Salam For Yemen

U.N. Human Rights Council: Help Bridge Yemen’s “Acute Accountability Gap”

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September 22, 2020

– States should help pave the way towards credible accountability and redress for the people of Yemen by renewing and strengthening international investigations into war crimes, other serious violations of international humanitarian law, and grave human rights abuses during this 45^th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (the Council), 24 organizations said today.

Yemen is suffering from an “acute accountability gap,” according to the UN Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) on Yemen, which released its third report on September 9, 2020. With COVID-19 threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions across Yemen, peace talks floundering, and airstrikes, shelling and attacks impacting civilians once again increasing, the reality for millions of Yemeni civilians is growing ever more bleak. This session, the Human Rights Council has the opportunity to pave the way towards credible accountability and redress for victims and survivors in Yemen.

People in Yemen have experienced grave abuses since the conflict began in 2014, when Ansar Allah (the Houthi armed group) and military units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh took control of the capital, Sana’a, and escalated in 2015 when the Saudi/UAE-led coalition militarily intervened on the side of the Yemeni government.

With the conflict in its sixth year, millions of Yemenis are without adequate food, water, shelter or healthcare. The parties to the conflict impede the flow of life-saving goods into and around the country, attack critical infrastructure, and misdirect goods and their revenues to their own coffers and loyalists. Thousands of civilians have been killed, wounded and otherwise harmed by airstrikes that violate international humanitarian law, indiscriminate shelling and the use of banned anti-personnel landmines. The societal fabric has torn, with expression, speech, peaceful protest and movement increasingly restricted, and political and other identity-based divisions weaponized by those in power.

The human rights and humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen is man-made, and was avoidable. The  parties to the conflict continue to hold the vast majority of power in and over Yemen. For Yemen’s trajectory to change, the behavior of the parties to the conflict and their backers needs to change. As of September 2020, perpetrators have gone unpunished, states responsible for violations have faced no real consequences, parties have rarely acknowledged fault or taken measures to protect civilians, suppliers keep the arms used for international humanitarian law violations flowing, and victims have been denied justice and redress.

In 2017, the Council established the GEE to report on  violations of international law in Yemen and, where possible, to identify those responsible. The Council renewed the GEE’s mandate in 2018 and 2019, despite opposition from the Saudi/UAE-led coalition.

In its third report, the UN experts found the international community “can and should” do more to “help bridge the acute accountability gap” in Yemen. The experts provided a list of specific recommendations, including for the Security Council to refer the situation in Yemen to the International Criminal Court and to expand the list of persons subject to Security Council sanctions. The GEE supported the establishment of an investigative body, similar to the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, and specifically called on the Council to ensure the situation of human rights in Yemen remains on its agenda, including by ensuring adequate resources are provided to the GEE for the collection, preservation and analysis of information related to violations and crimes. In the longer term, the Group encouraged “further dialogue about the creation of a special tribunal such as a ‘hybrid tribunal’ to prosecute cases of those most responsible,” reiterated the importance of victims’ right to a remedy, including reparations, and called for human rights to be “at the heart of any future peace negotiations,” including that “no steps are taken that would undermine respect for human rights and accountability, such as granting blanket amnesties.”

The GEE also reiterated concerns that states supplying arms to parties to the conflict, including to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, may be violating their obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty, and that this support may amount to aiding and assisting internationally wrongful acts.

Today, 24 Yemeni, regional and international civil society organizations came together to call on the Council to endorse the GEE’s report, including its findings on accountability, and to take concrete steps this Council session to pave the way towards credible justice for Yemen. The 24 organizations are calling on the Council to renew and strengthen the GEE’s mandate this September, including to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence related to, and clarify responsibility for, the most serious crimes under international law and violations of international law committed in Yemen since 2014. The organizations are also calling on the Council to task the GEE with issuing a special report advising states on practical steps they can take to help ensure justice and redress for the tens of thousands of Yemeni civilians unlawfully harmed by the warring parties throughout this conflict.

