Vice news: One year of bloodshed - Overview articles on Yemen war and western support - People's fates - Humanitarian situation and aid - Womens' rights - and other subjects
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´´We should realize that many people in relatively wealthy conditions are less connected to the misery of the world. They can easily shut off the TV, put the newspaper aside etc. They are so busy now with the preparation of their Easter Festival, getting the eggs painted, buying flowers, decorate the house, prepare the Easter brunch. There is not so much time to think about the victims of all the different wars and other misery in the world. Empathy is gradually melting away by the overdoses of misery they see, but not experience. They can disconnect from all this horrible news, but the victims not, they are experiencing it, sometimes without light at the end of the tunnel. Syria, Yemen, Gaza, South Sudan, Somalia, and who is still thinking of the earthquake victims in Nepal and Tahiti and the victims of the hurricanes in the Philippines? Close to home we can the refugees, listen to their stories, cut their hair, do games with the children. I use Facebook by a lot of sharing to keep at least the people's mind open for what's going on with our fellow humans in the world.´´
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=995988187120878&id=961126490607048
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO / UN
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
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
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
27.3.2016 – Oxfam (** A K P)
Petition: Stop the violence in Yemen
Demand an end to the violence in Yemen
Urge world leaders to do all they can for the people in Yemen including:
- Push for an immediate and permanent cease fire
- Ensure access to essential food, fuel and medical supplies by re-opening air and sea routes
- Ensure that, in line with the Arms Trade Treaty, it is not sending arms and military support to any side in the conflict
https://act.oxfam.org/international/yemen-crisis
27.3.2016 – Vice News (*** B K)
Looking Back at a Year of Bloodshed in Yemen
We've traveled to Yemen twice in the last two years. Once in 2014, prior to the Houthi takeover, and again in late August and early September of 2015 after Saudi airstrikes had decimated much of the country.
As we walked back to our hotel, our bellies full, a fighter jet flew in low and seemed to suck the air from around us. A terrific whooshing sound instantly filled the street, like a scream as loud as thunder. Suddenly, the earth seemed to tilt sideways . Something exploded just ahead of us. The other silhouettes on the street vanished and we staggered into a nearby shop as broken glass fell to the floor. I was carrying a friend'sfour year-old nephew on my shoulders and struggling to stay on my feet.
We ran back to the hotel and everyone took cover in the stairwell. The staff and a few families looked terrified as each blast shook the walls around us. They had been experiencing this for eight months, but hadn't been able to get used to it.
You see the results of this bombing campaign as soon as you arrive in Sanaa. At the city's main airport, several destroyed planes still sit on the tarmac next to the main runway. Nearby, military bases, officer academies , and weapons depots have all been obliterated.
Civilian homes have also been hit, sometimes seemingly at random. Basic infrastructurehas been targeted as if the pilots of the fighter jets or their paymasters are becoming frustrated by the fact they are still far from any kind of victory. Sometimes targets that have already been hit many times are hit again; a house belonging to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's son was hit several times over the course of a few weeks even though it had already been flattened. It seems wrong to call a bombing campaign that has so far involved over 40,000 air strikes petulant, but that it is how it often seems. The morning after we'd been caught out in the open we found out what the target had been: a cemetery.
Yemen's war is a complicated and grave affair.
In Yemen's northern highlands, people had largely accepted the Houthi-Saleh takeover after several days of fighting on the outskirts of Sanaa. But in Aden, and in the city of Taiz in the west, civilians took up arms to fight them off. President Hadi called for the leaders of the neighboring Gulf states to intervene in the war.
In the early days of the war the Saudis confidently predicted a quick victory as the Houthi-Saleh alliance struggled to take on the mass of fighters who would rally to Hadi's side. But their optimism was misplaced.
The Houthis have indiscriminately shelled civilian populations in Aden and Taiz, preventing food, water, fuel, and medicine from entering the cities, calcifying regional and sectarian rivalries into hatred that may take decades to undo. But in the northwest, where we visited, there has been little fighting on the ground and the main experience people have had of the war is from the sky, in the shape of bombs dropped by the Saudi-led coalition and supplied by the US. Local ire is largely directed at Riyadh, and at Washington and the UN, for allowing bombs to fall with impunity, collectively punishing the civilian population for the actions of a militia and a corrupt former president whomthey had no interest in supporting but could do little to resist.
The Saudi-led coalition was enforcing a land, sea, and air blockade on Yemen, leading to drastic shortages of fuel and other basic goods.
We had plans to head north when we heard news that a wedding party had been targeted near Mokha on Yemen's Red Sea Coast. We drove south to the village the next morning. When we arrived , residents were still panicked. A stick-thin old man with a long red goatee introduced himself as Saeed Ali. He led us around frantically, trying to explain everything at once as he showed us where three missiles had struck. Almost as soon as he had started, a jet roared above us. People ran from the nearest cluster of buildings, their heads and shoulders hunched forward, their faces terrified.
After the jet passed, Saeed continued his tour, speaking manically and gesturing wildly with his arms: "There is flesh everywhere. This is a skull. This is all human flesh." He was pointing to black lumps all around us on the ground. He walked to some trees and bushes. "These trees are filled with flesh. Still there are legs, arms..." We could see lumps of burnt skin hanging from branches. I found a jawbone with the bottom row of teeth still attached. Another jet, or perhaps the same one, flew over head.
The villagers told us they had gathered the human remains, put them in cloth sacks, and buried them nearby. They showed us the graves. One for the body parts and a separate one for the closest thing to a complete body they had found. They said that , even as they were filling the graves, the jets circled over their heads.
The next day we drove north towards Sadah city. Every bridge along the main road had been destroyed a long with countless gas stations, fuel trucks, and roadside buildings. At a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) who had fled the heavy bombing campaign, many told us that their villages in the surrounding countryside had been flattened. The camp, on a dusty patch of barren land, was home to 600 people living in makeshift tents with just two temporary toilets between them. They were forced to burn plastic bottles and polystyrene to bake bread because fuel had become too expensive.
I asked Abdo Ali Salem al-Obali , the self-declared "sheikh" of the camp, what they had fled from. "Wherever these bombs hit, everything is gone," he said. "People died. No one was left. No stores were left. Nothing was left. We ran away with nothing in our hands. They burned our village and now we are here."
The general justification for the level of destruction visited upon Yemen by the Saudis and their allies has been that they are working to restore Yemen's legitimate government to power and nullify the threat of future Houthi attacks across its southern border.
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States have hardly succeeded in showing the world, or its regional rivals, that they are a potent fighting force
What they have shown is that they are able to inflict widespread destruction on a neighboring state while building resentments that will last for generations. As we'vedocumented elsewhere, the US and UK are complicit, both supplying the Saudis with weapons and helping them run the aerial campaign in Yemen.
When we finally got to Saada city, the provincial capital, we saw what everyone had been talking about. We'd last visited the city 18 months earlier and it was now unrecognizable.On some streets, every building had been hit by an air strike, badly damaged if not completely destroyed. Apart from the roads themselves, which had been swept clear, entire streets of once bustling shops, restaurants, and homes were now just piles of broken bricks, concrete, and mangled steel.
One flattened gas station still had two lines of mangled mini-buses, "dabbabs," as the Yemenis call them, leading up to it in an orderly line.
We drove to a warehouse that had been struck. It had been leased to Oxfam, theinternational NGO. As with most of the strikes we had seen, the missile had landed right in the building's center. The roof and everything inside had been destroyed, but the walls were still standing , held up by emergency steel poles.
Via email, Sajjad Mohammad Sajid, Oxfam Country Director in Yemen, told me:
"The contents of the warehouse had no military value. It only contained humanitarian supplies associated with our previous work in Saada, bringing clean water to thousands of households. Thankfully none of our staff were present at the time but thousands of Yemeni civilians have not been so lucky." – by Ben Anderson and Peter Salisbury
http://www.vice.com/read/yemen-saudi-conflict-anniversary
Comment: A great report but a rather long - one of the writers of this report is Peter Salisbury, who has a very practical and sensible way of telling things as they are in Yemen.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1117995131686310
Comment: A great article. Please read it in full at the original site, here just few excerpts given. This article gives a very vivid impression of the situation in Yemen, with many personal impressions from the places which have been destroyed, locals talking about what they had experienced, and a plenty of images.
28.3.2016 – Neopresse (** B K)
Der längst vergessene Krieg im Jemen
Seit einem Jahr bombardiert eine von Saudi-Arabien geführte Koalition den Jemen mit dem Ziel, die Huthi-Rebellen zurückzudrängen und den gestürzten Präsidenten Hadi wiedereinzusetzen. Der Krieg ist gekennzeichnet von massiven Kriegsverbrechen der Saudis. Westliche Staaten beteiligen sich aktiv an diesen Verbrechen.
[Sehr ausführlicher Überblicksartikel. Hier nur Bezugnahme auf den 2. Teil:]
Die Schande westlicher Kollaborateure – Europa
Owen Jones schreibt im Guardian:
“Yemen is a human-made disaster, and the fingerprints of the west are all over it.”
Mit einer Budgeterhöhung von 54% zum Vorjahr hat das saudische Königshaus 2014 Indien als weltweit größten Waffenimporteur abgelöst – in etwas, das France24 treffend als „Rüstungsorgie“ bewertet. Der größte Input für diese Orgie kommt nach wie vor aus den USA, dicht gefolgt von den drei größten europäischen Rüstungsschmieden.
Frankreich hat nach Kriegsbeginn im Jemen nicht nur mit Saudi-Arabien einen Multimilliardendollar-Rüstungsdeal abgeschlossen, sondern auch mit dem wichtigsten regionalen Koalitionspartner der Saudis – Katar.
Großbritannien hat allein unter David Cameron Waffen im Wert von mehr als acht Milliarden Dollar an die Saudis geliefert, in den letzten zwölf Monaten mehr als 100 weitere Ausfuhrgenehmigungen erteilt und ist außerdem mit Militärberatern vor Ort.
Die deutsche Rüstungsindustrie beliefert die gesamte Arabische Halbinsel mit schwerstem Kriegsgerät. Auch Deutsche G3-Sturmgewehre sind im großen Stil im Kampf gegen die Huthis direkt in den Jemen geliefert worden – ein klarer Bruch des Deutschen Grundgesetzes, über das System der Lizenzvergabe an Saudi-Arabien dennoch möglich.
Die französischen, britischen und deutschen Rüstungsexportgesetze sind auf dem Papier äußerst restriktiv geregelt. Lieferungen an Saudi-Arabien sind daher illegal, doch juristische Verfolgung haben Hollande, Cameron, Merkel & Co. nicht zu befürchten. Straffreiheit für die Beteiligung an schwersten Kriegsverbrechen bleibt das Credo europäischer Demokratien.
Im Gegensatz zur illegalen Praxis ihrer drei mächtigsten Mitgliedern, hat sich die EU mit überwältigender Mehrheit jüngst für ein umfassendes Waffenexportembargo gegen Saudi-Arabien ausgesprochen, nachdem zuvor eine Petition von 750,000 Europäern Brüssel zu diesem Schritt aufgefordert hatte.
Es ist nun an der EU-Außenbeauftragten Federica Mogherini, dieses Mandat in bindendes Recht umzuwandeln und so zu beweisen, dass die EU in der Lage ist, sich gegen die Machenschaften auch ihrer mächtigsten Mitglieder zu behaupten.
