure to press Riyadh is shocking, not just because of the breadth and depth of Saudi human rights violations at home, but because the regime committed blatant aggression against Yemen, intervening in a civil war to reinstate a pliant regime.
Although the Biden administration has held up some weapons sales for review, in mid-September it approved a $500 million maintenance contract for attack helicopters used in Yemen. This highlights America’s extensive involvement in the war: selling and servicing aircraft, supplying munitions, providing intelligence, and initially refueling aircraft. Continuing these activities so that Saudi Arabia can "defend" itself from retaliation for more than six years of brutal aggression is not defense as any normal person understands it. The Saudi royals could protect their spoiled lifestyle by simply ending their attacks on Yemen, including the cruel air and naval blockade. They do not need US aid and encouragement.
The result has been a humanitarian horror.
There never was any reason for US involvement. Yemen holds no geopolitical importance for America.
The Kingdom’s carelessly brutal war triggered congressional opposition, but the last refuge of the well-heeled Saudi lobbying machine, backed by the Trump White House, was the incantation "Iran." Yet regional specialists aver that Tehran’s influence over the Houthis always has been limited.
Observed Abdulghani al-Iryani of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies: "As it stands now, the calculus of the Houthis with UN council resolutions condemning them and demanding that they must surrender before they go into any serious peace negotiations has made it impossible for them to consider peace negotiations as an option." He added: "So, we need to level the playing field for peace negotiations by replacing the existing UN Security Council resolutions with resolutions that are equally supportive of peace negotiations and equally punitive of the violations that are committed by all sides."
Of course, it would be best for all parties to agree to a ceasefire and enter into serious political negotiations to find the solution best for the Yemeni people.
Ultimately, the Yemeni conflict shows the importance of Washington staying out of conflicts not its own.
The administration cannot credibly promote human rights and democracy while aiding one of the world’s worst autocracies in an aggressive war against its impoverished neighbor. Both President Biden and Congress should cut US support for Saudi aggression against Yemen. Only then will diplomacy have a reasonable chance to find a path to peace – by Doug Bandow
(** B P)
Ansar Allah (Houthi) armed Group carries out a brutal execution after unfair trials by the Specialized Criminal Court
Mwatana releases a study on the use of Specialized Criminal Courts by the parties to the conflict as a tool to persecute adversaries and penalize political opponents.
In conjunction with the execution of nine people on Saturday, September 18 by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) armed group following a trial that lacked minimum fair trial requirements, Mwatana for Human Rights noted that the grossly unfair trials against defendants by Specialized Criminal Courts have violated the requirements and guarantees of the right to a fair trial under the international and national legal norms and standards. Mwatana stated that the execution of nine people last Saturday by the authorities of Ansar Allah (Houthi) group represents a serious escalation in the way the specialized criminal court is used to the extent of committing a murder.
In August 2020, the Houthi-controlled Specialized Criminal Court sentenced to death 16 people for their alleged involvement in the assassination of Saleh al-Samad, former head of the Ansar Allah Supreme Political Council, who was killed in Hodeidah Governorate in April 2018 by a Saudi/UAE-led coalition airstrike. In April 2021, the Specialized Criminal Appeals Court in Hodeidah upheld a trial judgment to execute 16 people.
The detainees were arrested in 2018 and, according to the lawyer Abdel Majid Sabrah, were subjected to a series of violations, including lengthy periods of enforced disappearance and torture, as the lawyer asserted some of the convicts informed the judge that they were tortured. In addition, the trial was unfair and did not meet the minimum standards of a fair trial under the national and international laws, including the abuse of the defense’s right.
On Friday, 17 September, the Houthi-controlled Yemen News Agency (SABA) announced that the execution would be the next day. Mwatana had issued an urgent communiqué calling on Ansar Allah (Houthi) group to immediately suspend the executions.
On Saturday, 18 September 2012, Ansar Allah (Houthi) group executed nine of the convicted: Ali Ali Ibrahim Al-Qawzi (43 years), Abdul Malik Ahmed Mohammed Hamid (55 years), Muhammad Khalid Ali Haig Al-Omar (34 years), Muhammad Ibrahim Ali Al-Qawzi (46 years), Muhammad Yahya Muhammad Noah (46 years), Ibrahim Muhammad Abdullah Aqil (44 years), Muhammad Ali Al-Mashkhari (47 years), Abd Al-Aziz Ali Muhammad Al-Aswad (believed to be a minor when detained), Moath Abdul-Rahman Abdullah (23 years). The executions were carried out in the presence of a number of journalists and hundreds of attendees at Tahrir Square in Sana’a. The Tazir [Islamic law punishment] took place through chanting and dancing, in a horrific attempt to normalize the killing and turn it into a celebration-like event.
“This shameful mass execution would not have been possible without Ansar Allah (Houthi) group relying on a policy of impunity,” Radhya Almutawakel, the chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, said. “This shocking incident serves as an additional reminder to the international community of the necessity of supporting the accountability efforts and creating an international criminal investigation mechanism for Yemen.”
While condemning this horrific abuse, Mwatana warns that the execution of the nine victims in the case of assassinating Al-Samad may pave the way for further executions by Ansar Allah (Houthi) group, especially that the Specialized Criminal Court in Sana’a issued, in late August 2021, a death sentence against 11 people, including two women, in the so-called “Ammar Affash cell”. The four journalists Akram Al-Walidi, Abdul Khaleq Amran, Harith Hamid, Tawfiq Al-Mansouri and others, whom were sentenced to death by the Houthi-held Specialized Criminal Court, are still at risk of executing that unfair verdict, in addition to other death sentences by courts that marred by serious violations.
Mwatana’s legal study, released today, shows that parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have committed various violations against detainees were brought to specialized criminal courts. Mwatana calls for the conflicting parties to end the arbitrariness that the defendants are subjected to prior and during the course of the trial proceedings, and to obligate to ensure that the judiciary is independent and not used as an instrument of conflict.
Throughout the years of armed conflict in Yemen, warring parties have used the judiciary represented by specialized criminal courts as a tool of abusing adversaries and penalizing political opponents. The study concluded that the indictments submitted by the criminal Procuratorate to the criminal court, specialized in the cases under question, were based on evidence-gathering records, and that all judgements were handed down based on those records. Such records were often confined to the defendants’ confessions before the security authorities and the criminal Procuratorate controlled by the authority of the parties to the conflict, without conducting serious investigations into the truth of the case or into the truth of the evidence of facts denied by defendants before the judicial council of the court. Some defendants reported that the confessions were extracted under duress and physical and psychological torture during the long period of detention, which calls into question their legal value as clues in accordance with the law.
The 129-page study, which Mwatana titled as “Courts for Abuse: Case Study on Specialized Criminal Courts in Yemen” examines how the conduct of trials before these courts and the sentences handed down by them are consistent with fair trial principles.
The study examined a sample of cases considered by the specialized criminal courts during the period from 2014 to 2020 in Sana’a (controlled by Ansar Allah group) and Hadhrmout (controlled by the Internationally Recognized Government). The study relied systematically on taking notes of those cases in question and examining the judgements handed down, and on the notes taken by the victims’ defenses and their pleadings from the judgements of those cases. On October 22, 2020, Mwatana held a focused discussion session entitled “Specialized Criminal Courts – Legal Framework and Actual Practice”, with the aim of discussing the status of these courts and taking the views of specialists. A number of academics, legal experts and leading lawyers, who have previously acted as defence counsel for victims before specialized criminal courts, participated in the session.
The study examined the historical background of the establishment of the Specialized Criminal Court and Procuratorate in Yemen in 1999, and the radical transformation of their function and framework following the amendment included in the Republican Decree No (8) 2004, which was issued five years after the establishment of the court and added the state security crimes and public security crimes to the jurisdiction of the court, and the consequent transformation of specialized criminal courts into State Security courts. Even prior to the latest armed conflict in 2014, the successive authorities intentionally tried political opponents, journalists, opinion-makers and members of religious minorities before the Specialized Criminal Court rather than the ordinary criminal courts, with the aim of abusing and intimidating them.
The study concluded that the cases, in which pleas were submitted that the Specialized Criminal Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the proceedings before it, were rejected by the court and decided to proceed with the case. Then, it confirmed its rejection of the pleas for lack of jurisdiction through its final judgment. One of the cases in which the Specialized Criminal Court in Sana’a rejected the plea for lack of jurisdiction was, for example, the case concerning the trial of journalists, where the court continued to hear the case and sentenced four journalists to death for what the court called “crimes of publication” and classified them as State Security Crimes. The normal or ordinary judiciary is an international and constitutional guarantee of fair trials, under which the basic guarantees of protection of the rights of the defendants are provided during their appearance before the courts in both ordinary and exceptional circumstances.