Organizational Quotes:

“More than half a decade into this catastrophic war, the international community should no longer ask Yemenis to wait for justice,” said Radhya al-Mutawakel, Chairperson, Mwatana for Human Rights. “Those who bomb buses full of children, sentence journalists to death, and steal humanitarian aid must be put on notice that they will be held accountable.”

“Real, concrete forms of accountability and redress are essential if we want to see an end to this nightmare,” said Jeremie Smith, Geneva Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. “The fate of millions hangs in the balance.”

“The international community should act immediately to end the man-made human rights and humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen. Apart from accountability and redress, states supplying arms to parties to the conflict should be held accountable,” said Murat Çelikkan, Co-Director of Hafıza Merkezi. “The hesitancy to bring justice to the Yemeni people undermines the international respectability of human rights and human rights and humanitarian law.”

“Widespread impunity by all sides means that human rights violations will continue to mount, and those who document these violations and defend human rights are at extremely high risk. Only accountability will pressure those committing the violations to stop,” said Khalid Ibrahim, Executive Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR).

“For too long the international community has turned a blind eye to the massive humanitarian crisis in Yemen, or sold weapons to those who continue to commit war crimes and other violations of international law,” said Dr. Simon Adams, Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. “It is time to investigate, expose and prosecute those responsible for atrocities in Yemen.”

“We call on the international community to put pressure on all parties to the conflict, including on Saudi Arabia and the UAE not to use the blockade as a means of collective punishment, and to hold accountable those responsible for the recruitment of children,” Sadek Al Saar, President, Salam For Yemen.

“We witness everyday a great number of atrocities in Yemen, without any acknowledgement of the need for accountability, and impunity feeding more of those atrocities,” said Akram Al-Shwafi, Director of Watch for Human Rights. “Bringing those who commit violations to justice and offering redress to victims is the only way to achieve peace and security.”

“The UN panel report lays out in horrific detail the immense toll Yemen’s conflict has taken on civilians. States should take a stand on behalf of victims and urgently pursue the panel’s strong accountability recommendations,” said Balkees Jarrah, Associate International Justice Director, Human Rights Watch.

“This is an extremely damning report and underlines the complicity of arms-dealing governments. All parties to the war have shown a total contempt for international law and the rights and lives of people in Yemen.  After five terrible years, this war has killed tens of thousands of people and destroyed vital infrastructure across Yemen. The war must stop, and so must the arms sales that have enabled it.” Andrew Smith, Media Coordinator, Campaign Against Arms Trade.

“Warring parties have perpetrated abuses with near total impunity in Yemen,” said Michael Payne, Interim Advocacy Director, Physicians for Human Rights. “The parties to the conflict have routinely violated international humanitarian law and have decimated Yemen’s health system, inflicting widespread death and suffering on civilians. The international community must do more to hold the warring parties to account.”

“The experiences we went through have proved to us that without justice and accountability, any peace deal will surely fail, and that accountability and justice for the victims and holding those who commit violations accountable are real guarantees for a lasting peace,” said Amat Al-Salam Abdullah Al-Haj, Director, the Mothers of Abductees Association.

“The international community’s commitment to date has ensured that the grave violations and abuses that are still happening on a daily basis in Yemen are being duly investigated and reported on –the HRC must take this commitment to the next stage, for victims have the right to the truth and they have the right to justice and to redress,” said Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Director, Amnesty International.

Signatories: 

1. Action by Christians Against Torture (ACAT-France)
2. Amnesty International
3. Andalus Institute for Tolerance and anti-Violence Studies
4. Bosnian-Herzegovinian Pride March, Bosnia and Herzegovina
5. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
6. Campaign Against Arms Trade
7. Center for Social Impact Studies, Ghana
8. Dhameer Organization for Rights and Freedoms
9. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
10. Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
11. Hafıza Merkezi, Turkey
12. Human Rights Watch
13. International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
14. International Federation For Human Rights (FIDH)
15. Justice Call for Rights and Development
16. Mothers of Abductees Association
17. Musaala for Human Rights
18. Mwatana for Human Rights
19. PAX (the Netherlands)
20. Physicians for Human Rights
21. Salam For Yemen
22. Sisters’ Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF)
23. Watch for Human Rights
24. Yemeni Civil Alliance for Peace