Die Schande westlicher Kollaborateure – USA
Ein erheblicher Teil der saudi-arabischen Kampfjets stammt aus einem Waffendeal, den das Team um Hillary Clinton am Weihnachtsabend 2011 eingefädelt hatte, und der Teil desgrößten Rüstungsgeschäfts der USA aller Zeiten ist. “Not a bad Christmas present”, kommentierte ein US-Beamter den 29 Milliarden Dollar-Deal, bei dem 84 Kampfjets der Firma Boeing an die Saudis verkauft wurden.
Im Gegenzug erhielt die Clinton Foundation Millionenspenden von Boeing und den Saudis, auch wurde Hillarys aktueller Wahlkampf daraufhin massiv von Boeing unterstützt. In einer globalisierten Welt scheinen Korruption und Vetternwirtschaft, keine geographischen und ideologischen Grenzen zu kennen.
Das White House gibt an, dass sich sämtliche aktiven US-Waffendeals mit den Saudis zu schwindelerregenden 97 Milliarden Dollar aufaddieren. Saudi-Arabien ist damit der mit Abstand größte Kunde für US-amerikanisches Kriegsgerät.
Erst im November 2015 kündigte das US-Verteidigungsministerium den Verkauf von rund 30.000 weiteren Bomben an, da die saudischen Waffenlager wegen des „hohen Tempos“ ihrer so genannten „multiple counter-terrorism operations“ nahezu erschöpft sind. Weiter unten im Dokument räumt die US-Regierung jedoch den eigentlichen Sinn der Waffenlieferungen ein: „Absicherung der weltweit größten Ölreserven“ und die „Stabilität der Weltwirtschaft“.
Ein Mitarbeiter des US-Verteidigungsministeriums gibt an, die weltweit geächteten Streubomben würden an andere Länder nur unter der Zusicherung verkauft, diese würden sich ausschließlich gegen „klar militärische Ziele“ richten und nicht „in Gebieten angewendet, in denen sich Zivilisten aufhalten“. Einmal davon abgesehen, dass die Genfer Konventionen Angriffe auf Zivilisten ohnehin streng untersagen und als Kriegsverbrechen ächten, ist diese Klausel natürlich eine Farce.
Denn Verletzungen dieser haben keinerlei Konsequenzen – etwa ein zukünftiges Waffenembargo, oder gar juristische Schritte – sondern werden im Gegenteil von der US-Regierung in einer an Unterwürfigkeit grenzenden Naivität klein geredet: „die USA glauben nicht, dass die Saudis absichtlich Zivilisten ins Ziel nehmen würden“, US-Waffen werden schließlich „nur zur nationalen Selbstverteidigung verkauft“, so der US-Beamte weiter.
Die USA sind außerdem mit Dutzenden Militärberatern in Saudi-Arabien aktiv am Krieg beteiligt, liefern wichtige nachrichtendienstliche Informationen und führen Luftbetankungen der saudischen Kampfjets durch.
In einer Rede in Riad im Januar versichert US-Außenminister Kerry:
„Wir stehen an der Seite unserer Freunde in Saudi-Arabien.“
Das grundlegende Problem der Unterstützung Saudi-Arabiens und seiner Allierten durch den Westen besteht darin, dass es den Kriegsverbrechern politische – und noch wichtiger – moralische Legitimation verleiht.
Der „Kampf gegen den Terror“ stand seit seiner Geburt 2001 auf dünnstem „legitimatorischen Eis“. Wenn ihn jetzt mit Saudi-Arabien, Kuwait und Katar auch widerspruchslos Staaten heraufbeschwören, die zu den größten finanziellen, logistischen und ideologischen Unterstützern von Terrorgruppen wie dem IS oder Al-Qaida gehören, wird der Begriff endgültig zur Farce.
Deutungsversuche
Das saudische Königshaus versucht, den ursprünglich säkularen, machtpolitischen Charakter des Konflikts (Sturz/Wiedereinsetzens des Präsidenten Hadi) in einen religiös aufgeheizten Kampf der islamischen Konfessionen zu transformieren.
Die saudische Luftwaffe fliegt im Jemen verstärkt Angriffe gegen bedeutende schiitische Gotteshäuser; eine perfide Taktik, die bereits bei der Niederschlagung des Arabischen Frühlings 2011 in Bahrain angewandt wurde, als ebenfalls Dutzende schiitische Moscheen zerstört wurden.
Im Jemen hat die Zugehörigkeit zu den verschiedenen muslimischen Konfessionen in der Vergangenheit kaum eine Rolle gespielt. Erst der brutale Krieg der Saudis riss das soziale Gefüge des Landes derart auseinander, dass die systematische Zerstörung heiliger schiitischer Stätten auf fruchtbaren Boden fiel und daraufhin interkonfessionelle Ressentiments in der Bevölkerung geschürt werden konnten.
Als selbsternannte Schutzmacht der Sunniten nützt den Saudis die Spaltung der muslimischen Konfessionen in den Ländern des Nahen und Mittleren Osten in ihrer übergeordneten Agenda: einer Konfrontation mit dem Iran.
Der Krieg im Jemen wird in die Deutungssphäre dieser Agenda hereingezogen. Mit dem Ende der zermürbenden internationalen Wirtschaftssanktionen gegen den Iran und seiner Öffnung gegenüber der Welt (JusticeNow! berichtete), fürchten die Saudis mit dem Iran einen Wiederaufstieg des Kernlands der Schiiten. Neben dem aktuellen Wirtschaftskrieg dient der Jemenkrieg den Saudis nun als ein weiteres militärisches Rädchen im Schritt für Schritt eskalierenden Machtkampf beider Regionalmächte – von Freiheitsliebe
http://www.neopresse.com/politik/der-laengst-vergessene-krieg-im-jemen/
28.3.2016 – Huffington Post (** B K)
Yemen: What Picture Will You Take?
“We’ve been in this war for almost a year and everyone has forgotten us.”
That’s a question I’ve been struggling with. Part of the harsh, brutal answer lies in the fact that none of the elite nations feel the impact of this crisis—it is too marginalised and, unlike the desperate Syrian refugees risking their lives to reach Europe, most of the Yemenis are internally displaced and cannot make it to safety elsewhere.
I tell Adnan one way to go about it is to zoom in on the individual stories, giving a face and a name to this crisis, showing that behind the big figures and high politics, there are innocent individuals with dreams and aspirations like everyone else. The question is then to make linkages to the outside world, the common threads that unite us, despite our cultural differences and contexts.
“How can I help?” he asks me.
I ask him to tell me his story, and what he tells me just sweeps me away.
For seven years he worked as a marketing manager with Shell, until the oil multinational pulled out of Yemen in the wake of a string of Al Qaeda attacks across the country. It was in that job that he learnt English.
“I had to learn English well to do my job,” the father of four said.
Suddenly unemployed, he started a business importing lubricants from Dubai, but local cartels soon dominated the market by slashing prices, making it impossible for him to continue. For two years he lived on his savings, bought a van to do odd jobs, and just a little less than four years ago joined NRC as a driver.
The grandson of a Yemeni from Aden who travelled to Ethiopia about a century ago, where Adnan was born, Adnan speaks four languages: Arabic, English, Amharic and Oromo, and tells me he’s learning Italian. That surprises me.
Adnan’s story defies expectations, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise
I met heads of families whom the Norwegian Refugee Council is helping with food aid who until a year ago had normal jobs that made them proud breadwinners. The blockade and the war made them jobless overnight, dependent on humanitarian aid.
I met an extremely poor family who had to flee last year after the blast from powerful air strikes nearby destroyed parts of their house. One of the daughters, Tahani, 19, was about to launch her own local campaign to get working children back to school, with her father’s support. She now volunteers at a local hospital because she feels there is a shortage of medical workers and wants to be a nurse – by Karl Schembri, Norwegian Refugee Council’s Regional Media Advisor for the Middle East.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karl-schembri/yemen-what-picture-will-y_b_9556140.html
cp2 Allgemein / General
27.3.2016 – Journal 21 (* B K)
Saudi-Arabien spielt ein riskantes Spiel
Vor einem Jahr begannen die saudischen Bombenangriffe. Doch geschlagen sind die Huthis keineswegs.
[Nüchterner Überblicksartikel.]
Ex-Präsident Ali Saleh Abdullah trägt viel Mitschuld am Schicksal seines heute weitgehend zerstörten Landes.
Die Saudis fordern, dass die Huthis die Hauptstadt Sanaa räumen und ihre schweren Waffen, die sie aus den Beständen der jemenitischen Armee erobert haben, an die Regierung al-Hadi zurückgeben. Erst dann könnten Friedensverhandlungen beginnen. In einer Resolution unterstützt der Uno-Sicherheitsrat diese saudischen Forderungen.
Doch die Huthis wollen die Hauptstadt nicht kampflos räumen. Sie drohen damit, ein Blutbad anzurichten, sollten die Saudis versuchen, Sanaa zu besetzen. Ziel der Huthis ist es, Sanaa als Pfand bei Friedensverhandlungen zu behalten. So wollen sie einen Frieden aushandeln können, der es ihnen und dem gestürzten Präsidenten Ali Saleh Abdullah erlaubt, eine führende Rolle in Jemen zu spielen.
Zurzeit präsentiert sich die Lage so:
Die Pro-Hadi Kräfte kontrollieren die fünf südlichen Provinzen.
Die Huthis dominieren die acht am dichtesten bevölkerten Provinzen im Westen des Landes.
In fünf weiteren Provinzen finden heftige und verworrene Kämpfe statt, wobei wechselnde Bündnisse mit den bewaffneten Stämmen eingegangen werden.
In den Wüsten des Inneren wie auch in der Hafenstadt Mukallah herrscht al-Qaeda.
Der IS führt Bombenanschläge in allen Teilen des Landes durch.
Gefährdetes Prestige des saudischen Königs
Die Saudis setzen ihr ganzes Prestige ein und wollen al-Hadi zum Sieg verhelfen. Misslingt ihnen dies, könnte die Machtposition von König Salman Schaden nehmen. Auch sein Lieblingssohn Muhammed, der als Zweiter Thronfolger und Verteidigungsminister amtiert, wäre dann angeschlagen.
König Salman und Muhammed glaubten zunächst an einen schnellen und leichten Sieg über die technisch wenig gerüsteten Huthis. Heute wird immer mehr klar, dass Saudi-Arabien mit seinen Luftangriffen und dem Einsatz einiger wenigen Bodentruppen kaum einen Sieg erringen kann. Sollten die Huthis Sanaa verlieren, könnten die Rebellen einen Guerillakrieg anzetteln, was Saudi-Arabien einen langen, verlustreichen und ermüdenden Konflikt bescheren könnte.
Kann Jemen als Staat überleben?
Jemen würde in einem solchen Konflikt endgültig zugrunde gerichtet. Schon jetzt sind die Schäden der Bombardierungen derart gewaltig, dass manche Beobachter glauben, das Land werde nicht mehr in der Lage sein, sich nach dem Krieg zu erholen und ein funktionierender Staat zu werden. Sein gesamtes soziales Gewebe sei durch den Krieg zerrissen worden, sagen sie. Jemen wäre dann ein zusammengebrochener Staat wie Somalia. Es ist voraussehbar, dass in einem solchen failed state der „Islamische Staat“ und al-Qaeda eine führende Rolle spielen werden.