In its conclusions, the study revealed that the Specialized Criminal Courts and Procuratorates – under the authorities of the parties to the conflict – condoned claims and pleas of defendants by violating the requirements and guarantees of their right to a fair trial recognized under international and national laws. Such violations include, unlawful arresting procedures, arbitrary detentions, prolonged enforced disappearance in prisons, use of torture and other forms of inhumane treatment, depriving defendants of medical care, and preventing them from contacting their families or lawyers.
The study also revealed that many of the court cases were unreasonably prolonged. They could be identified as unfair trials, according to the international standards, in terms of the time they took. For example, the Specialized Criminal Court in Sana’a held (33) hearings on one of the significant cases, and the judgement was not handed down until three years after the trial began. The trial hearings of the same case before the Specialized Criminal Appeals Court in Sana’a also lasted (20) hearings, and judgement was not rendered until one year and three months. Prior to that, the trail hearings by the Specialized Criminal Appeals Court did not begin until one year after filing the petition to challenge the judgement of the Specialized Criminal Court.
Besides, the study showed that respecting fair trial guarantees practically requires that each of the trail steps and proceedings to be bounded by precise controls and requirements, whether with regard to the validity of the proceedings against defendants (before and during the trial), powers of the authorities and persons conducting those proceedings, or proceedings timing and time scheduling. The law-prescribed penalty for failure to respect the defendants’ rights and guarantees is nullity of the trial or nullity of the proceedings, and therefore the right to compensation and reparation of any person affected.
The study concluded that specialized criminal courts and procuratorates condoned the claims and pleas of defendants with violating their rights and guarantees established under the Constitution and the law by the seizure and investigation entities (especially with regard to the illegality of the procedures of arresting them, detaining them for prolonged periods in prisons of security entities, torturing them sometimes, depriving them of medical care, and preventing them from contacting their families or lawyers) and by The failure of the courts to seriously investigate those pleas that deciding on them depends on the validity or invalidity of the procedures and evidence, and therefore the validity or invalidity of the judgments, which constitutes a fundamental breach of the guarantees and rights of the defendants to a fair trial according to the international and national standards.
The study also showed an aspect of the practices in which Specialized Criminal Courts abuse the right of defending the defendants. Such practices include the failure to allow defendants of State Security cases to freely choose their own lawyers, whom they trust and are competent to defend them, while assigning (appointing) defense lawyers by the court is merely to fulfill the legal form of the trial, except in rare cases. In addition, the lawyers assigned by the courts were deliberately not allowed, often in the first hearing of the trial, to review and obtain a copy of the whole case file. Where the lawyers were allowed to do so, they were not given sufficient time to prepare their defense, nor to freely communicate with their clients outside the trial hearings, but rather they were prevented from pleading before the court sometimes.
The study concluded that the Specialized Criminal Courts – as an institution and as individuals – have fallen under the influence and leverage of the parties to the conflict, especially when it comes to hearing cases that are altered as threatening to the state security. The parties to the conflict have shown a flagrant disregard for the principle of judicial independence, which includes a clear disregard for the rule of law.
https://mwatana.org/en/unfair-trials/
(** B P)
Film: The Socotra Archipelago: A Battle for an Ancient Land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtZJFr7HsS4
(** B C)
OLD CITY OF SANA’A: A MODEL OF GREEN ARCHITECTURE
Being exceptional, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization “UNESCO” enlisted the old city of Sana’a in 1986 among the list of World Heritage. Old Sana’a was selected as a creative genius masterpiece made by man that reflects one of the important and common human values, whether in the development of architecture, techniques, archaeological arts, city planning, or landscape design.
According to the UNESCO World Heritage List, the old city of Sana’a was “built in a mountainous valley, rising up to 2,200 meters above sea level, which has been continuously inhabited for over 2,500 year. In the 7th and 8th centuries the city became a major center for the propagation of Islam. This religious and political heritage can be seen in the 103 mosques, 14 hammams and over 6,000 houses, all built before the 11th century. Sana’a’s many-storeyed tower-houses built of rammed earth (pisé) add to the beauty of the site”.
Ecologically Advanced Yemeni Architecture
Architecturally, Yemeni buildings in Old Sana’a are essential part of the conserved human world heritage. As the old city of Sana’a has been characterized by a unique urban pattern resulted in organic fabric for a city sustained an urban heritage that had the ability to meet all the requirements and needs of its inhabitants, including ecological requirements.
According to a scientific study, published by the Journal of the University of Science and Technology in Sana’a, August 2010, entitled “Ecological Urban Heritage of the Old City of Sana’a”, the building methodology of the old city of Sana’a created architectural and planning adjustments that made the old city looks like a living being that lives in harmony and peace with its surrounding environment.
The housing formation in the old city of Sana’a included squares, gardens, (Maqshama: a Vegetable garden in the old city), streets and alleys. They were all formed in harmony, and homogeneousness. The mosque had a controlling and regulating role, even on the ecological level, including the consumption and recycling of good water.
Building Customized to Attract Sunlight & Natural Air
In a study by Dr. Abdulmuttalib Ali, Professor of Architecture and Environmental Control, Asyut University, and Samira Al-Shawosh, an assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering, Sana’a University, the ancient Yemeni architects adopted functional ecological principles and specific techniques when designing and constructing the old city of Sana’a; taking into account the ecological aspects, most importantly, the tendency towards the outwardly oriented architecture.
The study also mentioned, “Based on scientific principles of the environmental design, the buildings of the old city of Sanaa were built centuries ago to resist the effects of climate, thermal insulation and erosion factors, and also to ensure the durability and stability of the buildings. Moreover, the uniquely featured houses were designed to follow the movement of the sun and air to obtain good lighting and natural ventilation.”
Furthermore, the Yemeni architects, when constructing Sana’a buildings, adopted the vertical construction style with a height of 4-6 floors in a compact cubic shape. Amazingly, most of the old buildings of Sana’a were built facing south in order to receive the largest possible amount of sunlight during the winter.
Old Sana’a: The Oldest Model of Green Architecture
More than 1,000 years ago and preceding most of the world’s cities, the old city of Sana’a presented a model of green architecture in its 6,500 buildings (UN-Habitat /2020), which were constructed with local environment friendly materials, such as stones, mud, baked bricks, wood and gypsum. Even If the buildings are demolished, the ruins will not be harmful to the environment or health.
It is noticeable, according to (Abdulmutalab, Samira, 2010), that the planning of the old city and the design of its various constituents followed many appropriate environmental methods.
As shown in the study of (Abdulmuttaleb, 2010), the old city of Sana’a is uniquely and sophisticatedly surrounded by green areas of gardens (Maqshama). Moreover, the field survey found that the green spaces in Old Sana’a cover about a fifth of the total area of the Old City, as each neighborhood in the old city of Sana’a has its own wide green area.
These green areas in the old city of Sana’a had environmental and economic functions, as they purify air and oxygen, reduce temperature, cool down the weather, raise humidity, and absorb direct sunlight.
The study of (Mohammad Al-Olafi and others, 2013), published in the Damascus University Journal, entitled “The Architectural Thought for Residential Building in Sana’a between Tradition and Contemporary,” found out that the characteristics of residential areas in the old city of Sana’a were derived from the place and the land where they exist in order to take advantage of the resources available on the site in a way that responds to the site’s determinants and its environmental conditions.
Likewise, the study of (Abdulmuttalib, 2010) indicated that when planning and designing the old city of Sana’a, all the sources of pollution in the city were dealt with differently
The old City of Sana’a, More Advanced than the Modern City
The old city of Sana’a retains many environmental features in terms of planning and design that can be entrenched, developed and applied to modern architecture. Additionally, Old Sana’a has unprecedentedly adopted the implementation of environmental practices, recently known as the principles of green architecture.
It is very evident, however, that most of the architects in Yemen today, failed to maintain the ancient styles of Yemeni architecture when planning modern architecture, specifically the architecture of the old city of Sana’a and the old city of Shibam Hadramout. They also were unable to benefit from architectural originality and the environmental functions of buildings or even developing their techniques – By Mohammad Al-Hakimi (many photos)
https://holmakhdar.org/reports/3961/
(** B P)
Has neo-Orientalism killed our ability to sense the limits of Western influence?
The failure of Afghanistan should open our eyes to the fact that we don’t really know other countries and cultures at all.