بخصوص إعلان وقف مؤقت لإطلاق النار في اليمن: بيان مشترك من 59 منظمة غير حكومية

In البرنامج الدولى لحماية حقوق الانسان, دول عربية by CIHRSأبريل 13, 2020

تركت أكثر من5 سنوات من الحرب الوحشية في اليمن ملايين اليمنيين في حالة ضعف بسبب سوء التغذية وتفشي الأمراض، وقد تحطم النظام الصحي في اليمن جراء الحرب. ومن ثم سيؤدي التهديد الوشيك لـوباء كوفيد-19 إلى تفاقم الوضع الإنساني الصعب في اليمن، حيث 80 في المائة من السكان بحاجة للمساعدة الإنسانية، معظمهم من النساء والأطفال؛ بينما يفتقر ثلثا البلد إلى الوصول الكافي للمياه النظيفة والصرف الصحي؛ ويعيش الملايين على حافة المجاعة؛ ويفتقر ما يقرب من 20 مليون شخصًا للرعاية الصحية الكافية؛ وتنتشر الأمراض مثل الكوليرا وحمى الضنك. هذه العوامل تخلق بيئة مواتية بشكل خطير للانتشار الشديد والسريع لفيروس كوفيد-19، ما يهدد حياة عدد لا يحصى من المدنيين في اليمن.

وفي ضوء هذا التهديد الاستثنائي، نرحب نحن، المنظمات غير الحكومية الموقعة أدناه، ترحيبًا حذرًا بإعلان المملكة العربية السعودية الوقف المؤقت للأعمال العدائية في اليمن. ونحث جميع أطراف النزاع في اليمن على الوقف الفوري للقتال وتنفيذ وقف إطلاق النار على الأرض دون تأخير، والإفراج الفوري عن جميع المعتقلين والمختفين قسراً، والتعاون مع المبعوث الخاص للأمم المتحدة على الفور لاستئناف المفاوضات السياسية الشاملة والجامعة لكل الأطراف من أجل إنهاء النزاع.

بالطبع لا يمكن لوقف إطلاق النار بمفرده الحد من انتشار فيروس كوفيد-19 في اليمن، لذا يجب على جميع الأطراف رفع القيود فورًا وإنهاء التدخل في العمليات الإنسانية الحيوية؛ وضمان إمكانية الوصول الفوري للسكان المحتاجين؛ وتسهيل حركة العاملين في المجال الإنساني والسلع والواردات التجارية؛ وإنهاء الحصار والسياسات الأخرى التي تمنع أو تقيد الواردات التجارية الأساسية لليمن، لضمان إمكانية الاستجابة الإنسانية لاحتياجات ملايين اليمنيين من أجل البقاء على قيد الحياة، ودعم سبل العيش الاقتصادية لليمن.

كما يجب دعم المجتمع المدني اليمني لمواصلة دوره الأساسي في الاستجابة للأزمة. وفي الوقت نفسه، على المجتمع الدولي تكثيف التمويل لمجموعة كاملة من البرامج الإنسانية في اليمن. إذ أنه في خضم هذا الوباء العالمي، سيؤدي تعليق المساعدات المنقذة للحياة، أو تسييس وصول التمويل والمساعدات الإنسانية، إلى مضاعفة الخطر الذي يواجه السكان المدنيين الضعفاء في اليمن.

إن وقف الأعمال العدائية في اليمن ما هو إلا خطوة أولى، إذ يحتاج اليمنيون إلى وقف دائم لإطلاق النار، وتسوية سياسية شاملة وجامعة للصراع الحالي، ووصول غير مشروط للمساعدات الإنسانية والواردات التجارية، والمساءلة عن الانتهاكات التي ارتكبتها جميع الأطراف خلال هذه الحرب.