Die Amerikaner haben Jemen verlassen. Von Djibouti aus greifen sie Stellungen des IS und al-Qaeda mit Drohnen an. Der „Islamische Staat“ bietet in Jemen wenig Angriffsziele, weil er nicht oder noch nicht über feste Territorien verfügt. Er beschränkt sich zurzeit auf Selbstmordanschläge. Vielleicht spekuliert der IS damit, dass die USA den IS-Rivalen al-Qaeda schwächen oder zerschlagen, um dann das al-Qaeda-Erbe antreten zu können – von Arnold Hottinger
https://www.journal21.ch/saudi-arabien-spielt-ein-riskantes-spiel
Kommentar: „Die Bombenangriffe der Saudis und ihrer Mitstreiter richteten sich vor allem gegen Lager und militärische Einrichtungen der Huthis. Doch auch jene jemenitischen Truppenverbände, die sich von al-Hadi losgesagt haben, sind Ziel der saudischen Angriffe“ angesichts der tatsächlichen Verteilung der Schäden auf militärische und zivile Ziele definitiv falsch.
28.3.2016 – einparteibuch (* B K)
SCHON ÜBER EIN JAHR KRIEG GEGEN JEMEN
Der saudisch-geführte Krieg gegen den Jemen geht nun mittlerweile schon über ein Jahr. Doch immer noch wird mit einem falschen Narrativ verschleiert, wer da gegen wen weshalb Krieg führt, und auch die alternativen Medien und die russischen Medien sind leider keine große Hilfe dabei, die Wahrheit ans Licht zu bringen.
Das falsche Narrativ lautet etwa, dass die saudisch geführte Kriegskoalition der vom demokratisch gewählten Präsident Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi geführten jemenitischen Armee und Hadi gegenüber loyalen Bürgerwehren dabei hilft, die Macht von der von einigen Ex-Präsident Ali Saleh gegenüber loyalen Armeeeinheiten unterstützten iranischen Proxy-Miliz der Houthis zurückzuerlangen und damit im Einklang mit dem Völkerrecht und dem Wunsch des jemenitischen Volkes entsprechend die Herrschaft des aus Angst vor unterstützten schiitischen Milizen nach Saudi Arabien geflüchteten legitimen sunnitischen jemenitischen Präsidenten Hadi über den Jemen wiederherzustellen.
Die Wahrheit ist, dass die auch von westlichen Staaten unterstützte saudisch-geführte Koalition Krieg gegen die von westlichen Staaten für den Kampf gegen die Terrorgruppe Al Kaida ausgerüsteten und von Milizionären der liberalen Bürgerbewegung Ansaruallah unterstützten jemenitischen Streitkräfte führt. Ziel des saudischen Krieges gegen den Jemen war es, unter anderem von Saudi Arabien unterstützte bewaffnete Banden von Muslimbrüdern, Separatisten, Stammeskämpfern, Gangstern und Al-Kaida-Terroristen sowie ihre von Saudi Arabien unterstützten jemenitischen politischen Paten, allen voran Hadi, vor der sich abzeichnenden vollständigen militärischen und politischen Niederlage zu bewahren und sie stattdessen zum Sieg über die jemenitische Armee zu führen, um damit die Fortdauer der saudisch-wahhabitischen Vorherrschaft über den Jemen sicherzustellen. Weiterhin ist es so, dass Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, der im Zuge des bewaffneten Umsturzes 2012 in einer von Saudi Arabien durchgesetzten Einkandidatenwahl in das Amt eines Übergangspräsidenten gekommene und Anfang 2015 von diesem Amt zurückgetretene langjährige Stellvertreter von Ali Saleh, im Jemen praktisch keinerlei Unterstützung hat, weder in der Bevölkerung, noch in der Armee und auch nicht bei den bewaffneten Banden, die von Saudi Arabien unterstützt gegen die jemenitischen Streitkräfte kämpfen.
https://nocheinparteibuch.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/schon-ueber-ein-jahr-krieg-gegen-jemen/
Kommentar: Überblicksartikel mit z. T. etwas holzschnittartiger Darstellung. Es gibt durchaus zwei jemenitische Armeen. Teile der Armee stehen auf Seiten von Präsident Hadi, nicht wie hier behauptet auf Seiten der Huthis. Es ist freilich der größere Teil, der noch treu zu Ex-Präsident Saleh steht und damit derzeit auf Seiten der Huthis ist. Hadi hat dann seine Armee vergrößert, indem einerseits mit saudischem Geld Kämpfer angeworben und andererseits ziemlich wüste Stammeskämpfer zu Armeeteilen umetikettiert wurden.
27.3.2016 – CNTV / Xinhua (B K P)
War pushes Yemen's economy to edge of breakdown
Years of turmoil in the Middle East have taken their toll on Yemen's economy. The country is one of the least developed in the world. Inflation and draining foreign currency reserves have pushed Yemen to the edge of breakdown.
A year of airstrikes have blocked the transport system, causing transport costs to soar. A large number of factories have been destroyed. And the ones remaining have halted production due to lack of power and materials. The resulting shortages of domestic commodities have exacerbated inflation.
Last year, exports of oil and natural gas continued to drop, hurting sources of foreign currency. Yemeni economists estimate that overall losses in the war may reach as high as 75 billion US dollars. More than seven million people are suffering chronic hunger, and nearly three million are homeless.
"Yemen's foreign currency reserves in February dropped to less than 1.8 billion US dollars, compared with over four billion in the same period last year. The inflation rate has reached around 40 percent, comparing with 30 percent in early 2015. I think the inflation rate will reach as high as 75 percent by year end," said Ahmed Chamakh, economist in Yemeni Central Bank (with video)
http://english.cntv.cn/2016/03/27/VIDEA53bJW7ys1IZzMBd0rgL160327.shtml = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/video/2016-03/27/c_135227283.htm
26.3.2016 – Aljazeera (* B K P)
Film: Inside Story - Has the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen achieved its goal?
Over the past 365 days, a coalition of mostly Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia, has been conducting air strikes in Yemen.
Its main target have been Houthi rebels who took control of the capital Sanaa and other areas in 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMjloTxfeMw&feature=youtu.be
26.3.2016 – BBC (* B K)
Audio: 'We stayed to survive and bear witness'
On March the 26th,2015 Saudi planes carried out their first raids against rebels on Yemen's capital. Sanaa resident, Haykal Bafana, reflects on life in the city.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03p3rp0?ocid=socialflow_twitter
22.3.2016 – Save the Children (* B H K)
YEMEN: ONE YEAR AFTER WAR BROKE OUT, CHILDREN CONTINUE SUFFER
One year on and the war in Yemen continues to kill and maim innocent children, and prevent life-saving aid reaching desperate families.
Yemen was already one of the poorest nations in the Middle East, where life was difficult for children and their families. That’s why we’ve been working there for over 50 years, providing food, access to safe drinking water, and supporting health facilities.
But as a direct consequence of the escalation of armed conflict, in terms of people in need the current humanitarian crisis in Yemen is the largest in the world.
A forgotten crisis
A complex, long-running political crisis in Yemen escalated into this full-scale conflict in March last year. A military operation was launched in support of the Government of Yemen by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of ten states, against Houthi forces and those loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Since then, we’ve seen the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance rise to over 80% of the population. This adds up to a staggering 21.2 million people, including almost 10 million children.
The UN recently warned again of potential famine and over 2.7 million people have already fled their homes. But despite the immense levels of suffering, Yemen continues to be among the world’s least known humanitarian crises.
A rising death toll
A blockade on shipping by coalition forces last year effectively cut off supplies of food, fuel and medicine to Yemen. While the blockade has eased recently, stocks remain dangerously low and imports of vital supplies remain well below pre-conflict levels.
Our teams in Yemen also report that delivering aid and commercial goods within the country is constrained by insecurity, bureaucracy and deliberate access restrictions imposed by fighting forces.
All the while, the death toll keeps rising at an alarming rate. As of early March, 856 children have lost their lives already and another 1,249 had been injured. Since the start of the conflict, at least six children have been killed or injured every day. At least 33 children were among 145 civilians killed in two recent airstrikes on crowded market places.
Civilians under attack
There are also regular reports of attacks on schools, hospitals and other vital civilian facilities. Towards the end of last year, we published a report looking atthe impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas on children and their families. Tragically, Yemen is one of the most dangerous places in the world for explosive weapons. When explosive weapons were used in populated areas in Yemen in 2015, civilians comprised 93% of the casualties.
We have spoken to children like Raja’a* (pictured), aged seven, who told us that she was playing in her garden when a missile hit her home.
“I ran to my mother but the missile hit the building as she was trying to get out with my brother and sister. I saw my mum burning in front of me.
Then, I fell down and later I found myself in the hospital and I was injured. My mum wasn’t beside me as usual. Later, I found out she, my brother and sister had all died. Now I don’t have a house or my family.”
Using influence
The UK government has a long history of providing support to Yemen and Justine Greening should be credited for her response to the current humanitarian crisis. DFID’s recent financial commitment of £10 million increased the total UK funding committed to the crisis to £85 million, and will provide vital humanitarian assistance to children and their families.
But we are deeply concerned about the UK government’s seeming reluctance to criticise the conduct of war.
As the fourth largest donor to the crisis with a close relationship to Saudi Arabia, the UK is in a position of influence. We would like to see the UK use this influence to push all parties to the conflict to do more to protect children and their families.
First and foremost this means pushing for full compliance with obligations under international law and, additionally, for an end to the ceaseless and devastating use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
Rules of war
There are multiple credible allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by all sides in the conflict.
22.3.2016 – Human Rights Watch and other (*B K P)
Joint Statement: Fanning the Flames of the Yemen Conflict
As Yemenis mark one year since the Saudi Arabia-led coalition began military operations in Yemen, and as civilian suffering caused by the warring parties grows in scale and severity, we, the eight undersigned organizations call on all governments to:
Cease the supply of any weapons, munitions, and related military equipment to parties to the conflict in Yemen where there is a substantial risk of these arms being used in Yemen to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law or international human rights law.
A year since the coalition entered the conflict, the United Nations Secretary-General has said that “Yemen is in flames and awash with weapons.” Providing weapons and materiel to factions that are known to have repeatedly violated the laws of war may make the arms suppliers complicit in those factions’ crimes and will further fan the flames of atrocities. The international community has an obligation to take measures to ensure respect for international humanitarian and human rights law. In particular, States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty and members of the European Union are required to assess objectively the risk of a potential arms transfer to any party to the Yemen conflict being used to commit or facilitate a serious violation. If the risk is clear and substantial the transfer must not be allowed. In any case States should ensure, at a minimum, that there is a legally-binding guarantee, backed by sanctions, that the end use will be consistent with international law, particularly international humanitarian and human rights law.
Support a credible, independent, international mechanism to investigate allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed in Yemen with a view to ensuring that victims of violations are provided redress, and those suspected of crimes are brought to justice in fair trials.
Background
Yemen’s armed conflict has been devastating on the civilian population, the civilian infrastructure, and the country’s cultural heritage. In the past year, more than 3,000 civilians have been killed. Insecurity resulting from airstrikes and ground attacks and from restrictions on humanitarian access and imports of vital commercial supplies have contributed to a situation where 21 million people – 82% of Yemen’s pre-war population – are now in need of humanitarian assistance.
On March 26, 2015, the 9-country coalition led by Saudi Arabia, along with forces loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, began an aerial and ground campaign against Ansar Allah, known as the Houthis, and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The fighting has since extended to much of the country and to neighboring Saudi Arabia, and has included various local armed factions and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Mwatana have documented dozens of coalition airstrikes that have resulted in indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks killing civilians in violation of international humanitarian law. The Houthis and other armed groups have been responsible for numerous violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses.
Violations documented in detail include:
Coalition airstrikes across Yemen in apparent violation of international humanitarian law that have killed several hundred civilians. Strikes against populated residential areas, hospitals, schools, markets and mosques may constitute war crimes [1]. The UN Panel of Experts documented 119 coalition sorties relating to violations of international humanitarian law [2].