The denial of the importance of local histories and traditions, as well as the lessons drawn from the imperial history of the West, is intrinsic to the American and European sense of ideological mission in the world, which underpins their claims to global and regional hegemony. It is also to some extent intrinsic to how the Western bureaucracies concerned operate. Bureaucracy, as well as ideology, demands universal templates, universally applicable. For the bureaucracy to function smoothly (as opposed to the achievement of actual change), local expertise is more a hindrance than a help.
Furthermore, the fact that in many parts of the world, the priority of personal safety (known in British officialdom as “The Duty of Care”) means that Western officials can barely travel outside the capital cities, or even outside their own embassies and international hotels. After a couple of years, having failed to develop any serious knowledge of one society, they hop on to try to implement identical programs in another society — which they also fail to study. The result: programs that have only the most tangential relationship to local reality, and consequently, don’t stand the remotest chance of even limited success.
Academia has played its own part in undermining the West’s ability to engage meaningfully with political, social and economic developments elsewhere in the world. Recent decades have seen a steep decline in history and area studies (and foreign languages in the United States and UK). Their place has been taken by disciplines based overwhelmingly on Western liberal prejudices masquerading as objective general theories, with “rational choice theory” as the crassest version of this.
Additional pressure against the serious study of other cultures has been provided by the legions of academics who have adopted crude and conformist versions of Edward Said’s “Orientalism” thesis, whereby every Western attempt to study other cultures on their own terms can automatically be suspected of Western quasi-racist “essentialism” and denounced accordingly. This has had an especially destructive effect in the area of anthropology.
The weird thing about this is that this supposedly “anti-colonial” ideology not only denies any autonomous culture to other peoples in the world, but contains an implicit assumption that all human beings (unless warped by evil Western influences) are at heart Western liberal college professors. This is in fact a nice liberal-sounding version of the famous statement of the U.S. Marine general in Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam War film Full Metal Jacket: “Inside every Gook there is an American waiting to get out.”
All too often, these illusions are fostered by liberal urban intellectuals and activists from the countries concerned, who have tremendous emotional and practical incentives to present their countries as intrinsically modern (with modern implicitly defined in entirely Western terms). Emotionally, this serves their own passionate desire to be part of the West and treated as equals by their Western colleagues.
Since such people are often the only ones to whom Western journalists and officials seriously listen, the result can be a sort of copulation of illusions.
What has happened in Afghanistan should provide the impetus for a soul-searching debate in the West about our entire approach to programs of democratization and “governance reform” in other countries. For while the Western military effort in Afghanistan failed only relatively (in the sense that while Western forces failed to achieve their goals, they were not actually defeated), Western efforts at democratic state-building failed totally and unconditionally. There is literally nothing left of them. Nor were the Afghan classes whom we had trusted and fostered prepared in the last resort to fight and die for the system that we had jointly created.
The critical importance of local history, culture, and tradition applies both to the Western defeat and the Taliban victory.
We should have learned this from Vietnam. If we fail to learn it from Iraq and Afghanistan, it will suggest that our political systems and political cultures have become intellectually, morally, and institutionally fossilized to a degree reminiscent of the Soviet Union under Brezhnev. We may think that democracy will save us from this fate, but democracy, like God, helps those who help themselves – by Anatol Lieven
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
(B H P)
Yemen overwhelmed by the third wave of Covid: here 99% of the population has not received vaccines
Yemen has disappeared from the radar of public and political debate, but never as now is it necessary to draw the attention of the international community to what remains the most serious humanitarian emergency in the world: the third wave of Covid is hitting heavily a population exhausted by almost 7 years of war, which for the 99% she is not vaccinated and largely does not have access to cures, treatments and tools to prevent contagion.
Just think, that, according to official data, there are registered cases tripled and the death rate has increased more than fivefold in the past month. Figures that do not take into account the countless undiagnosed deaths due to the lack of tests, in a country where only half of the health facilities are still in operation.
It is therefore clear that the emergency in Yemen risks precipitating further. The conflict has decimated the already fragile sanitary system, a large part of the population is weakened by the lack of food, clean water and cannot afford to buy medicines.
https://www.italy24news.com/News/206457.html
(* A H)
28 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 9,067 in total
The committee also reported in its statement the recovery of 17 coronavirus patients, in addition to the death of 6 others.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/33835
(* A H)
23 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 9,039 in total
The committee also reported in its statement the recovery of 12 coronavirus patients, in addition to the death of 6 others.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/33827
(* A H)
54 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 8,988 in total
The committee also reported in its statement the recovery of 42 coronavirus patients, in addition to the death of 9 others.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/33816
(A H P)
Yemen uses UN speech to call for more COVID-19 vaccines
The top diplomat of Yemen's internationally recognized government said Monday his conflict-torn country needs millions more coronavirus vaccines to ensure some of the world's poorest are not left behind.
In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said the roughly 1 million doses Yemen was given are not enough to vaccinate even the most vulnerable portions of its population.
Yemen has a long way to go toward vaccinating the majority of its some 30 million people, most of whom are facing multiple humanitarian crises, including poverty, hunger and poor access to adequately run hospitals.
Yemen´s government has received just roughly 500,000 doses so far this year through the COVAX initiative, and the rest through direct donations from other countries.
"These amounts are still not enough to cover the targeted groups," Bin Mubarak said. "We hope that the donating countries will contribute to increasing the number of vaccines so that no one is left behind."
and also https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/09/yemen-asks-balanced-vaccine-donation-un-forum
(* A H)
43 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 8,934 in total
The committee also reported in its statement the recovery of 28 coronavirus patients, in addition to the death of 12 others.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/33811
(* A H)
30 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 8,891 in total
The committee also reported in its statement the recovery of 30 coronavirus patients, in addition to the death of 9 others.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/33805
(B H)
Oxfam: Nur ein halbes Prozent der Jemeniten ist vollständig gegen das Coronavirus geimpft
Oxfam, die Internationale Hilfsstiftung zur Beseitigung von Armut, Hunger und Ungerechtigkeit, hat sich besorgt über die Knappheit des Corona-Impfstoffs im Jemen geäußert.
Laut Mohsen Siddiqii, dem Direktor des Oxfam-Büros im Jemen vom Freitag habe weniger als ein Prozent der 30 Millionen Menschen des Landes eine Einzeldosis Corona-Impfstoff erhalten und nur ein halbes Prozent der Jemeniten sei vollständig gegen das Virus geimpft worden.
Siddiqi stellte fest, dass der globale Mechanismus von Covacs (Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access), der die einzige Quelle für Corona-Impfstoffe für Jemen ist, bisher nur 511.000 Dosen der versprochenen 4,2 Millionen Impfstoffdosen an den Jemen geliefert hat.
(* A H)
31 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 8,861 in total
The committee also reported in its statement the recovery of 14 coronavirus patients, in addition to the death of 9 others.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/33800
cp2 Allgemein / General
(* A K P)
Interactive Map of Yemen War
(* A K)
Yemen War daily map updates
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-september-30-2021-map-update/
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-september-29-2021-map-update/
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-september-28-2021-map-update/
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-september-27-2021-map-update/
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-september-26-2021-map-update/
https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-september-25-2021-map-update/
(B H K P)
IntelBrief: Yemen Fades from Headlines Even as Fighting in Marib Intensifies
Fighting intensified this week in the strategically important city of Marib in central Yemen, believed to be a key access point to the northern part of the country.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan traveled to the Middle East earlier this week, meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
After suffering a series of foreign policy setbacks, the Biden administration is looking for a “win,” and intensifying diplomatic engagement related to the conflict in Yemen remains a top priority.
While the Biden administration has so far taken a tougher stance with the Saudis than the Trump administration, it remains unclear whether Washington can convince Riyadh to end its disastrous involvement in Yemen.
https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2021-september-30/
(* B H K P)
Audio: THE HORROR AND MORTAL TERROR OF YEMEN, A STATE IN TERMINAL DECLINE
In this episode of The Focus, @BruniDr speaks with Yemeni activist Hisham Al-Omeisy @omeisy on the ongoing international tragedy that is #Yemen
https://sageinternational.com.au/tag/yemen/
(B K pH)
Yousef Mawry: Saudi Arabia Bleeding in War on Yemen
Yousef Mawry, journalist and political commentator, says Riyadh never imagined Sana’a could turn the war the way its US-made Patriot air defense system would fail to repel Yemen’s airstrikes.
Speaking in an interview with FNA, Mawry said, “Yemeni fighters have entered Saudi territory and they have taken Saudi military sites in Najran, and Jazan. They have also used these areas to conduct a number of attacks on Saudi military sites in the southern region. The Yemeni army is able to carry out ballistic missile attacks… Their defense system has failed in repelling the majority of Ansarallah drone and ballistic missile attacks.”