لم يعد بإمكان اليمن الانتظار فترة أطول لإنهاء الصراع والدمار الإنساني الذي دمر حياة المدنيين لأكثر من 5 سنوات.

الموقعون

1. أكات فرنسا (تحرك مسيحيين ضد التعذيب)
2. العمل لمكافحة الجوع
3. فيلق العمل (Action Corps)
4. التحالف من أجل بناء السلام
5. التحالف الدولي للدفاع عن الحقوق والحريات
6. القسط لدعم حقوق الإنسان
7. آفاز (AVAZZ)
8. خبز لأجل العالم
9. مركز القاهرة لدراسات حقوق الإنسان
10. كير إنترناشيونال
11. مركز لأجل المدنيين في الصراع (Center for Civilians in Conflict ,CIVIC)
12. مركز السياسة الدولية
13. مركز تحليل السياسات في القرن الأفريقي
14. سيفيكاس (CIVICUS)
15. المنظمة الكاثوليكية للإغاثة والتنمية
16. كيور فايولنس جلوبال (Cure Violence Global)
17. المجلس الدانمركي للاجئين
18. الضمير للحقوق والحريات
19. فريدوم فورورد (Freedom Forward)
20. لجنة الأصدقاء المعنية بالتشريعات الوطنية
21. المركز العالمي للمسئولية عن توفير الحماية
22. المجتمعات العالمية
23. الإعاقة الدولية – الإنسانية والشمول
24. حقوق الإنسان أولاً
25. الشبكة الدولية للمجتمع المدني
26. الفيدرالية الدولية لحقوق الإنسان
27. لجنة الإنقاذ الدولية
28. الإغاثة الإسلامية حول العالم
29. مركز كارونا لبناء السلام
30. أطباء العالم
31. ميرسي كوربس (Mercy Corps)
32. جمعية أمهات المختطفين
33. مُصالى لحقوق الإنسان
34. مواطنة لحقوق الإنسان
35. المجلس النرويجي للاجئين
36. مرصد التسليح
37. أوكسفام
38. باكس كريستي الدولية (Pax Christi International)
39. مؤسسة السلام والبناء
40. بيس دايركت (Peace Direct)
41. منظمة أطباء من أجل حقوق الإنسان
42. الطوارئ الدولية الأولى
43. مشروع الديمقراطية في الشرق الأوسط
44. الرابطة الدولية للاجئين
45. عالم أكثر أمانا (Saferworld)
46. سلام من أجل اليمن
47. البحث عن أرضية مشتركة (Search for Common Ground)
48. منظمة التضامن الدولية
49. ستاند: الحركة التي يقودها الطلاب لإنهاء الفظائع الجماعية
50. طلاب من أجل اليمن
51. تيرفاند (Tearfund)
52. رابطة الأمم المتحدة لمنطقة العاصمة الوطنية
53. راقب لحقوق الإنسان
54. انتصر بدون حرب (Win Without War)
55. المنظمة العالمية لمناهضة التعذيب
56. مؤسسة الإغاثة والتعمير اليمنية
57. شبكة التضامن اليمنية
58. التحالف المدني اليمني لبناء السلام
59. لجنة التحالف اليمني

JOINT STATEMENT BY 59 NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE IN YEMEN

09 April 2020

Over five years of brutal war in Yemen have left millions of Yemenis weakened by malnutrition and disease, and decimated Yemen’s health system.  The imminent threat of COVID-19 will exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation: 80 percent of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance, the majority of whom are women and children; two-thirds of the country lacks adequate access to clean water and sanitation; millions are living on the brink of starvation; nearly 20 million people lack access to adequate healthcare; and cholera, dengue, and other preventable diseases are already rife. These factors create an environment dangerously conducive to the severe and rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, threatening countless civilian lives.

Especially in light of this extraordinary threat, we, the undersigned NGOs, cautiously welcome the announcement by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of a temporary cessation of hostilities in Yemen.  We urge all parties to the conflict in Yemen to immediately halt fighting, to implement a ceasefire on the ground without delay, to release all detainees and those forcibly disappeared, and to work with the UN Special Envoy to urgently restart comprehensive and inclusive political negotiations to end the conflict.