The coalition’s repeated use of internationally-banned cluster munitions causing civilian casualties and posing both an immediate and long term threat to civilians in the form of unexploded ordnance [3].
Indiscriminate ground attacks by Houthi and allied forces killing and wounding civilians in Yemen as well as civilians in border towns within Saudi Arabia in violation of international humanitarian law [4].
Use by Houthi and allied forces of internationally-banned antipersonnel mines [5].
The Houthis and allied forces endangering the lives of thousands of civilians in the southern city of Ta’iz by blocking the entry of crucial medical supplies and food [6].
Amnesty International
British-Yemeni Society
CARE International
Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU)
Human Rights Watch
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Mwatana
Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF), Yemen
https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/22/joint-statement-fanning-flames-yemen-conflict
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
28.3.2016 – Oxfam (A H)
Oxfam Yemen Situation Report #16, 07 March 2016
The Task Force Population Movement Report 7th report in February has pointed out to a drop in the total number of IDPs. This figure represents a slight decrease mainly due to a number of returnees identified in the South (primarily in Aden, Lahj and Shabwah). However, it reaffirmed the continuation of the humanitarian impact of the conflict and validates a total number of 2,430,178 IDPs (406,000), as compared to 2,501,658 IDPs in the 6th report (published on 10 December 2015). It notes a significant increase of IDPs in Taiz and Hajja linked to continued and escalated conflict.
Heavy fighting continues in the governorate of Taiz. Despite limited supplies entering besieged areas this does little to address overall needs. Ongoing and comprehensive access remains an issue for the three districts of Al Mudhaffar, Al Qahirah and Salah and a permanent mechanism to ensure sustained and consistent access has yet to be established.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/oxfam-yemen-situation-report-16-07-march-2016 and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen%20External%20Sitrep%2016%20070316.pdf
28.3.2016 – United Nations Population Fund (** B H)
Fighting for justice for women amidst conflict in Yemen
Aisha* was raised in a one room apartment adjacent to her father’s grocery shop in a small town 100 kilometres from Sana’a, Yemen’s capital. Shortly after she turned 12, her father introduced her to a 60-year-old man and informed her that the man had paid to marry her.
Aisha soon had two children. As her husband grew older, physical limitations caused him to stop working, and the family struggled to get by. One day, her husband brought a man into their home, then beat Aisha and forced her to have sex with him for money. After that, the man began to visit their home on a regular basis.
One afternoon, when she was having sex with the man, her father stopped by to check on her. Upon seeing him, the man immediately got up, grabbed a nearby axe and killed him.
Aisha was then arrested for murdering her father and sentenced to death.
Before the crisis, 92 per cent of women in Yemen reported that violence against women commonly occurred in the home and 90 per cent that they had been sexually harassed on the street. Approximately 52 per cent of girls in the country were forced into marriage before age 18.
Since the conflict erupted, the rates of child marriage and instances of physical and psychological assault against women and girls have risen even higher, according to data gathered through the UNFPA-supported Gender-Based Violence Information Management System. But justice for these abuses remains rare.
In Yemen, women are legally allowed to appear in court to testify and/or press charges; however, their presence is highly stigmatized. In addition, according to Yemeni law, a woman’s testimony is worth only half that of a man’s and must be corroborated by a man. As a result, a woman – who, as in Amal’s and Aisha’s cases, is frequently the victim of the reported crime – is often prosecuted instead of the male perpetrator, and few women come forward to report rape and physical abuse.
“Dealing with rape cases is really difficult, and we face many challenges, such as when survivors report a rape, they are not believed,” says Najla Al-Lisani, director of the legal unit at the Yemeni Women’s Union (YWU), which is supported by UNFPA. “In such cases, it’s important to provide witnesses. There are also very few forensic doctors to deal with rape cases.”
In addition to supporting YWU and other organizations, UNFPA has established two shelters in Yemen where GBV survivors can receive legal, psychosocial and health services and access safe houses. Since the start of the conflict, UNFPA has supported approximately 6,000 GBV survivors and is working to strengthen the systems for monitoring GBV and linking women who report abuse to various forms of assistance.
http://www.unfpa.org/news/fighting-justice-women-amidst-conflict-yemen
28.3.2016 – UN Development Programme (B H)
Yemen Resilience Monitor: Communities coping with Conflict
The Integrated Assessment examines baseline and preliminary impact of the crisis on local governance, mine action, security, justice and livelihoods to identify immediate early recovery needs to build community-based resilience to ongoing and future shocks.
Households surveyed have reported a loss in their access to nancial assets, which includes international and domestic remittances, savings, social welfare transfers, cash transfers from family and friends, credit (formal and informal), and pension. The rst source of nancial capital for families before the war was informal credit followed by domestic remittances.
Access to international remittances dropped by 10 points, followed by savings and social welfare transfers which plummeted by 9 points.
After the war, only 13% of households still had access to international remittances, as compared with 23% before March 2015
Sa’ada and Taizz Governorates were most affected as these respectively reported a 24 and 17 point-drop
Loss in savings has been particularly acute in the urban centers, in Sana’a (reduced by 21 points) and Aden (reduced by 11 points).
Social welfare transfers have also dramatically stopped, with the freeze of the largest national cash transfer providers
67% of Sana’a households experienced a change in income-generating activities
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-resilience-monitor-communities-coping-conflict-28-march-2016 and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen%20Resilience%20Monitor_Livelihood.pdf
27.3.2016 – Danish Refugee Council (** B H)
Photo essay: Helping the people of Yemen caught in war
The conflict has given rise to a humanitarian crisis that has rendered over 21 million people, or approximately 82 percent of the population, in need of some form of humanitarian assistance to meet their basic and essential needs.
The conflict has caused 2.4 million people to be internally displaced and over 14 million food insecure and in need of access to healthcare. Basic infrastructure and services have collapsed and left millions of Yemenis extremely vulnerable to the effects of the ongoing conflict (including hunger, lack of shelter, injury, disease, rights violations). With no end in sight to the violence and in a context where people have been stripped of their homes, livelihoods and dignity, the provision of humanitarian assistance and early recovery interventions is more important than ever.
DRC in Yemen has responded to the humanitarian emergency through various interventions including provision of unconditional cash assistance, rental subsidies, non-food items, food and livelihood assistance, rehabilitation of WASH facilities, and protection assistance for IDPs, children, returnees, conflict-affected host communities, and mixed migrants.
DRC’s assistance reached over 536,000 beneficiaries in 2015, but needs continue to increase in 2016. This year, DRC maintains its focus on emergency assistance to Yemenis, migrants, and refugees.
Last year, DRC through its WASH interventions assisted more than 50,000 beneficiaries in Hajjah and Hodeidah governorates. Interventions included rehabilitation and construction of water supply and sanitation facilities in 18 schools and four health units. Also, 46 school teachers participated in sanitation and hygiene awareness workshops to facilitate improved hygiene practices at schools. These workshops included themes such as the importance of hand washing and ensuring that water is clean and safe before consumption. At the household level, WASH teams provided hygiene kits and water filters to ensure families have access to clean and safe drinking water.
DRC’s Food Security teams provided emergency food assistance to 291,718 vulnerable families in Abyan and Sa’ada governorates over the course of last year. The distributed food parcels contained sufficient food items to feed a family of six for one month and included cereals, pulses, salt, and oil. Displaced Yemeni families who found refuge with host communities in Sa’ada received one-time cash assistance to meet their essential food needs. DRC also provided livelihoods assistance to wheat farmer families in Sa’ada, who received seeds, fertilizer, and fuel for harvesting. This assistance will help secure livelihoods for farming families, increase access to food, and will boost food supply on the local market come harvest time spring of 2016. Both the emergency food and livelihoods assistance activities are continuing in 2016.
Despite the conflict and the widespread insecurity, asylum seekers, refugees, and economic migrants continue to arrive on the shores of Yemen from various countries in the Horn of Africa. Most of the migrants arrive in Yemen from Ethiopia and Somalia, in search of safety and asylum (Somalia) or consider Yemen a transit country on their onward journey to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or Europe in the hope of finding and securing employment. DRC’s mixed migration field teams operate in the northwest and southern parts of Yemen’s coastline where the majority of the mixed migrants land from the Horn of Africa. The DRC teams who encounter these new arrivals provide immediate assistance in the form of registration (attestation letter), facilitating referrals (to other NGOs or UNHCR/IOM for specialized assistance), and provision of lifesaving kits containing water, food, and clothing. DRC also provides information and counseling on the current situation in Yemen and the current dangers of continuing their journey further into Yemen or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. DRC’s mixed migration programme is operated in coordination and with support from the IOM and UNHCR. In 2015, DRC assisted a total of 77,060 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants who arrived on the shores of Yemen.
As part of its Protection programme, DRC provides various kinds of cash assistance to vulnerable families and female-headed households, including rental subsidies, cash-for-work, and unconditional cash assistance. Cash assistance is considered one of the most flexible interventions, providing beneficiaries with the dignity and freedom to manage their own money and to spend it on their most urgent needs, such as food, medicine, or health care. DRC provided rental subsidies to over 4,700 families and other forms of cash assistance to almost 2,000 beneficiaries. Other protection activities included monitoring and referral of particularly vulnerable individuals and supporting displaced families, returnees, and host communities with essential services including adequate housing, legal assistance, and psychosocial support.
DRC operated mobile Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) in various parts of Yemen. These spaces provided psychosocial support to more than 57,933 conflict-affected children. CFSs allow children to undertake creative activities, such as drawing, in a safe space overseen by psychosocial therapists. Organised activities have a psychosocial element and are aimed at engaging children in a meaningful way to address trauma, worries, and stress. In addition, since the onset of the conflict, one of DRC’s key activities in the field of child protection is monitoring and reporting of grave violations against children. Last year, DRC reported over 1,800 confirmed cases of maiming and/or killing, or recruitment by armed groups. DRC’s teams also established and supported more than 150 community-based Child Protection Committees throughout the country, which are aimed at identifying children who require monitoring and referral for specific medical or psychosocial services.
https://drc.dk/news/photoessay-yemen-one-year-on
Comment: In must confess I did not even know this organization and its great work… Look at the photos at the original site!
27.3.2016 – ABNA (* A H)
Nearly 90 percent of Yemeni children need emergency humanitarian aid - Save the Children
Save the Children, which is a nongovernmental organization, says about 90% of children in Yemen need emergency humanitarian aid due to the ongoing Saudi aggression against the impoverished country.
The humanitarian organization said 10 million children are still suffering in Yemen while the international community remains silent about their plight.
Save the Children also condemned governments who choose to support military action in Yemen and put children’s lives in danger.
“An entire generation of children – the future of Yemen – is being abandoned to their fate,” said Save the Children’s Country Director in Yemen Edward Santiago.
“For millions of children here, the terror of airstrikes and shelling, and the destruction of everything around them has become a daily fact of life. This must not be allowed to continue,” he added.
He also noted that the impoverished country of Yemen was suffering from a humanitarian crisis before the Saudi aggression, but the situation now has turned worse and “thousands more children’s lives are at real risk as long as the fighting continues and the delivery of vital humanitarian aid and commercial supplies continues to be obstructed.”
The international nongovernmental organization said in the new briefing note, Yemen’s Children Suffering in Silence, that most areas in Yemen face acute shortages of food, medicine and fuel, since the onset of the Saudi aggression, adding that the Arab country suffers one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
“One in three Yemeni children under five are now acutely malnourished, with nearly 10 million without access to clean water and more than eight million no longer having access to even basic health care,” Santiago said.