“Ansarallah’s Islamic ideology obliges them to "liberate" the city of Mecca from the Saudis. This war that Saudi Arabia started is giving Ansarallah the justification they need to launch a campaign in the near future to oust the Saudi regime from power and take over Mecca,” he added.
Yousef Mawry is an American-Yemeni award-wining journalist, and political commentator based in the US state of Michigan.
Below is the full text of the interview:
Q: How do you view the Yemeni army's achievement in targeting different places from inside Saudi soil? Why is the Saudi army unable to repel such attacks?
A: Yemeni fighters have entered Saudi territory and they have taken Saudi military sites in Najran, and Jazan. They have also used these areas to conduct a number of attacks on Saudi military sites in the southern region. The Yemeni army is able to carry out ballistic missile attacks because as it turns out Saudi Arabia never imagined it would be in a situation where it would have to depend on its air defense system. And although the Saudi air defense system has been able to intercept some aerial attacks, their defense system has failed in repelling the majority of Ansarallah drone and ballistic missile attacks. Saudi Arabia has failed to repel the majority of Yemeni missile attacks because the US-made Patriot Missile Defense system that Saudi Arabia depends on is just not that reliable. Although Saudi Arabia is able to repel some Yemeni missile attacks, it cannot intercept all as empirically proven.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14000706000841/Ysef-Mawry-Sadi-Arabia-Bleeding-in-War-n-Yemen
(A P)
[Sanaa gov.] Chairman of 'Safer' Committee meets UNDP Resident Representative
The meeting discussed the current status of Safer floating reservoir, and possible proposals to address its situation to prevent an environmental disaster in the Red Sea
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3157829.htm
(A P)
[Hadi gov.] Yemeni Minister Says Houthis Exploiting Safer Tanker to Blackmail Int’l Community
The Yemeni Minister of Water and Environment, Tawfiq al-Sharjabi, warned of a possible disaster in the Red Sea because of a possible spill from the Safer oil tanker.
Sharjabi accused the Houthi militias of using the floating tank off the coast of Hodeidah Governorate to blackmail the international community, thus threatening regional and local marine life and the lives of millions of people.
The Minister’s remarks came during the ninth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention, "Water and Peace" held at the UN headquarters in Geneva.
(B P)
Yemen: Various parties to the conflict continue to commit grave human rights violations
The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) is concerned about the arrests of human rights defenders and the use of the death penalty after unfair trials in which those convicted alleged they were tortured in Yemen.
Execution of nine citizens
On 18 September 2021, the de facto government in Sana'a, the Houthi group, executed nine citizens in Al-Tahrir Square in the capital, Sana'a, after convicting them of involvement in the killing of the head of its political council, Saleh Al-Samad, along with six other companions, on 20 April 2018, in an air strike in the city of Hodeidah, western Yemen.
Ongoing human rights violations
Late on the night of 13 September 2021, a security force stormed the home of human rights defender Amatullah Al-Hammadi in the city of Marib and arrested her. Local reports confirmed that she is still being held in a prison belonging to the Political Security Agency in Marib Governorate, which is affiliated with the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Although security sources claimed that her arrest was ordered by the Public Prosecution due to a case against her, local observers confirmed that her detention in the Political Security prison confirms their fears that she is being targeted because of her peaceful human rights work.
GCHR calls on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to release all prisoners of conscience, including human rights defender Amatullah Al-Hammadi and human rights lawyer Saleem Allaw.
All parties to the conflict should ensure, in all circumstances, that all human rights defenders and journalists in Yemen are able to carry out their legitimate human rights work without fear of reprisals and without restrictions, including judicial harassment.
https://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/2839 = https://ifex.org/yemen-grave-human-rights-violations-persist-amidst-conflict/
(B H K)
War in Yemen Has Created Devastating Hunger Crisis
Both sides of the war have had dire effects on the hunger crisis currently gripping the country. The Houthi have intercepted and limited food aid, while the Saudi side have bombed and destroyed farms and fishing boats.
The Saudis also created a blockade on Yemen’s air and sea ports, worsening the crisis immensely.
https://greekreporter.com/2021/09/29/war-yemen-devastating-hunger-crisis/
(* B H K)
Battle for 'Future of Yemen' as Rebels Close on Key City
Yemen's Huthi rebels could be on the verge of changing the course of the war as they close in on a key northern city, experts say, warning millions of refugees are at risk.
Hundreds of fighters have died in fierce clashes this month after the Iran-backed insurgents renewed their campaign for Marib, the government's last bastion in the oil-rich northern region.
Seizing Marib would be a game-changer, completing the rebels' takeover of Yemen's north while giving them control of oil resources and the upper hand in any peace negotiations.
It also raises fears for the more than two million refugees living in camps in the region after fleeing other frontline cities during the long-running conflict.
"The battle of Marib will determine the future of Yemen," Abdulghani Al-Iryani, a senior researcher at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, told AFP.
"Huthis control most of the governorate and are closing in on the city."
"The refugees will probably pay the highest price for this destructive war," said Iryani.
Ahmed Nagi, of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, said they have made significant advances after opening new fronts around Marib in recent weeks.
If they seize the city, "the Huthis will use Marib to advance towards the southern governorates bordering it", he told AFP.
The Huthis began a big push to seize Marib in February
The city had between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants before the war, but its population has ballooned as Yemenis fled there from other parts of the country.
With about 139 refugee camps in the province, according to the government, hosting approximately 2.2 million people, the displaced civilians are caught in the line of fire once again.
"As they disperse, it will be harder for them to access humanitarian assistance and, with the specter of famine looming over Yemen, the Marib battle will make it more imminent," said Iryani.
Kendall said "if the rebels seize Marib, the impact on the humanitarian situation will be dire", while Nagi predicted a "huge" disaster.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210928-battle-for-future-of-yemen-as-rebels-close-on-key-city = https://www.voanews.com/a/battle-for-future-of-yemen-as-rebels-close-on-key-city/6248639.html
Comment: "Huthis control most of the (#Marib) governorate and are closing in on the city." This is not correct. Over the past few days, Houthis controlled most of Hareeb district not Marib governorate, and closing in on al-Abdiyah district, not the city.
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1443006598218141697
(* B E K P)
Key to conflict: How battle for Marib is crucial to Yemen war
Here are some key facts about Marib and its strategic role:
- 'Military weight' -
Marib is the last northern bastion of the internationally recognised government, which was driven from the capital Sanaa in 2014 and is now based in the southern city of Aden.
If it falls into rebel hands, not only would the Huthis control all the north, but it could also facilitate the capture of other provinces.
Marib has "significant military weight" for the government, said Ahmed Nagi of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center.
"It carries the symbolic course of the conflict, with it being the area the Huthis have not been able to seize despite relentless efforts over the past six years, even before the intervention of the Saudi-led coalition" from 2015, he told AFP.
Capturing Marib would also give the Huthis leverage in any negotiations with the government.
Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek Saeed said this week that the ongoing battle "is not one for (nearby) Shabwa or Marib, but a battle for all Yemenis", according to the official Saba news agency.
"The fate of the battle will determine the future of Yemen."
- Energy wealth -
Marib province boasts oil and gas reserves, making it a major economic prize.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210928-key-to-conflict-how-battle-for-marib-is-crucial-to-yemen-war = https://www.rfi.fr/en/middle-east/20210928-key-to-conflict-how-battle-for-marib-is-crucial-to-yemen-war
(* B H K)
Krieg im Jemen: Auch Kinder müssen kämpfen
Trotz der katastrophalen humanitären Bedingungen eskalieren die Kriegsparteien im Jemen den Konflikt weiter. Wie ein UN-Bericht zeigt, schrecken sie nicht einmal davor zurück, Kinder dafür einzusetzen.
Die Vereinten Nationen (UN) gaben am 14. September bekannt, dass alle Kriegsparteien die Menschenrechte verletzen. Keine der jemenitischen Kriegsparteien ist an einer Untersuchung interessiert. Kamel Jenoubi von der Jemen-Expertengruppe beklagt, dass die UNO seit drei Jahren in Folge keine Menschenrechtsverletzungen im Jemen untersuchen darf.
Aber es liegt auch nicht im Interesse Saudi-Arabiens, Kriegsverbrechen zu dokumentieren: Nach UN-Recherchen sind seit 2015 mehr als 18.000 Zivilisten bei Luftangriffen Saudi-Arabiens und seiner Verbündeten verletzt oder getötet worden.
Trotz der anhaltend katastrophalen humanitären Lage im Land eskalieren die Kriegsparteien den Konflikt immer wieder – und scheuen mittlerweile nicht einmal davor zurück, Kinder in die Schlacht zu schicken.