A ceasefire alone cannot stop the spread of COVID-19 in Yemen.  All parties must immediately lift restrictions and end interference with vital humanitarian operations; ensure immediate access to populations in need; facilitate the movement of humanitarian workers and goods and of commercial imports; and end blockades and other actions and policies that prevent or restrict essential commercial imports into Yemen, to maintain the humanitarian response for the millions of Yemenis who need aid to survive, and to support Yemenis’ economic livelihood. Yemeni civil society must also be supported to continue their essential role in responding to the crisis. Simultaneously, the international community must ramp up funding for the full range of humanitarian programming in Yemen. Amid this global pandemic, any suspension of life-saving assistance for Yemen, or politicization of humanitarian access and funding, will leave Yemen’s already vulnerable civilian population at heightened risk.

A cessation of hostilities in Yemen can only be a first step. Yemenis need a durable ceasefire, a comprehensive and inclusive political settlement to the current conflict, unencumbered access to humanitarian aid and commercial imports, and accountability for the violations all sides have committed during this war.  Yemen cannot wait any longer for an end to the conflict and humanitarian devastation that has ravaged the civilian population for over five years.

Signed by:

1. ACAT-France (Action by Christians Against Torture)
2. Action against Hunger
3. Action Corps
4. Alliance for Peacebuilding
5. Alliance internationale pour la défense des droits et des libertés (AIDL)
6. ALQST for Human Rights
7. Avaaz
8. Bread for the World
9. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
10. CARE International
11. Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)
12. Center for International Policy
13. Center for Policy Analysis in Horn of Africa
14. CIVICUS
15. Cordaid – Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development
16. Cure Violence Global
17. Danish Refugee Council
18. Dhameer for Rights and Freedoms
19. Freedom Forward
20. Friends Committee on National Legislation
21. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
22. Global Communities
23. Handicap International – Humanity & Inclusion
24. Human Rights First
25. International Civil Society Action Network
26. International Federation for Human Rights
27. International Rescue Committee
28. Islamic Relief Worldwide
29. Karuna Center for Peacebuilding
30. Médecins du Monde
31. Mercy Corps
32. Mothers of Abductees Association
33. Musaala for Human Rights Organization
34. Mwatana for Human Rights
35. Norwegian Refugee Council
36. Observatoire des armements
37. Oxfam
38. Pax Christi International
39. Peace and Building Foundation
40. Peace Direct
41. Physicians for Human Rights
42. Première Urgence Internationale
43. Project on Middle East Democracy
44. Refugees International
45. Saferworld
46. Salam for Yemen
47. Search for Common Ground
48. Solidarités International
49. STAND: The student-led movement to end mass atrocities
50. Students for Yemen
51. Tearfund
52. United Nations Association of the National Capital Area
53. Watch for Human Rights
54. Win Without War
55. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
56. Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
57. Yemen Solidarity Network
58. Yemen Civil Alliance for Peacebuilding
59. Yemeni Alliance Committee

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DÉCLARATION CONJOINTE DE 59 ORGANISATIONS NON GOUVERNEMENTALES

SUR L’ANNONCE D’UN CESSEZ-LE-FEU TEMPORAIRE AU YÉMEN

09 Avril 2020

Cinq ans de guerre brutale au Yémen ont laissé des millions de civils en proie à la faim et aux maladies avec un système de santé décimé. La propagation du COVID-19 ne fera qu’aggraver cette situation humanitaire catastrophique : 80 % de la population a besoin d’une aide humanitaire, dont une majorité de femmes et d’enfants ; les deux tiers du pays ne disposent pas d’un accès convenable à l’eau potable et à l’assainissement ; des millions de personnes vivent au bord de la famine ; près de 20 millions de personnes n’ont pas accès à des soins de santé décents ; et le choléra, la dengue et d’autres maladies pourtant prévisibles sévissent déjà. Ces facteurs créent un environnement dangereusement propice à la propagation grave et rapide du virus COVID-19, menaçant d’innombrables vies civiles.