The report added that the war in Yemen has also caused psychological harm to children.
“A Save the Children study of 150 children in Aden and Lahij governorates found 70% suffering from symptoms associated with distress and trauma, including anxiety, low self-esteem, feelings of sadness, and lack of concentration,” Santiago said.
Expressing concern over the recruitment of children by armed groups, he added, “Worryingly, children are increasingly being recruited into armed groups, abducted and detained, and are at risk from thousands of newly-laid landmines.”
Santiago also slammed rich countries for “turning a blind eye to children’s suffering” and even “making billions of dollars by selling weapons that continue to be used against civilians.”
He warned that “UN Security Council resolutions are being ignored and the conflict goes on with complete disregard for international law and the protection of civilians, particularly children.”
Santiago urged more aid to the suffering people of Yemen as well as exerting “more diplomatic pressure on those fighting in Yemen to end the conflict.”
http://en.abna24.com/service/middle-east-west-asia/archive/2016/03/27/743431/story.html
Comment: And would you believe, the appeals to the world have meant that only 4% of the required money to support Yemen this year has been offered.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1117980078354482
27.3.2016 – World Health Organisation (* B H)
Health situation in Yemen critical as violent conflict enters second year
his week marks one year since the escalation of the conflict in Yemen, where the violence has had a devastating impact on millions of innocent civilians, causing immeasurable suffering. Since March 2015, more than 6200 people have been killed and 30 000 injured. More than 21 million people – 82% of the total population – are in need of humanitarian aid, including almost 2.5 million people who have been internally displaced. More than one third of people in need live in inaccessible or hard-to-reach areas.
Even before the current conflict, the health system in Yemen had been facing some challenges, and ongoing violence has led to further deterioration of the health situation. Almost 19 million people lack access to clean water and sanitation, placing them at risk of infectious diseases such as dengue fever, malaria and cholera. More than 14 million Yemenis are in need of urgent health services, including more than 2 million acutely malnourished children and pregnant or lactating women requiring treatment. Yet despite these critical needs, 25% of all health facilities have shut down due to damages or shortages in staff, medicines and other resources.
“Health needs in Yemen are vast, but operating in a conflict context is never an easy task. Over the past year, WHO has had to find solutions to reach people in need. We sent life-saving medicines and supplies via boat when roads were blocked, and we transported safe water to health facilities by animals due to lack of fuel. Since March 2015, WHO has reached millions of people with 450 tonnes of life-saving medicines and supplies; delivered integrated primary health care services, including mental health services, through mobile medical teams and mobile clinics; and provided more than 150 000 vials of insulin,” said Dr Ala Alwan, WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. “5 million children under the age of 5 were vaccinated against polio and 2.4 million children under the age of 15 were vaccinated against measles and rubella by WHO and partners.” WHO also provided one million litres of fuel to hospitals and 20 million litres of safe water to health facilities and camps hosting internally displaced persons.
“Despite our efforts so far, much more needs to be done to respond to the health needs of people in Yemen. I am extremely concerned about the limited funding for the health sector, which has so far only received 6% of its requirements for 2016. As we enter the second year of this conflict, I also remind all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law to facilitate humanitarian access to all areas of Yemen, and respect the safety of health workers and health facilities already working under extremely challenging conditions,” said Dr Alwan.
http://www.emro.who.int/media/news/health-situation-in-yemen-critical-as-violent-conflict-enters-second-year.html = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/health-situation-yemen-critical-violent-conflict-enters-second-year
27.3.2016 – Khabar Agency (A H)
116 cases of rabies in Hodeida
Das Ergebnis der Verletzten stieg Hund Krankheit in der chirurgischen Direktion südlichen Provinz Hodeidah, westlich von Jemen-Krankheit, auf 116 Fälle in den letzten vier Tagen, die meisten von ihnen Frauen und Kinder.
Und es bestätigt die von der Agentur für Nachrichten erhalten Statistiken ", dass 58 der infizierten Kinder nicht überschreiten
Ab dem Alter von 12 und 29 Frauen wurden Opfer von Tollwut.
Der Fokus eines großen Anteils der Menschen in den Dörfern im Osten und Norden der Direktion leben, die ist die landwirtschaftlich genutzten Flächen und befallene Hunde mit dem Virus infiziert.
http://khabaragency.net/news56157.html
Comment: Things like that will happen in a country where medical treatments and supplies haven broken down according to war and blockade of medical supplies which by 100 % are imported from abroad. Victims of the Saudi war and blockade as well.
25.3.2016 – The ambiguous Odyssee (* B K)
On a voyage to find myself under the showers of air raids
And an older blog from August, 7:
As I lay breathing, safe and sound. Cuddled up in my blanket hearing the birds chirping. It hits me once again, he is dead. Gone. Gone for eternity. He has bid his farewells to this cruel world.
Around a month ago I visited a few of the +9000 wounded due to the Saudi Led Coalition, at that time we were working on an Eid project, we were supposed to get each of the injured to say "Eid Mubarak". We got the chance to hear their tragic miseries.
However, he was different, this is his story;
He was on a bus with 17 other people when the missile hit. They all perished, he was the lone survivor. He didn't leave in one piece he lost both legs and was deeply wounded and burnt.
He was too fatigued to speak, he didn't want to say "Eid Mubarak". He felt like his life was futile, vain. He is burned, scarred for life. For a sin he didn't commit.
While awaiting for him to prepare mentally and emotionally, one of the nurses mentioned the fact he doesn't have a wheel chair. He can't afford one.
He wasn't able to afford a poor quality wheelchair that costed 80$. We buy handbags for that price. We go out for coffee spending that much. We told the nurse we'd buy it for him, there's no problem in that, after all it's just $80.
He returned to the injured man and told him, his eyes filled with tears he retrieved the long lost hope. He had faith in humanity once again. He couldn't believe what he had heard, he finally could envisage how life would be as a disabled man. I couldn't believe what I saw he was worried how he would stroll around rather than mourning on the loss of both legs in a blink of an eye.
He then said in a very low voice : Eid Mubarak.
I received the receipt for the wheel chair around 10 days ago, I smiled as I remembered his beautiful smile.
The days passed and a week ago as I was with my group, a girl suddenly popped in and said I have something to say, her face was free of emotions I imagined she came to ask if we'd like tea or coffee as we were at her sister's residence. She said, "What would you like to do with the wheelchair you bought?"
I glared at her for what seemed like eternity. She said, "The man died today and I wanted to know what you'd like to do with it?"
Everything around me blurred and my eyes were flooding with tears, they started pouring down as I looked up to my Mom. She had been talking for the past few minutes telling me not to cry and to reminisce that he is now in a better place. But I solemnly swear it felt like I lost a part of my being. My whole life seemed unavailing. I felt numb, deaden.
All I managed to spout out was: Does he have children, a wife? I received no answer. No one knew.
As we drove back home, I entered my room and in front of me was the receipt I broke down yet again.
I never imagined that lives could end so easily. They can pass by unseen. The moment I think this coalition might come to an end. I thought my fervent will to avenge them was about to wear off, it rather has ignited once again – by Fatima Norman, 17 years old
http://theambiguousodyssey.blogspot.de/2016/03/august-7-2015.html = https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154986325223868&set=a.96554553867.106987.667683867&type=3 and all: http://theambiguousodyssey.blogspot.de/
24.3.2016 – UNCHR (B H)
For Yemenis in war-torn Taizz, survival a struggle
The inhabitants of much of Taizz, Yemen's third largest city with a population of 600,000, have been caught up in some of the most intense fighting in the ongoing conflict. Residents have been deprived of humanitarian aid for up to nine months as a result of a blockade of its main access routes.
Like Ali and his family, they have had to contend with a lack of access to healthcare and clean water, as well as shortages of fuel, cooking gas and critical drugs. Meanwhile, the cost of increasingly scarce food supplies have become exorbitantly expensive as the conflict draws on.
"People are dying of hunger and children are living in fear in this war, even if they still have shelter," said Ali, who finds occasional work loading and unloading trucks. "At times we have to go out desperately looking for any food available to feed the family. If we survive one day, it is hard to survive the next."
In response UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling on all parties to the conflict to allow humanitarian access, especially to the hardest hit areas like Taizz, where most of the internally displaced and other conflict-affected communities are located.
"Yemen is facing an unprecedented and ever-deepening humanitarian crisis, and the needs of the displaced and conflict-affected communities must be addressed," stressed Johannes van der Klaauw, UNHCR's representative in Yemen.
Despite obstacles, UNHCR managed last month to deliver blankets, mattresses, and other emergency relief aid to 1,000 war-hit families largely isolated by months of intense fighting in three locations in the embattled centre of Taizz: Al Qahirah, Salh and Al Mudhaffar districts.
UNHCR has also taken advantage to new access since key roads into Taizz reopened since March 11, and has dispatched badly needed emergency relief items from Aden for 1,000 families in Mashra'a Wa Hadnan and Sabir Al Mawadim districts, immediately south of Taizz's embattled city centre.
Reporting by Mohammed Al Hasani in Taizz, writing by Teddy Leposky in Sana'a, Yemen
http://www.unhcr.org/56f3aae86.html
22.3.2016 – Food and Agriculture Organization (A H)
FAO activated a Level 3 Emergency Response in Yemen on 14 July 2015 given the urgent need to scale up its response to the large-scale impacts of the crisis on food security and nutrition. A Humanitarian System-Wide Level-3 Emergency has been active since 1 July 2015.
14.4 million people – more than 50 percent of the population – are food insecure: a 36 percent increase since September 2014.
Food security is expected to further deteriorate with the escalation of conflict and insecurity, unless the affected populations’ access to food and income improves dramatically.
An Emergency Food Security and Nutrition Assessment covering 20 governorates – to be conducted by FAO, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Food Programme in close collaboration with relevant national institutions and ministries – is pending necessary clearances in order to be launched.
FAO seeks USD 25 million within the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan 2016 to:
provide livelihood inputs and support for crop production, backyard gardening, poultry raising, livestock production and health, and fisheries;
increase water supply for farming purposes, including the distribution of solar water pumps, rehabilitation of water infrastructure (e.g. wells, canals, cisterns and reservoirs) and support to water users’ associations;
implement cash and voucher transfer based activities and support income-generating activities linked to the production of food with high nutritional value, with a focus on women’s groups;
assess, monitor and control transboundary plant and animal diseases and pests, including desert locust.
FAO’s appeal for 2016 is 20 percent funded thanks to contributions from the European Union, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and United States of America.
Increasing farming households’ resilience to food security threats will contribute to saving many lives. Emergency agricultural interventions are critical to preserving household food production – an increasingly vital lifeline, especially in hard to reach areas where aid access is limited – as well as income generation.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/situation-report-escalating-conflict-yemen-22-march-2016 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/FAO%20Situation%20Report%20_%20Yemen%20_%2022%2003%2016.pdf
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
27.3.2016 – Ahmed Alghobary (A P)
Few crowd n support of the #saudi_led coalition campaign after a year of its begin in #Aden. #Yemen (with images)
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/714139398720380929
Comment: Compare to the pro-Houthi and pro-Saleh marches at Sanaa the day before: https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/713830471952678912
Short report here.
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
28.3.2016 – Swiss Info (A K P)
Huthi-Miliz und Saudi-Arabien tauschen im Jemen Gefangene aus
Die Huthi-Rebellen im Jemen haben nach eigenen Angaben Gefangene mit dem Kriegsgegner Saudi-Arabien ausgetauscht. Dies sei "ein erster Schritt zur Verständigung" im Bewusstsein der humanitären Dimension des Konflikts, erklärte ein Huthi-Sprecher am Sonntag.