In einem Bericht des UN-Sicherheitsrats vom vergangenen Mai dokumentieren Experten, dass die Konfliktparteien auch Minderjährige rekrutieren. Im Forschungsjahr 2020 waren es 163 Kinder bei den Huthi und 34 Kinder bei den jemenitischen Streitkräften aus dem Süden.
Die in der Schweiz ansässige Menschenrechtsorganisation “Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor” zeichnet ein noch düstereres Bild: Sie zeigt, dass die Huthi eine große Kinderrekrutierungskampagne durchführen. Sie haben 52 Trainingslager eingerichtet, in denen Kinder zu Soldaten werden sollen. Nach Angaben des “Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor” sollen die Huthi während des Krieges mehr als 10.000 Kinder rekrutiert haben.
Nach Recherchen der Organisation wird nicht immer Druck oder Indoktrination ausgeübt, sondern oft die Not der Menschen ausgenutzt. In einem Interview beschreibt der 15-jährige MH aus der Provinz Sanaa: „Im Januar 2020 wurde ich von einem Huthi-Offizier in Sanaa rekrutiert, nachdem er meinem Vater Geld gegeben hatte. Wir sind sehr arm.“
https://www.theaktuellenews.com/nachrichten/krieg-im-jemen-auch-kinder-muessen-kaempfen/
(* B H K)
Children and armed conflict in Yemen - Report of the Secretary-General
The present report, the third on the situation of children and armed conflict in Yemen, has been prepared pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005). It contains information on the six grave violations committed against children by parties to the conflict in Yemen in the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020, with details on perpetrators and the context in which the violations were committed, when available. It also contains information on the progress made in addressing grave violations against children, including through the implementation of action plans. Lastly, the report provides recommendations to end and prevent grave violations against children in Yemen and improve their protection.
Introduction
The present report, which covers the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020, has been submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) and subsequent resolutions on children and armed conflict. It is the third report on the situation of children affected by armed conflict in Yemen. It documents trends and patterns of grave violations against children since the previous report (S/2019/453) and the adoption by the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict of its conclusions on the situation of children and armed conflict in Yemen (S/AC.51/2020/1). It also outlines challenges and progress in addressing grave violations and contains specific recommendations to strengthen the protection of children. Where possible, the report identifies parties to conflict responsible for grave violations against children. In that regard, the government forces of Yemen, including the Yemeni armed forces, were listed for the recruitment and use of children under section B of annex I to the most recent report on children and armed conflict (A/75/873-S/2021/437) as a party that had put in place measures aimed at improving the protection of children. The Houthis (who refer to themselves Ansar Allah) were listed for recruitment and use under section B, while also being listed under section A as a party that have not put in place measures to improve the protection of children, for killing and maiming and attacks on schools and hospitals. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, pro-government militias, including the Salafists and popular committees, and the Security Belt Forces were listed under section A.
The United Nations country task force on monitoring and reporting continued to face significant challenges in monitoring and reporting grave violations against children in over 49 active frontline locations, including the governorates of Ma’rib, Hajjah, Sa‘dah, Ta‘izz and Hudaydah. It was often difficult to verify information owing to lack of access, security risks, fear, intimidation and threats
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/children-and-armed-conflict-yemen-report-secretary-general-s2021761-enar = https://undocs.org/en/S/2021/761
(B H K)
Yemen: one in eight people displaced in increasingly violent conflict
(* B H K P)
Film: Yemen's Humanitarian Crisis Worsens as Famine Pushes Millions to the Brink
One of the poorest countries in the Middle East, Yemen is facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis. It is a step away from starvation. The United Nations says the famine in the country has pushed millions of people to the brink. The UN is calling on the world for financial assistance, or it says more Yemenis will suffer and die. Guests: Sultana Begum, Norwegian Refugee Council Advocacy Manager in Yemen; Elisabeth Kendall, Senior Research Fellow in Oriental Studies at Oxford University; Hussain Albukhaiti, Pro-Houthi Yemeni Journalist; Baraa Shiban, Yemeni Political Analyst.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aiiebZVyC0&t=1s
Elisabeth Kendall snippet: https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1441433955178254337
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
(A K P)
Aggression coalition holds fuel ship carrying 27,000 tons of mazut, diese
The US-Saudi aggression coalition seized a new ship carrying 27,000 tons of mazut and diesel belonging to the private sector, the Yemeni Petroleum Company (YPC)'s Executive Director Ammar Al-Adhrai told Saba on Tuesday.
The aggression coalition seized the ship 'Voss Power' and prevented it from reaching the port of Hodeida, despite that it was inspected and obtaining an entry permit from the United Nations.
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3157571.htm
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14000707000620/Yemen-Blass-
(A K P)
Gas tanker arrives at Yemeni Hodeida seaport
The Yemeni western seaport of Hodeida on Wednesday received a tanker that was detained by the Saudi-led coalition for many months with gas onboard, spokesman for the Sana'a-based Yemeni Petroleum Company (YPC) said.
The tanker Rajinan brought 8,868 metric tons of imported gas to the Red Sea port, Ali Maisar added.
The Arab coalition detained the tanker nearly 100 days, he claimed in remarks carried by the Houthi-run Saba.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-27098.html
(A K P)
Continued piracy on fuel ships reflects aggression coalition arrogance, UN's disregard: Al-Adhru'ai
Executive Director of the Yemeni Petroleum Company Ammar Al-Adhru'ai on Saturday asserted that the continued detention of oil derivatives ships reflects the aggression countries arrogance and the United Nations' disregard for the Yemeni people's suffering.
The ship 'GT Freedom' has been detained for 275 days, and fines for its detention amounted to 5.5 million dollars, equivalent to 3.3 billion riyals, or 40 percent of the value of the fuel it carries, Al-Adhru'ai added in a statement.
He pointed out that the Saudi-led aggression coalition continues the detention of fuel ships for varying periods
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3157163.htm
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
(B H)
How educational campaigns protect civilians from Yemen’s ongoing war
Over the past six years, the danger of unexploded landmines, cluster bombs, missiles, and remnants of war in Yemen is illustrated by the growing number of victims.
As of 31 August, close to 10,000 children have been killed or injured because of the conflict, according to the numbers the UN has been able to verify.
Concealed along roadways, farmland, and lumber yards, landmines have resulted in thousands of fatalities and disabilities within conflict zones and neighboring communities.
In addition to destabilizing communities and prompting population displacement – particularly within Hajjah governorate – landmines pollute agricultural land and disrupt relief aid. The appearance, functioning and destructiveness of landmines and unexploded ordnances remain largely unknown and represent an immediate danger for the civilian population, especially children.
With the support of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre and UNICEF, in cooperation with local non-profit organizations, the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center organized an awareness campaign on the risks of landmines throughout Hajjah governorate.
https://www.unicef.org/yemen/stories/how-educational-campaigns-protect-civilians-yemens-ongoing-war
(B H)
Yemen’s Humanitarian Situation ‘Fragile’
The United Nations’ top humanitarian official in Yemen says that while widespread famine was averted in the country earlier this year with a surge in donor support, the situation is fragile and many essential programs remain at risk of further cuts.
“It's not enough that we just got that one push, we need a continuous stream of support coming in over the next weeks into 2022,” David Gressly told VOA.
https://www.voanews.com/a/yemen-s-humanitarian-situation-fragile-/6252427.html
(B H)
Food security and nutrition information systems to enhance resilience of rural households in Yemen. Strengthening food security and acute malnutrition analysis for improved decision making
Due to the need for reliable and timely food security and nutrition information to inform decision-making at the national and governorate levels, FAO and the Yemeni Government, with support from the European Union (EU), implemented a comprehensive information system approach with two initial phases between 2013 and 2020.
This promising practice brief focuses on the third phase of this programme called “Strengthening food security and nutrition information and early warning system” (2019-2021). It is a two-year EUR 5.9 million programme aimed at scaling up the geographic coverage of the food security and nutrition information systems (FSNIS) in Yemen. The programme addresses the main challenges associated with food security and nutrition information collection, analysis, and management systems in the country by supporting the setting up of a sustainable Food Security Technical Secretariat (FSTS) and food security and nutrition Governorate Focal Units (GFUs). The third phase focuses on expanding the program coverage from 12 governorates to all 22 governorates of Yemen.
http://www.fao.org/policy-support/tools-and-publications/resources-details/zh/c/1439648/
(B H)
Interventions of the project to promote multiple, integrated and sustainable nutrition in Taiz governorate
Food insecurity has many negative effects, including poor physical growth, reduced educational attainment and work productivity, and increased risk of disease and death.
Thus came the project to enhance multiple, integrated and sustainable nutrition and maternal and child health services for disadvantaged and conflict-affected communities in Yemen, which was implemented by HUMAN ACCESS and funded by Doctors Worldwide organization.