Compte tenu de cette menace extraordinaire, nous, les ONG soussignées, saluons avec prudence l’annonce par le Royaume d’Arabie saoudite d’une cessation temporaire des hostilités au Yémen.  Nous demandons instamment à toutes les parties au conflit au Yémen de cesser immédiatement les combats, d’appliquer sans délai un cessez-le-feu sur le terrain, de libérer tous les détenus et les personnes victimes de disparition forcée, et de collaborer avec l’envoyé spécial des Nations unies pour relancer d’urgence des négociations politiques globales et inclusives afin de mettre fin au conflit.

Un cessez-le-feu ne peut à lui seul arrêter la propagation du COVID-19 au Yémen. Toutes les parties au conflit doivent immédiatement lever les contraintes pesant sur les opérations humanitaires ; leur assurer un accès immédiat aux populations dans le besoin ; faciliter la circulation des travailleurs et des biens humanitaires ainsi que des importations commerciales ; et mettre fin aux blocus et autres actions et politiques empêchant les importations commerciales essentielles au Yémen. La société civile du pays doit également être soutenue pour continuer à jouer son rôle essentiel dans la réponse à la crise. Simultanément, la communauté internationale doit augmenter le financement de l’ensemble des programmes humanitaires au Yémen. Dans le contexte de cette pandémie, toute suspension de l’assistance vitale au Yémen ou toute politisation de l’accès et du financement humanitaires exposera la population civile déjà vulnérable à des risques accrus.

La cessation des hostilités au Yémen ne peut être qu’une première étape. Les Yéménites ont besoin d’un cessez-le-feu durable, d’un règlement politique, global et inclusif du conflit, d’un accès sans entrave à l’aide humanitaire et aux importations commerciales, et de la reconnaissance et de la condamnation des violations commises pendant cette guerre. Le Yémen ne peut attendre plus longtemps pour mettre un terme au conflit et à la dévastation humanitaire qui frappent la population civile depuis plus de cinq ans.

Signé par: 

1. ACAT-France (Action des Chrétiens pour l’Abolition de la Torture)
2. Action Contre la Faim
3. Action Corps
4. Alliance for Peacebuilding
5. Alliance internationale pour la défense des droits et des libertés (AIDL)
6. ALQST for Human Rights
7. Avaaz
8. Bread for the World
9. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
10. CARE International
11. Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)
12. Center for International Policy
13. Center for Policy Analysis in Horn of Africa
14. CIVICUS
15. Cordaid – Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development
16. Cure Violence Global
17. Danish Refugee Council
18. Dhameer for Rights and Freedoms
19. Fédération Internationale pour les Droits Humains (FIDH)
20. Freedom Forward
21. Friends Committee on National Legislation
22. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
23. Global Communities
24. Handicap International – Humanity & Inclusion
25. Human Rights First
26. International Civil Society Action Network
27. International Rescue Committee
28. Islamic Relief Worldwide
29. Karuna Center for Peacebuilding
30. Médecins du Monde
31. Mercy Corps
32. Mothers of Abductees Association
33. Musaala for Human Rights Organization
34. Mwatana for Human Rights
35. Norwegian Refugee Council
36. Observatoire des armements
37. Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
38. Oxfam
39. Pax Christi International
40. Peace and Building Foundation
41. Peace Direct
42. Physicians for Human Rights
43. Première Urgence Internationale
44. Project on Middle East Democracy
45. Refugees International
46. Saferworld
47. Salam for Yemen
48. Search for Common Ground
49. Solidarités International
50. STAND: The student-led movement to end mass atrocities
51. Students for Yemen
52. Tearfund
53. United Nations Association of the National Capital Area
54. Watch for Human Rights
55. Win Without War
56. Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
57. Yemen Solidarity Network
58. Yemen Civil Alliance for Peacebuilding
59. Yemeni Alliance Committee

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