Die Miliz habe neun Saudis freigelassen, Saudi-Arabien seinerseits 100 Aufständische.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/huthi-miliz-und-saudi-arabien-tauschen-im-jemen-gefangene-aus/42050110
28.3.2016 – Reuters (A P)
Houthis swap prisoners with Saudi Arabia - spokesman
Yemen's Houthi movement said on Sunday it had exchanged prisoners with its foe Saudi Arabia as a first step towards ending a humanitarian crisis prompted by a year-long conflict that has killed at least 6,000 people.
"A first step of understanding and respect for the humanitarian aspect [of the conflict] was the exchange of prisoners today," Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said in a statement.
The Houthis had handed over nine Saudi prisoners in exchange for 100 of their own fighters, he said.
http://in.reuters.com/article/yemen-security-idINKCN0WU069
27.3.2016 – Sputnik News (A P)
Stratfor: Russland bringt Frieden - bald in einem weiteren Nahost-Staat?
Russland soll auch bei einem möglichen nächsten Friedensplan in der Nahost-Region eine wichtige Rolle spielen, wie das US-Analysezentrum Stratfor schreibt, beispielsweise im Jemen, wo am dringendsten ein Regelungsprozess nötig sei.
„Wie auch die syrische Krise ist der Krieg in Jemen ein Konflikt, bei dem saudi-arabische und iranische Interessen kollidieren und Russland könnte dabei als ein Vermittler bei der Lösung dieser Krise dienen“, schreibt Stratfor. Denn nicht zuletzt dank Moskaus Engagement und diplomatischen Bemühungen seien die positiven Resultate in Syrien zu verzeichnen gewesen.
Falls sich Russland bei der Lösung des Konflikts im Jemen engagieren sollte, könnte Moskau auch in diesem Land an Einfluss gewinnen.
Da Russland im jemenitischen Konflikt aber bislang keine eigenen Interessen verfolge, könnte es sich zudem um die Hilfe von Saudi-Arabien ersuchen, um die Verhandlungen in Syrien zu eigenen Gunsten zu beeinflussen.
Zuerst könnte Moskau laut Stratfor Saleh politisches Asyl bieten. Die Allianz zwischen dem ehemaligen Präsidenten und der Huthi-Bewegung sei schon immer eine Zweckehe gewesen, denn die schiitische Bewegung sei durchaus dazu bereit, mit Hadi und den Saudis zu verhandeln.
Auf jeden Fall sei die Beteiligung an der Konfliktlösung für Russland ein cleverer Schritt.
„Der jemenitische Konflikt ist ein Schachbrett, auf dem die Weltmächte spielen. Für Russland, das ein Teil der Figurenkonstellation beherrscht, könnte die Dynamik der Region auf eine andere Art und Weise gestaltet werden", schließt Stratfor.
http://de.sputniknews.com/politik/20160327/308750741/russland-frieden-nahost.html
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
27.3.2016 – Middle East Monitor (A P)
Islamic 'anti-terror' bloc army chiefs meet in Riyadh
Military chiefs-of-staff from members of a Saudi-led, 34-nation coalition of Muslim states devoted to fighting "terrorism" convened in Riyadh on Sunday.
The meeting is the first of its kind since the coalition was unveiled by Saudi Arabia last December.
According to the official Saudi Press Agency, Sunday’s meeting is aimed at "coordinating efforts and setting the cornerstone for implementing military, intellectual, financial and media strategies for fighting terrorism".
Along with Saudi Arabia, the coalition includes Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Turkey, Tunisia, Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia, Palestine, Comoros, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Morocco, Mauritania, Nigeria and Yemen, along with nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Significantly, neither Iraq nor Syria -- the governments of which are both close to Shia Iran -- are listed as members of the coalition.
27.3.2016 – Jordan Times (* B H)
Workers suffer in Saudi Arabia as once-mighty Hariri firm falters
He's had no salary for six months, he cannot pay his children's school fees and his permit to reside in Saudi Arabia has expired.
But Robert still holds out hope that things might improve for him and thousands of other workers at Saudi Oger Ltd., the once-mighty construction giant led by Lebanon's billionaire former prime minister Saad Hariri.
Delayed receipts from a Saudi government whose oil revenues collapsed over the past two years have left employees of the company struggling to survive while they wait to be paid, Robert and other sources say.
Other contractors are also affected, but sources say problems at the 38-year-old Saudi Oger go deeper than the kingdom's current economic strains.
"Already when I worked at Saudi Oger there were delays in salary payments to local employees," a former staffer indicated. "It seems the situation got worse."
Saudi Oger employs around 50,000 people of various nationalities, from managers to labourers, and Robert noted that the salaries of nearly all have been delayed.
But at six months without a pay cheque, he is among the longest suffering.
"I don't have money," he said. "It's hard."
The veteran employee of Saudi Oger says he has "no choice" but to stay with the firm because he cannot find another job.
Robert, whose name has been changed because he asked for anonymity, said the company promised in a letter that salaries will flow at the end of March.
http://www.jordantimes.com/news/business/workers-suffer-saudi-arabia-once-mighty-hariri-firm-falters
21.3.2016 – The Independent (A H)
Saudi Arabia 'jails' Indian migrant who made tearful video about work conditions
Mr Makandar was working in the kingdom for nearly two years and had not visited home
An Indian migrant worker who made an emotional plea on social media about his working conditions in Saudia Arabia has been jailed, according to activists.
Abdul Sattar Makandar, a truck driver, made a video which shows him crying in desperation about his situation.
The video, posted to social media by Indian human rights activistKundan Srivastava, was shared widely in India.
Human rights activists now fear for his life.
In his video, Mr Makandar says: "I have been in Saudi Arabia for the last 23 months, and have applied for leave to come home over five months ago.
“But my employer is not letting me go home... My employer doesn't give me a proper salary, neither does he give me money for food," he alleged, according to the Huffington Post India– by Will Worley
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-jails-worker-indian-migrant-spoke-out-work-conditions-online-viral-video-abdul-sattar-a6943901.html and the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smhqWlKpLWs
21.3.2016 – International Business Times (B P)
Saudi Arabia Uncovered: Documentary shows brutality of world where women are beheaded in street
A shocking documentary to be broadcast on ITV is to uncover the brutality of life in Saudi Arabia, showing people hanged from cranes and a woman being beheaded in the street. Called Saudi Arabia Uncovered, the film raises yet more questions over the UK government's continued "special relationship" with the Saudi monarchy, laying bare the regime's atrocious human rights record.
In one scene five alleged robbers are strung up between two cranes, with young children rushing to view the lifeless bodies. Another clip shows a woman accused of murdering her stepdaughter being beheaded in the street with a sword as she screamed "I didn't do it".
The documentary also introduces viewers to a large public area in the Saudi capital Riyadh nicknamed Chop Chop Square, on account of its use for executions. So extensive is the number beheaded, a drainage system used to wash away the blood is shown permanently stained red.
The filmmakers say it shows an oil-rich Kingdom in "chaos", with unrest in prisons, poverty on the streets, and religious police enforcing barbaric fundamentalism.
As well as showing some of the grim reality of life under the rule of the notoriously secretive Saudi monarchy, it interviews senior British and US officials questioning whether it is time for the UK to reassess its relationship with Saudi Arabia – by Paul Wright
25.3.2016 – RT (B P)
Saudi Arabia to move from oil, earn more from Hajj
As part of a diversification strategy, Saudi Arabia is to broaden pilgrimage services to reduce its dependence on falling oil revenue, reported the Saudi Gazette newspaper.
The pilgrimage industry is the country’s second most important after oil and gas. Nearly two million foreign pilgrims visit the holy city of Mecca annually during Hajj. The figure is expected to reach 2.7 million by 2020.
National Tourism Committee member Abdul Ghani Al-Ansari emphasized the need to restructure the sector to make it a major contributor to the national economy.
According to economists, religious pilgrimages such as Hajj and Umrah have significant growth potential and the ability to create more job opportunities for young Saudis.
https://www.rt.com/business/337135-saudi-hajj-revenues-oil/
5.12.2010 – The Guardian (** B P T)
WikiLeaks cables portray Saudi Arabia as a cash machine for terrorists
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest source of funds for Islamist militant groups such as the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba – but the Saudi government is reluctant to stem the flow of money, according to Hillary Clinton.
"More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups," says a secret December 2009 paper signed by the US secretary of state. Her memo urged US diplomats to redouble their efforts to stop Gulf money reaching extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide," she said.
Three other Arab countries are listed as sources of militant money: Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The cables highlight an often ignored factor in the Pakistani and Afghan conflicts: that the violence is partly bankrolled by rich, conservative donors across the Arabian Sea whose governments do little to stop them.
The problem is particularly acute in Saudi Arabia, where militants soliciting funds slip into the country disguised as holy pilgrims, set up front companies to launder funds and receive money from government-sanctioned charities – by Declan Walsh
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding
cp9 USA
28.3.2016 – International Business Times (A K T)
14 suspected al-Qaeda militants killed by US drone attacks in Yemen
A fresh round of US drone attacks on Yemen has led to the death of 14 suspected al-Qaeda fighters amid easing of tensions between warring Houthis and Saudi-led forces backing an exiled president.According to eyewitnesses and medics, two airstrikes – one bombed buildings used by al-Qaeda in the southern coastal Abyan province and the other hit a government intelligence headquarter in the provincial capital Zinjibar that was being used by the militants as a base – killed six people.
Another round of attack by a suspected US drone killed eight militants gathered in courtyards in the villages of al-Hudhn and Naqeel al-Hayala in Abyan, residents were quoted as saying by Reuters.
The US has acknowledged the use of drones but has not commented so far on any specific attack.
Ansar al-Sharia, the local al-Qaeda wing, on 27 March acknowledged the 22 March airstrike through a post on Twitter saying, "We note that the brigade which was struck by the Americans ... was preparing to join the mujahideen assigned to liberate al-Bayda province ... but it appears that the Americans and their agents were not pleased with that." – by Ananya Roy
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/14-suspected-al-qaeda-militants-killed-by-us-drone-attacks-yemen-1551811
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/14-suspected-al-qaeda-militants-killed-by-us-drone-attacks-yemen-1551811
27.3.2016 – Sputnik News (A K T)
US Drones in Yemen Kill 11 People, Including Al-Qaeda Militants, Civilians
At least eight al-Qaeda militants and three civilians were killed in US drone strikes in Yemen, media reported Sunday.
The US drones conducted two air raids against a training camp of Yemen's al-Qaeda branch in southern province of Abyan, one of the airstrikes hit the territory in the vicinity of the camp used by civilians, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a military source.
Several non-militants were also injured in the airstrikes, the agency added.
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160327/1037052232/drones-victims-terrorists.html
27.3.2016 – Reuters (A K T)
Suspected U.S. drone strikes in Yemen kill eight militants: residents
Drone attacks killed eight men suspected of belonging to al Qaeda in southern Yemen on Saturday night, local residents said, as a U.S. campaign against the militant group goes on amid a wider civil war in the country.
Two missiles hit the fighters who had gathered in courtyards in the villages of al-Hudhn and Naqeel al-Hayala, residents from the southern coastal province of Abyan told Reuters by phone.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-drones-idUSKCN0WT090 = http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/27/drone-strikes-yemen-kill-eight-militants
Comment: “killed eight men suspected of belonging to al Qaeda”: the normal formula to make such a strike a success, also without any real knowledge at all. And Reuters, just one sentence further on, just continues labeling them as “fighters”. Propaganda at its best.