This project aims to provide emergency life-saving nutritional interventions to the most vulnerable groups (children under five and pregnant and lactating women), and to improve life-saving maternal and child health services for women of reproductive age and newborns in Taiz Governorate.
The project targeted 3 centers in the districts of Taiz governorate, namely Mudhaffar and Al Qahirah, during the period from February to August of 2021, with funding from the Turkish Doctors Worldwide organization, and the total number of beneficiaries from the project’s interventions reached 109,502.
Three fixed health facilities were supported in the targeted districts. It is worth noting that the project included several areas:
The project in the field of nutrition included periodic examination of children under the age of five and pregnant women to detect cases of malnutrition, and provision of therapeutic and supplementary feeding services for children under the age of five and pregnant women
(A H)
Training program launched for health cadres on integrated care of childhood diseases in Taiz
https://humanaccess.org/m/news/training-program-launched-for-health-cadres-yemen-taiz
(B H)
Saving the lives of children to age five | Therapeutic Feeding Centres (TFCs) in Yemen
WHO has partnered with the King Salman Relief Centre and the UAE Aid through the Famine Relief Fund (FRF) to provide life-saving nutrition services to 92 therapeutic feeding centres (TFCs) across Yemen today. To date, nearly 9,200 children from infancy to age five have been treated for severe acute malnutrition at these TFCs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLiRW1hDCSw
(B H)
WFP Yemen Food Security Update, September 2021
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/wfp-yemen-food-security-update-september-2021 = https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000132159/download/
(A H)
Film: The [Sanaa gov.] Zakat Authority supports dialysis centers in Hodeidah with 15,000 liters of diesel per month
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-uIcaRvvz0
Not much hope when you live like this- Yemeni muhamasheen (the marginalised). Have just spent 3600 EUR for emergency food baskets for IDPs in Yemen - Photo from @Fatikr @monarelief
https://twitter.com/SzkolydlaPokoju/status/1442732819135045635
(B H)
Lesson Learned from the construction of a 1800m3 capacity gabion in Wadi Hassan Valley, Khanfer district, Aden governorate under Food for Assets (FFA) Project
It is about this asset that serves and protects more than 5,000 acres of agricultural land from drought and adds value in different aspects such as increasing underground water level of Abyan and Aden, as such, leading to diversified livelihood options e.g. livestock rearing and bee farming.
Because of previous conflicts and wars that occurred in Abyan, the irrigation system was destroyed and was subjected to destruction and neglect.
In this project, five villages (Al-Dergag, Al-Komblyah, Maykalan, Kadmat Al-Saeed qasem and Obar Otman) that are inter-connected as a sub-district were targeted and benefited from the floodwater that came through the Hussein Canal. Based on the community leaders and irrigation office’s request, a 1800m3 capacity Gabion (360 inter-connected sub-gabions each with size 5m length X 1m depth X 1m breadth) covering a distance of 105 meters was constructed
(B H)
Film: Children in Yemen Are So Hungry They’re Eating Their Own Hands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=771PoYw8Lrk
(* B H)
Desert Locusts: Building Yemen’s Capacity to Prevent New Swarms
With conflict eroding their resilience and diminishing the country’s financing for public services, Yemenis were unprepared for this fierce insect. Prior to the conflict, Yemen had an efficient national monitoring and control program but when the latest local invasion struck, Yemen was short of pesticide and equipment to apply it along with vehicles to carry out “survey and control” field operations. People in rural areas were affected most by the locust invasion. The locusts destroyed plants and fodder on agricultural land, leading to crop and animal losses, eroding incomes, and adding to the burden rural, vulnerable households already felt from the conflict.
Farmers, livestock breeders and nomads living in infested areas were at risk of having their livelihoods annihilated. Most had never seen anything like it in their lifetime and did not have the know-how nor technical capacity to save their crop
Taming the threat
Using funding from international partners—Canada, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and the FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme fund—the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) worked with Yemeni authorities in 2020 to combat locust swarms. Desert locust surveillance and control operations were set up in key breeding grounds around Yemen to lessen local infestation and prevent swarms from invading neighboring countries. Extensive training and capacity building by the Ministry of Agriculture meant locusts were controlled in some infested areas. By the end of 2020, FAO-led locust control operations in Yemen had treated 48,082 hectares of agricultural land and surveyed a total area almost ten times that size.
World Bank funding provided through the Locust Response Project supported surveillance and control operations and strengthened Yemen’s preparedness for future infestations.
(B H)
Yemen: Organizations' Monthly Presence (July 2021)
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-organizations-monthly-presence-july-2021
(B H)
Yemen: Humanitarian Response Snapshot (July 2021)
the 2021 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) remains largely underfunded – as of July 2021 only US$1.80 billion of the $3.85 billion needed had been received. In addition, a fuel crisis has increased needs and restricted response activities, and ongoing access issues hinder the aid operation. An alarming increase in levels of food insecurity and acute malnutrition is forecasted by the year’s end. In the first seven months of 2021, 170 humanitarian organizations continued to deliver aid to an average of 10.3 million people per month.
While the number of people reached with assistance decreased across many cluster areas, partners continued to provide support to millions of people – an average of 10.2 million were reached each month with food assistance, over 3.4 million were reached with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, 523,440 were supported by Health Cluster partners and 421,227 received nutrition treatment.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-response-snapshot-july-2021
(B H)
Immediate action needed for Yemeni women and girls' health, safety - UNFPA
The UNFPA estimated that some 1.5 million women and girls in Yemen will be unable to access health and protection services, as needs for these resources grow.
As world representatives gathered for an event on Yemen at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) - the UN sexual and reproductive health agency - called for action to end the suffering of Yemeni women and girls and to promote their safety, health and rights.
About 73% of some 4 million Yemenis displaced in the country's civil war are women and children, with almost one in three displaced families headed by women. UNFPA estimates some 1.5 million women and girls in Yemen will be unable to access health and protection services, as needs for these resources grow.
Over 6 million women are already in need of protection, and 5 million women and adolescent girls able to bear children have little or no access to reproductive services, with one woman dying in childbirth every two hours from preventable causes. More than one million pregnant and nursing women are severely malnourished and another million may become so if access to food continues to diminish as humanitarian aid to Yemen dries up, according to UNFPA.
UNFPA promotes global access to sexual and reproductive health services, such as maternal health care, family planning and sex education.
“The women of Yemen deserve peace and protection," said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. "Their lives are under threat and the services they desperately rely on to survive are underfunded.
(B H)
Yemen: Health Cluster Bulletin, May & June 2021
A total of 1,483 Health Facilities (16 Governorate Hospitals, 135 District Hospitals, 64 General Hospitals, 20 Specialized Hospitals, 459 Health Centers and 789 Health Units) are being supported by Health Cluster Partners.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-health-cluster-bulletin-may-june-2021
(* B H)
The Right to Mental Health in Yemen
Abstract
Mental health issues are all too common consequences of conflict and atrocity crimes, often causing upwards of one-quarter of the post-conflict, post-atrocity population to suffer from physical and mental sequelae that linger long after weapons have been silenced. After more than six years of ongoing conflict, Yemen’s already weak health care system is on the brink of collapse, and population resilience has been severely stressed by indiscriminate attacks, airstrikes, torture, food insecurity, unemployment, cholera, and now the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines Yemen’s responsibilities regarding the right to mental health and details the few actions the government has taken to date toward fulfilling this right. It also presents the current status of mental health care in Yemen, discussing some of the barriers to accessing the available care, as well as alternative models of mental health support being used by the population. In light of the pandemic presently facing the world, the paper also discusses COVID-19’s impact on Yemen, detailing its further degrading effects on the country’s health care system and people’s mental health. Finally, the paper highlights the importance of addressing mental health in furtherance of the peace process.
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/2802/
My remark: Siehe / Look at cp1
(B H)
Film: Nutrition Crisis in Yemen
One-year-old Ghosson was sickly and weighed just 11 pounds when her worried parents brought her to UNICEF-supported Al Sadaqa Hospital in Aden, Yemen. More than 11 million children in Yemen need humanitarian assistance to survive. A dangerous combination of factors, including conflict, economic decline and now the COVID-19 pandemic have compounded the dire situation for Yemen's youngest children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVANWP8qZR0
(A H)
Reddit-Nutzer aus Jemen nutzt Kryptospenden zur Hungerbekämpfung
Ein Reddit-Nutzer aus Jemen behauptet, er nutze Kryptowährungen, um Essenspakete für Familien zu kaufen, die im aktuellen Bürgerkrieg keinen Zugang zu Nahrung haben.