Comment by Judith Brown: USA is joining the Yemen fray and has been busy killing Al Qaeda militants for years - and all that it has done has been to increase the numbers of young men wanting to join militias. It really is a vicious circle. A report on Al Jazeera a few months ago featured a Al Qaeda sympathiser in Mukalla stating that KSA had asked them to take over control of the port to prevent the Houthi militias from expanding there. And many reports over the years from Yemen analysts over the years have said that US drone attacks increase the motivation to join extremist militia groups. Like all wars in the Middle East and North Africa, these complex wars mean that sometimes allies are supporting opposing sides, often surreptitiously. And so it is here - Saudi arms AQ and encourages them, whilst US drones kill some and aids recruitment of new AQ members, and UAE is fighting AQ from the air and on the ground. Its hard to see where peace will come from with this mess of conflict of interests and everyone pulling in different directions. Maybe the answer is for all of them to leave Yemen and leave Yemenis to sort it out for themselves.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154226886438641
26.3.2016 – Digital Journal (A P)
Sen. Chris Murphy: Saudi war in Yemen 'empowering terrorists'
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) marked the first anniversary of the US-backed, Saudi-led war against Houthi rebels in Yemen by questioning America’s role in the civil war and arguing that US involvement there is fueling more terrorism.
The United States should only engage in military actions that advance our national security objectives and help keep Americans safe,” Murphy asserted in a statement released on Saturday. “I have yet to see any evidence that the war we’re enabling in Yemen meets either of those conditions, and am gravely concerned that our actions in Yemen are not only distracting us from the fight against terrorism, but aiding the very groups that are intent on attacking us.”
“With little public debate, the US has a key role in a misguided war that has killed 3,000 innocent civilians,” Murphy continued. “While all sides clearly share responsibility for the violence, the UN reported that most civilian deaths are the result of the Saudi-led coalition’s aerial bombing—including 119 civilians killed in a single strike last week.”
Murphy argued such incidents are helping terrorist groups and fueling hatred of the United States among Yemenis.
“The resulting chaos has allowed for al-Qaeda to vastly expand the territory and infrastructure under its control, and provided an opening for the rise of ISIS,” he said in the statement. “Anti-Americanism is spiking amidst widespread belief that the United States is responsible for the indiscriminate bombing.”
Murphy said the US ”has no business getting involved in a war that has only served to empower our terrorist enemies, exacerbate a humanitarian crisis, and incite fear and anger among the Yemeni people toward the United States.” He added that the Obama administration “must make every effort to facilitate a durable ceasefire, support serious political negotiations, and put an end to this disastrous war.” – by Brett Wilkins
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/sen-chris-murphy-saudi-war-in-yemen-empowering-terrorists/article/461205
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
25.3.2016 – The Guardian (** A K P)
British arms sales to Saudi Arabia are immoral and illegal
With one hand our government sells arms to the Saudis. With the other it uses the profits to try to clear up the carnage the Saudis wreak in Yemen
The Committee on Arms Export Controls (CAEC) reconvened for the first time in almost two years on Wednesday in response to the chorus of international condemnation against Britain for supplying Saudi Arabia with arms that are being used to target civilians, an international humanitarian crime. CAEC heard evidence from Saferworld, Amnesty, Human Rights Watch(HRW) and Oxfam, who have published documentary evidence on individual cases of the Royal Saudi Air Force bombing Yemini hospitals, ports, warehouses, factories, schools, markets and homes.
Their message was clear, unanimous and withering: the UK is breaking its own laws and fuelling a humanitarian catastrophe by selling arms to Saudi Arabia. British law is also clear: it is illegal to sell arms to a state that is at a “clear risk” of committing international humanitarian crimes. But over the past year alone, Britain has sold around £6bn worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, whose campaign in Yemen is targeting civilians – 191 such attacks have collectively been reported by the UN, HRW and Amnesty.
In his evidence to the CAEC (itself made up of the committees from the departments of international development, business, defence and foreign affairs) David Mepham, the UK director of Human Rights Watch, implied the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, had lied in his defence of Britain’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Another witness, Amnesty International’s arms expert Oliver Sprague, questioned the honesty or the competence of the government, which when questioned over allegations of Saudi international humanitarian crimes in Yemen said: “The use of UK supplied weaponry in the conflict in Yemen is an operational matter for the Royal Saudi Air Force.”
“That’s fundamentally incorrect,” Sprague said. “The entire purpose of our export control regime is to link responsibility of the exporter to the eventual use of their weapons … If they say this is not a matter for us, it is impossible to authorise that weapon lawfully.”
The government views the humanitarian and human rights disaster as a secondary consideration to the money private British arms companies make off the war – by Diane Abbott
Comment: With one hand our government sells arms to the Saudis. With the other it uses the profits to try to clear up the carnage the Saudis wreak in Yemen. Please read in full at the original site, here just excerpts.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=995726407147056&id=961126490607048
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
27.3.2016 – Flying Stone (* A P)
March 26 in Berlin
Children of Yemen for Peace / Kinder des Jemen für Frieden
Überblick über den Jemenkrieg
http://www.flyingstone.info/?p=3408
Kinder sprechen auf der Demonstration in Berlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA9Des8AF0c und https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ1q0bb695E&feature=youtu.be
Zusätzliche Filme / Bilder: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=995831663803197&id=961126490607048 und https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=995828110470219&id=961126490607048 und https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1528427374119918
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
28.3.2016 – Middle East Eye (A P)
Jordan only joined Saudi anti-terror alliance because it was 'non-binding': Abdullah
Jordan's King Abdullah told US Congressional leaders they should be 'realistic' about what Saudi Arabia's anti-terror alliance can achieve
Jordan and other Muslim nations joined Saudi Arabia’s coalition against the the Islamic State group (IS) only because it was non-binding, Middle East Eye can reveal.
At a meeting with US Congressional leaders in January, revealed for the first time by Middle East Eye last week, Jordanian King Abdullah II told American politicians to be “realistic” about the Saudi-led anti-IS coalition.
When asked about Saudi Arabia’s self-styled Islamic military alliance, which was announced in December and is comprised of 34 Muslim majority countries, Abdullah said that its non-binding nature was the reason why Jordan and other members agreed to join.
“This [the coalition] is more like a non-binding coalition to show we are against ISIL, so in that case we [the members] all signed up,” he said, using an alternative acronym for IS.
Abdullah said that separate to the Saudi coalition, he had tried to get Riyadh “to go to Cairo so that we can have an Arab Muslim face to the Coalitions against ISIL, but that didn’t get accepted for some reason”.
After Saudi Arabia rejected joining undisclosed talks in the Egyptian capital, Abdullah said they had gone for a “piecemeal approach” instead, adding that he had looked into setting up “task forces” to tackle IS and other similar groups.
Abdullah made the comments during a meeting with senior American politicians in January.
22.3.2016 – Huffington Post (A P)
Saudi Arms Deal Sparks Lawsuit From Montreal Students, Ex-MP Professor
A group of Universite de Montreal law students and their ex-MP professor filed a judicial review in Federal Court on Monday seeking to block the federal government's controversial $15 billion Saudi arms deal.
Law professor Daniel Turp and his students say Canada is violating its own laws and policies that he says prohibit Ottawa from selling arms to countries with poor human rights records and without assurances the equipment won't be used against civilians.
Turp's judicial review asks the court to revoke the export permits for the armoured vehicles.
"It's about the rule of law, it's about legislation and guidelines and all kinds of other rules that should be respected by the Canadian government," said Turp, a former Bloc Quebecois MP who specializes in international and constitutional law.
"Citizens like my myself and my students are concerned by the idea of having a government respect its own law ... and also because the consequence might be breaching human rights in another country."
The notice was formally filed Monday in Federal Court in Montreal and might be heard later this spring — in May or June.
The Liberals have faced criticism for refusing to cancel the contract given Saudi Arabia's abysmal human rights record and its military intervention in Yemen - by By Sidhartha Banerjee,
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
27.3.2016 – Medium.com (*B K)
How Brazilian weapons sold to Saudi Arabia are helping to kill civilians in Yemen
US$ 109,559,247. This is the value of exports of arms and ammunition from Brazil to Saudi Arabia in 2015, according to information provided by the Brazilian government database to UN Comtrade. Much of this amount relates to exports of Avibrás Industria Aeroespacial, a Brazilian company headquartered in São José dos Campos (SP) that designs, develops and manufactures defense products and services. The Avibrás portfolio includes from artillery products and air defense system to rockets, missiles and armored vehicles.
Among the Avibrás products is the Astros II (Artilhery Saturation Rocket System), multiple launch rocket system with ability to launch ammunition of various calibers at distances between 9 and 300 kilometers. Generally regarded as the debut product of Brazilian defense industry in international market, the Astros system was developed to meet Iraqi government demand in the early 1980s, intended to by used in Iraq-Iran war. Versatile, the Astros system allows the use of different warheads, including cluster munitions.
Brazil has not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, refusing to join the scheme of the Oslo Convention on grounds that such munitions arean important tool in its defense strategy and national security apparatus, being part of the Brazilian deterrence policy.
Reports of organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch show that the coalition led by Saudi Arabia could have used a Brazilian model of cluster munitions in Ahma, northern Yemen in October 2015. The ammunition would have injured at least four people, and contaminated wide area with deadly unexploded submunitions.
Given the difficult access to the region in war, both Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have been unable to verify “in loco” the submunitions found in Ahma. Nevertheless, the pumps have “strong resemblance” to the model manufactured by Avibrás, which could have been deployed from an Astros II system.
Analysis of figures released by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC) indicates that Avibrás alone sold more than US$ 115 million to Saudi Arabia since 2010, including arms, munitions and armored vehicles. Notwithstanding the impressiveness of this number, one detail draws attention: 93% of this amount was sold in 2015 alone, a 140-fold increase over 2014.
To learn more about the role of Brazil and its companies in the international market of conventional weapons, see the dossier Weapons and Human Rights published in Sur Journal #22. This contains an article written by me andCamila Asano entitled “Arms as foreign policy: the case of Brazil” available here – by Jefferson Nascimento
cp13b Flüchtlinge / Refugees
28.3.2016 – UN High Commissioner for Refugees, CCCM Cluster, Shelter Cluster
Yemen: Mission Report - Post Distibution Monitoring in Raida and Kharif districts, Amran Governorate
This report details the findings of a one day mission to Kharif and Raidah districts in Amran Governorate. A post distribution monitoring exercise was carried out in three spontaneous settlements - two in Raidah district and one in Kharif district. There are about 195 families living in these temporary settlements (140HHs in Raida and 55HHs in kharif). This post distribution monitoring exercise was limited to two districts because of the difficult security situation. In 2015, UNHCR through its implementing partner YRC covered Khamir, Amran City, Raydah, Karif and Huth districts with the distribution of emergency shelter kits and served 1,040 HHs in total.
The main objective of this exercise was to assess the impact of the assistance on the beneficiaries who were provided with emergency shelter kits in Raida and Karif districts to ensure that emergency shelter items are up to the standards and get the beneficiaries views and opinions for possible improvement on the content of the kit. A second objective was to gain more insights into the general situation in the settlements and to record protection concerns of IDPs in these settlements.
The quantitative and qualitative component of the exercise primarily involved conducting a survey among households of IDPs at the spontaneous settlements through structured face-to-face interviews (see annex I for the questionnaire) as well unstructured through focus group discussion with the beneficiaries. The exercise was focused to verify the actual use of items provided, the quality of items, how useful they were, the preferable items to be used as a kit in the emergency shelter program and recommendation for the way forward for improvement.