Laut einem Reddit-Post des Nutzers yemenvoice vom Donnerstag habe der Jemenite etwa 12.000 US-Dollar durch Kryptospenden aufgebracht, mit denen er Hunger in dem Land bekämpfen möchte. Er behauptet, habe bereits 15 Familien Mehl, Reis, Öl und Bohnen zukommen lassen. Er hoffe, bald weitere 30 Familien versorgen zu können.
(A H)
Yemen national uses crypto donations to fight starvation amid civil war
A Redditor living in Yemen’s capital city of Sana'a claims to be using cryptocurrencies to buy food packages for families unable to access supplies during an ongoing civil war.
According to a Thursday Reddit post from user yemenvoice, the Yemen national has raised roughly $12,000 in crypto donations to be used towards fighting starvation in the Middle Eastern nation. They claim to have provided 15 families with flour, rice, oil and beans and hope to reach 30 more in the near future.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/yemen-national-uses-crypto-donations-to-fight-starvation-amid-civil-war = https://www.biggmouth.com/yemen-national-uses-crypto-donations-to-fight-starvation-amid-civil-war/ = https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/yemen-national-uses-crypto-donations-to-fight-starvation-amid-civil-war-2626778?ampMode=1
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
(A H K)
A statement from Fabrizio Carboni, ICRC’s Near and Middle East Regional Director, on recent fighting in Marib, Yemen
I’m saddened to see fighting flaring up again in Yemen, this time in Marib. The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing hospitals treating the wounded on both sides with surgical kits and general medical supplies, but significant unmet humanitarian needs remain, including among the newly displaced.
We call on all parties to the conflict to facilitate without delay the delivery of humanitarian aid to those who need it most
(* B H)
UNHCR Yemen Fact Sheet, September 2021
1,000,000+ IDPs and refugee reached with cash assistance so far in 2021
65,500+ IDP and refugee families have received shelter and NFI kits in 2021
25,000+ IDPs and refugees supported with legal assistance in 2021
28,500+ IDPs and refugees have received psychosocial first aid so far in 2021
Operational context
Yemen remains among the world’s largest humanitarian crises. After more than six years of devastating and unrelenting conflict, some 20 million Yemenis (66 per cent of the total population) depend urgently on humanitarian assistance to survive, including four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 141,308 refugees and asylumseekers, mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia. The country currently has the fourth largest IDP population worldwide due to conflict. Raging clashes continue to deteriorate the protection space for civilians and force thousands of families to seek refuge elsewhere. There are more than 50 active frontlines across the country which have forced more than 67,000 individuals to be forcibly displaced this year, particularly in Marib governorate. Countrywide, the economy has collapsed and the Yemeni Riyal continues to devaluate, negatively impacting purchasing power. It is estimated that 80 per cent of the total population lives below the poverty line, and food security data has further revealed that five million Yemenis were on the brink of famine earlier this year, most of whom are displaced individuals who are four times more at risk of falling into hunger than other Yemenis. The peace process has yet to make any significant progress.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-fact-sheet-september-2021
(B H)
Yemen: UNHCR Operational Update, covering the period 23 - 30 September 2021
UNHCR continues to expand its cash assistance programme and position the agency as the main cash actor assisting displaced populations in Yemen. So far in 2021, the Operation has distributed USD 58.2 M in cash assistance, reaching over 166,000 extremely vulnerable families (more than a million individuals).
UNHCR continues efforts to halt evictions and support long-term and sustainable shelter solutions for displaced populations. With the support of UNHCR, the Executive Unit of the Government of Yemen in the south, signed agreements with landlords of five IDP sites in Abyan and Taizz during last week, extending their period of accommodation on the sites from two to ten years, while allowing over 400 families (some 1,800 individuals) to remain in their current shelters.
As intensified clashes generate new displacement in Marib governorate, UNHCR continues to provide core relief items (CRIs) and shelter support to those who need it most urgently.
(A H P)
Flüchtlingshilfswerk vergibt Nansen-Preis an Organisation im Jemen
Das Flüchtlingshilfswerk der Vereinten Nationen UNHCR hat seine höchste Auszeichnung an eine humanitäre Organisation im Jemen vergeben.
Das Hilfswerk Dschihl Albena werde mit dem Nansen-Flüchtlingspreis geehrt, teilte das UNHCR in Genf mit. Die Arbeit der Organisation sei ein herausragendes Beispiel für Menschlichkeit, Mitgefühl und Hingabe, hieß es. Die rund 400 Mitarbeiter und Freiwilligen der Organisation haben demnach Unterkünfte und Schulen für zehntausende Flüchtlinge errichtet. Im Jemen sind den Angaben zufolge etwa vier Millionen Menschen auf der Flucht vor Krieg und Armut.
Der Nansen-Flüchtlingspreis ist mit 150.000 US-Dollar dotiert.
(A H P)
Yemeni NGO wins prestigious UN refugee award
The UN has given its prestigious Nansen Refugee Award this year to the Jeel Albena Association for Humanitarian Development, which provides jobs, shelter, and education to thousands of Yemenis
The United Nations said on Wednesday that a Yemeni humanitarian organisation working to help people displaced by the country's conflict was this year's recipient of its prestigious Nansen Refugee Award.
Praising the "extraordinary work" carried out by the Jeel Albena (Generation of Our Hearts) Association for Humanitarian Development, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said the NGO was "an example of humanity, compassion and dedication."
The group, founded by Ameen Jubran in 2017, won the prestigious award "for its unwavering support for displaced Yemenis, even as shifting frontlines brought gun battles and explosions to its doorstep," the UNCHR said.
The award "draws attention to people displaced by conflict in Yemen, a country facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises," Grandi said.
Jubran, 37, had himself been displaced by fighting and nearly killed, the UN body said.
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/yemeni-ngo-wins-prestigious-un-refugee-award
and longer report by the UN: https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2021/9/615331684/yemeni-humanitarian-organization-wins-2021-unhcr-nansen-refugee-award.html
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Kmd5KQk8A
(A H)
UNFPA welcomes USAID support for the health and protection of vulnerable women and girls in Yemen
(B H)
IOM Yemen: Rapid Displacement Tracking - Yemen IDP Dashboard Reporting Period: 19 to 25 September 2021
From 01 January 2021 to 25 September 2021, IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 11,186 households (HH) (67,116 Individuals) have experienced displacement at least once.
Since the beginning of 2021, DTM also identified 622 displaced households who left their locations of displacement and either moved back to their place of origin or another location.
Between 19 and 25 September 2021, IOM Yemen DTM tracked 635 households (3,810 individuals) displaced at least once. The top three districts of the top three governorates that saw the highest number of displacements were:
(B H)
Film: Yémen : la pire crise humanitaire du monde
Actuellement, plus des deux tiers des habitants du Yémen dépendent de l'aide humanitaire internationale. Notre invité, Jean-Nicolas Beuze, est représentant du Haut Commissariat des Nations unies pour les réfugiés au Yémen.
https://information.tv5monde.com/video/yemen-la-pire-crise-humanitaire-du-monde
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
Siehe / Look at cp1
(B H K P)
Film: Yemen in Crisis: The Houthis - Airing 1st October | PROMO
The Houthis have been at the forefront of the conflict in Yemen, labelled by the UN as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in modern history. Who are the Houthis and what are their political ambitions? This documentary explores the history of the Houthis and the role they have played in resisting the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vrAsAqJgus&t=4s
(* B P)
Houthis gird to tighten grip on Yemen’s parliament
In April, Yemen's pro-Houthi parliament approved a proposal that sought the revoking of the membership of 44 deputies on charges of "drifting into aggression." Lawmakers subsequently stripped 39 additional deputies of membership in July on charges of "supporting aggression."
All of this was preceded by a concerning move by a Houthi-run court in Sana’a in March 2020. The court confiscated the money and property of 35 deputies before sentencing them to death on charges of "collaborating and communicating" with the Saudi-led forces
https://amwaj.media/article/how-the-houthis-are-seeking-to-control-yemen-s-parliament
(A P)
One of the oldest, prolific and most renowned photographers in #Yemen Abdulrahman Alghabri was taken in for questioning and had his camera confiscated by #Houthi militias in Sana’a. His crime? Taking photos in the street!
https://twitter.com/sadeqalwesabi/status/1443675813572972544
(* A E P)
Amidst illusionary riyal stability, Sana'a residents complain of soaring prices
The people of the Houthi militia-controlled Sana'a are complaining of a soar of the prices of essential commodities and services despite the stability of the riyal's exchange rate versus the US dollar compared to the liberated territories.