The exercise showed that majority of beneficiaries interviewed expressed their unsatisfaction of the emergency shelter items distributed due to the bad quality of items received.
64% of beneficiaries indicated that Wooden Plates and Wooden Poles were the only items that were very useful.
79-71% of beneficiaries indicated that boxes of nails, pickaxes and saws were not useful.
They highlighted the needs for plywood, NFIs, lights, additional plastic sheeting for privacy and sanitation due to the availability of only on sanitation facility for both male and female.
86% of the beneficiaries confirmed that they were not consulted on which items they would prefer to receive.
93% of the beneficiaries confirmed that they were not informed about the kit components prior to the distribution.
None of the beneficiaries were informed about eligibility criteria.
Some of the beneficiaries recommended applying measures to ensure that people with special needs are given a priority during the distribution.
A number of families faced challenges after the distribution where they could not afford to pay for the cost of transportation.
Based on the discussions with beneficiaries interviewed, safety and security, food, health, education, protection, water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter and non-food items, livelihood and possibility of return to area of origins are major concerns. Indeed, it was observed that sanitation facilities are very limited. In each settlement only one sanitation facility was available for both males and females with no gender separation. IDPs have did not have regular access to food for 6 months. Children, elderly persons and mothers, persons with chronic medical situations are suffering due to lack of food. Access to water is causing conflict with the host community as IDPs are no longer receiving water trucks and are having to share distribution points with the host community.
It was indicated by the IDPs that they do not feel safe due to the repeated physical and verbally threats emanating from the host community. The IDPs also reported that they could not afford to have access to the basic services.
IDPs stated that there are frequent threats from the host community and owner of lands or shops to leave their property. They also complained that the accommodation lack the desired level of privacy and was not large enough to accommodate the big number of families members. The IDPs who are living in Kharif spontaneous settlements also reported the looting of their Emergency Shelter Kits by the landlord who evicted the families from his land under the threat of gunfire. It is recommended to cover the families who did not receive the emergency shelter assistance in these settlements.
There are more than 40 chronic medical cases, 20 elder persons and 10 persons with disabilities in these settlements and they have limited access to health care services. It is also reported that there are 15 separated minors in the settlements.
The lack of available health services is a major issue raised by the IDPs as chronic illnesses cases such as heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure, etc. are in urgent need of medical follow up and particularly provision of medicine. Two elderly females and four children recently passed away due to lack of medicine and other basic services. It was also observed that a number of the IDPs are residing close to garbage piles which exposes them to health risks. IDP households are unable to sustain their families due to deteriorating economic conditions and the shortage of earning opportunities. Many women and children are seeking a small income by begging in streets and collecting leftover bread from host community and the garbage piles.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-mission-report-post-distibution-monitoring-raida-and-kharif-districts-amran and in full http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/report_of_the_es_pdm_conducted_in_amran-_17_march_2016_1.pdf
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
25.3.2016 – The Independent (*A P)
Yemen conflict: Al-Qaeda ‘used surface-to-air missile’ to bring down Emirati fighter jet
Exclusive: Terror group’s acquisition of sophisticated weaponry raises the stakes in the country’s bitter civil war, and causes consternation in Washington
Al-Qaeda has acquired sophisticated surface-to-air missiles, The Independent has learned, which were used to shoot down an Emirati fighter jet in a dangerous escalation of the civil war raging in Yemen.
A French-made Mirage jet, flying in the air force of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), crashed into a mountain side just outside the southern port city of Aden on 14 March. Authorities claimed that the crash was “the result of a technical malfunction”, but sources dispute this, claiming that the jet was shot down with Russian munitions. The incident raises the spectre of other jihadist branches accessing sophisticated surface-to-air missiles in Syria, Iraq and further afield.
Two pilots flying the jet were killed in the crash and locals reported seeing Apache helicopters and the jet engaged in an attack on AQAP forces dug into a district to the west of Aden. Security sources have estimated that some 300 jihadist fighters were under attack at the time the jet came down.
A source in Yemen told The Independent that the surface-to-air missile was a Russian-manufactured SA-7 or “Strela”. The SA-7 is a shoulder held heat-seeking missile. It has a “kill zone” range of between 15 and 1,500 metres in altitude, suggesting that the Mirage was flying low in a strafing run on the AQAP positions when it was hit.
The SA-7 has been around for several decades. The most likely source is Bulgaria which, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, sold Russian military hardware, including the SA-7, to countries alll over the Middle East.
“Al Qaeda has confiscated huge amounts of weapons from bases in Yemen,” he said. He cited two such bases, one at al-Aryan along the southern coast east of Aden and another at Ataq, the capital of the southern governorate of Shabwah.
The source claimed that soldiers loyal to Mr Saleh, who is allied to the Houthis, as well as soldiers supporting the current Saudi backed president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi are selling arms to AQAP. “They are getting the weapons from both sides,” the source said.
The growing strength of AQAP – which has made significant territorial gains while the Saudi coalition attempts to quell the Houthi uprising, thus far with little success – is causing consternation in Washington. The Americans, who backed the bombing campaign and have provided logistical support, are increasingly worried that in the last year al-Qaeda has secured much of south Yemen as a significant operational base, one with substantial oil revenue potential.
Now, as signs grow that AQAP is becoming increasingly entrenched and much better armed, American support for the Yemen war is waning quickly.
But the quiet and steady rise of AQAP in south Yemen has left America and the region facing a significant new threat – by Bill Law
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-conflict-al-qaeda-used-surface-to-air-missile-to-bring-down-emirati-fighter-jet-a6954671.html and The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/12205396/Al-Qaeda-shoots-down-Emirati-jet-with-surface-to-air-missile.html
Comment by Judith Brown: This story is potentially very worrying - Al Qaeda militants are obtaining sophisticated weapons from forces loyal to both sides of the Yemeni army - Hadi's lot and Saleh's lot. When people are poor, and join armies not because they want to fight but because it is the only way to support their families, these types of thefts and sales are likely to happen. What a pity that those who supply arms to all sides in Yemen don't seem to realise what they are doing.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154226852543641
Comment: That exactly is this sort of weapon Saudi Arabia wants to furnish to fighters in Syria. To fighters which certainly everywhere else, in countries where the “West” does not rely on very dubious groups because they want to make a regime change, would have been labeled as “terrorists” by the same “West”. And as is known from Syria, weapons of all types, once given to any fighter group, quickly spread to other groups as well. Thus, in a reported case arms given by the US to their pretended moderate fighters needed a week until they were in the hands of IS.
cp15 Propaganda
27.3.2016 – WAM (A P)
Operation Decisive Storm a crucial moment: Yemen
Yemen's Army Chief of Staff, Major General Mohammad Ali Al Maqdeshi, today said Operation Decisive Storm, launched last year by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition in Yemen, represents a crucial moment in the history of Yemen, the Arab Nation and the Islamic Nation because it foiled a plot to destroy Yemen and divided the two nations.
Speaking at a rally staged in Ma'rib Governorate to mark the first anniversary of the Coalition's operation, he said the military operation was launched as a response to a group of aggressors who chose to withdraw from the national consensus and destroy the state institutions.
"The alliance of the rebel Houthi and the now-deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh aims to destroy the country and people and occupy, loot and destroy all state institutions, banks and houses and blow up mosques. However, thanks to the wise leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and upon a request from Yemen's legitimate government, the Arab Coalition has restored legitimacy and thwarted the Persian plot," Al Maqdeshi was quoted by the state Yemen News Agency as saying.
The army and security forces are the possession of the Yemeni people who will celebrate also in Sana'a, Aden, Taiz and all other Yemeni governorates, he said.
http://www.emirates247.com/news/operation-decisive-storm-a-crucial-moment-yemen-2016-03-27-1.625485
27.3.2016 – Ekhbariya (A P)
A senior security official in the Yemeni city of Aden, Maj. Gen. Shallal Shae’a has confirmed that the Arab coalition, in support of legitimacy, in Yemen, which launched military operations against the coup militia of Al-Huthi and deposed Saleh, contributed to defeating Iranian rebellious scheme, in Yemen.
Remarking the anniversary of the Determination Storm and Restore Hope operations, Maj. Gen. Shallal said that Aden, now, is cleansed of terrorists and extremists and is working to raise the banner of hope, to achieve security and stability throughout Yemen, Yemen News Agency reported.
http://alekhbariya.net/en/node/10121
26.3.2016 – KSA Infographs (B K P)
The results achieved by the Saudi-led coalition after the #OpDecisiveStorm
https://twitter.com/Infographic_ksa/status/713848034149416962
26.3.2016 – Anfujravek Arabia (B K P)
Film: States and organizations that supported “Operation Decisive Storm”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oGQQQ_RKtE&feature=youtu.be
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
27.3.2016 – Pars Today (A K PH)
Yemen: Saudi bombers launch air strikes on Sana'a
Saudi fighter jets conducted several airstrikes on residential areas in Yemeni capital, Sana'a.
http://parstoday.com/en/news/middle_east-i6814-yemen_saudi_bombers_launch_air_strikes_on_sana'a
27.3.2016 – Press TV Iran (A K PH)
Saudi Arabia stages fresh airstrikes against Yemen
Just a day into the second year of Saudi Arabia's war on Yemen, the Kingdom has conducted fresh airstrikes against its neighboring Arab state.
Saudi warplanes have carried out a series of air raids in Sana’a and Taizz provinces. At least one civilian was killed in the fresh attacks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8OjjTpkQgA
27.3.2016 – Khabar Agency (A K PH)
#Yemen: #Saudi warplanes targeted Dhobab hospital in #Taiz
https://twitter.com/khabaragency/status/714146511123259392
27.3.2016 – AFP (A K T)
Five Qaeda suspects in Yemen killed in Saudi-led strikes
Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out a series of raids in southern Yemen on Sunday targeting Al-Qaeda positions that killed five suspected militants, a Yemeni military official said.
The official, who requested anonymity, said the militants were killed in air strikes that targeted buildings in the city of Zinjibar, including an intelligence and special forces headquarters occupied by the militants.
Several people were also wounded and taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Jaar, the official said.
An abandoned army weapons factory in Jaar which the militants had taken over was also hit, the official added, but was unable to say if there were any casualties.
Other raids carried out by the Saudi-led coalition struck suspected Al-Qaeda positions in second city Aden at dawn, according to the same official.
It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or injured.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3511663/Five-Qaeda-suspects-Yemen-killed-Saudi-led-strikes.html = http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/03/27/Five-Qaeda-suspects-in-Yemen-killed-in-Saudi-led-strikes-.html
27.3.2016 – Hussam Almolaiki (A K T)
Heavy Saudi airstrikes in #AQAP locations in Abyan province south of #Yemen (with images)
https://twitter.com/hussam25173474/status/714137973760069633
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
28.3.2016 – KUNA (A K PS)
Shells fired from Yemen injure eight people in Saudi Arabia
At least eight people were wounded Sunday when military shells fired from Yemen landed at residential areas southern Saudi Arabia. Jazan Civil Defense Directorate announced that it has received two reports from residents about the injury of eight people by military shells fired from Yemen.
https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2494817&Language=en
27.3.2016 – Hussain Bukhaiti (A K PH)
Borders clashes #Houthi #Yemen-I army stopped Mass #Saudi #UAE led coalition attack on Midi&strikes on Harad N Hajah
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/714176246612103173
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/krieg-im-jemen-neue-artikel-zum-nachlesen-120
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-120: / Yemen Press Reader 1-120:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
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