Residents in Sana'a have said, "The prices of essential goods are increasing on a daily basis" adding that most foodstuff like flour and sugar have shot up high amidst wretched economic conditions that the population under Houthi control are suffering.
They expressed surprise "that goods prices are increasing despite the [Houthi version of the Yemeni] riyal's value being stable at 600 against the dollar.
Economic researcher Abdulwahed Al-Awbali said, "The low exchange rate of the US dollar in Houthi areas is illusionary. The Houthis impose this rate by the power of the gun. Had there been a real stability of the riyal, goods' prices would've been stable, not soaring."
He added, "The rise of goods in Houthi areas is a result of the fall of the version of the riyal in the government-controlled areas."
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-50255
(* B K P)
In Yemen, only the Houthis can defeat the Houthis now
But Saudi Arabia and its helpmates can help speed up the inevitable and finally end this war.
While the Houthis’ use of drones and missiles is a key part of their strategy to win in Yemen, they are far from fundamental to the Houthis’ success. The Houthis prioritize negotiation—at least within Yemen. Their leadership, like any workable government in Yemen, knows that negotiated settlements are key to gaining tribal allies. Without these tribal alliances, no one group can control northern Yemen or Yemen as whole.
Winning without fighting is a core tenant of Houthi strategy. However, when negotiations fail, the Houthis are quick to launch well-coordinated ground offensives followed by more attempts to negotiate alliances. The Houthi approach in much of Yemen is to offer a carrot, then a stick, then another carrot, and finally a club.
This approach, combined with the Houthi’s military acumen, has helped make them the most formidable political and military force in Yemen. Their primary rival, the IRG, and the loose coalition of tribal and political groups that back the IRG, have long struggled to defeat the Houthis on the battlefields around Marib and elsewhere, even though many of these groups are well funded, equipped, and trained by Saudi Arabia. IRG allied forces also enjoy close air support from the Royal Saudi Air Force. Rather than strengthening the IRG, Saudi support has–in many respects–impeded the development of a viable alternative to the Houthis.
Much like U.S. support for the former government of Afghanistan, the unchecked flow of money and weapons from Saudi Arabia to its proxies in Yemen has fostered dependency, endemic corruption, and inefficiency. This blank-check approach to funding and backing allies and proxies rarely results in the creation of durable governments and armies. This is especially the case when such governments and forces face a determined enemy that is both militarily capable and deeply rooted in the socio-cultural fabric of a country.
This is not to say that the Houthis do not also suffer from corruption and inefficiencies. Corruption is a major problem within the broader Houthi organization. However, it is limited by necessity. The margin of error for groups like the Houthis and the Taliban is narrow. If they make too many mistakes, or if they keep making the same mistakes, they will be defeated by their better equipped and better funded enemies.
Now, the endgame for their primary opponent, the IRG, is approaching. The Houthis, as per their strategy, are simultaneously negotiating with tribes while continuing to press forward militarily. At the same time, the Saudi government is reducing its support for the IRG and their allies. Cracks in the tribal alliances that support the IRG are widening. Tribal leaders know the IRG is weaker than ever and are preparing to secure their interests and those of their constituents ahead of what many think is an imminent Houthi victory in Marib. There is little doubt that the Houthis will take control of the governorate of Marib. Such a takeover may happen in six days or six months, but regardless of when it happens, it will end what little viability the IRG has as a government.
After six years of war in Yemen, there is little hope that any force within Yemen or outside of Yemen is going to militarily defeat the Houthis. Much like the Taliban in Afghanistan, only the Houthis can defeat the Houthis. At some point in the near future, the Houthis will have to pivot from war fighting to real governance and deliver services, economic opportunity, and security to those Yemenis who live under their control. If they fail to deliver, which is likely, their military skills will not save them.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/09/29/in-yemen-only-the-houthis-can-defeat-the-houthis-now/
(A P)
Film: A full tour of the Security and Intelligence Service Correctional Facility, showing facilities and equipment, and soliciting opinions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLziHgo1EEM
(A P)
Parliament regrets weak stances of some Arab, Islamic parliaments towards Palestinian issue
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3157441.htm
(B P)
CAM: 'Don’t let another group of Jews become forgotten refugees'
Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) leads experts from around the world in addressing Houthi oppression of Jews in Yemen.
Since coming to power, the Houthis have put the fate of the last of Yemen’s once 50,000-strong Jewish community at stake. During Passover this year, the Houthis expelled many of Yemen’s last remaining Jewish citizens, with the exception of a few including Levy Salem Mahrabi, who they have for four years illegally imprisoned and tortured on the charge of helping a Jewish family flee the country with one of the community’s historic Torah scrolls. The experts noted that freeing him was a matter of urgency.
He explained that, “The battle cry of the movement is ‘God is greater, death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews, and victory for Islam’,” and added, “With that kind of inimical slogan, it is no wonder that there was persecution of the Jews” in the areas were the Houthi movement finds its roots.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/314075
(A P)
Yemeni Foreign Minister condemns hypocrisy of US meeting with Saudi-led aggression countries
Foreign Minister of Yemen Hisham Sharaf considered the results of the meeting of the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in New York, as “a continuation of the hypocrisy and political deception practiced by this group in front of the world.”
Minister Sharaf stressed that the aforementioned meeting, which called the current situation of the Saudi-UAE aggressive coalition against Yemen “a conflict facing Iran’s aggressive behavior in the Gulf,” is a mere attempt to appear before the international community as doves of peace in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf.
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-27112.html
(* B K P)
Trotz katastrophaler humanitärer Zustände eskalieren die Kriegsparteien im Jemen den Konflikt immer weiter. Wie ein UN-Bericht zeigt, scheuen sie nicht einmal davor zurück, dabei auch Kinder einzusetzen.
Wie und warum die Kinder zu den bewaffneten Kräften kommen, ist nicht klar. Es gibt Berichte, denen zufolge die Huthi Probleme haben, Kämpfer zu rekrutieren. Das würde erklären, warum laut UN-Bericht 22 Kinder von ihnen entführt wurden - bei den jemenitischen Streitkräften sollen es 55 gewesen sein.
Die in der Schweiz ansässige Menschenrechtsoganisation "Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor" zeichnet ein noch wesentlich düstereres Bild: Sie legt dar, dass die Huthi eine große Kinder-Rekrutierungs-Kampagne fahren. So hätten sie 52 Trainingslager aufgebaut, in denen aus Kindern Soldaten gemacht werden sollen. Während des Krieges sollen die Huthi laut "Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor" mehr als 10.000 Kinder rekrutiert haben.
Nach Recherchen der Organisation wird nicht immer Druck oder Indoktrination angewandt, sondern oft die Not der Menschen ausgenutzt.
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/asien/jemen-marib-kindersoldaten-101.html
(* A P)
Houthi’s Zeinabeyyat Militia Suppresses and Abuses Yemeni Women
The women’s security wing of the Houthis, known as the “Zeinabeyyat”, has expanded its violations against Yemeni women in militia-controlled areas by carrying out a campaign of raids and arrests.
Well-informed sources in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the militia raided a number of homes and arrested a group of women, who had previously worked in administrative jobs, whether with the Ministry of Interior or the Political Security Service (intelligence). Those were given the choice between working with the group and facing prison sentences.
The sources stated that the female employees have been out of work for more than ten years, and that their families have received explicit threats from members of the militia intelligence of punishment or the fabrication of immoral charges if they publicly declared these arrests.
Simultaneously, media sources reported that the militia carried out, during the past few days, a campaign of arrests that targeted dozens of women activists, most of whom were affiliated with the General People’s Congress Party, and placed them in secret prisons, where they were subjected to various types of torture.
The sources confirmed that some of the female detainees agreed to work with the militias after they received threats of harming their reputation.
Similarly, women in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the militia’s female intelligence service has deployed secret agents in commercial centers, tasked with monitoring women and summoning those wearing “inappropriate clothes” to a special room for interrogation.
In many cases - according to the sources - the detainee pays a sum of money to the supervisor of these teams in exchange for her release and a pledge not to wear unsuitable outfits or use cosmetics.
In the latest incident of repression against women, activists circulated photos of a document, in which residents of the Bani Hashish district (east of Sanaa) pledged to Houthi officials to prevent women from carrying touch-screen mobile phones, using cosmetics, or working with humanitarian organizations.
(B P)
Yemeni journalists in prisons run by Houthi militants. In 2017, I interviewed relatives of four journalists who are still in prisons. They said the four had been brutally tortured and one of them was "almost maimed". (image)
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1441598456162836480
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp6 – cp19
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-762b-yemen-war-mosaic-762b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-761-yemen-war-mosaic-761
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-761 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-761:
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:
