YEMEN: Dozens of NGOs call upon the EU to impose sanctions on Houthis

Human Rights in the World

YEMEN: Dozens of NGOs call upon the EU to impose sanctions on the Houthi group

For more than seven years, the horrific crimes committed by the Houthi group have been escalating as war crimes against the Yemeni people, in front of the international community and human rights and humanitarian organizations.

 

Over the past years, the crimes and violations of the Houthi group against Yemenis, since its coup against the state in September 2014, have varied between killing, torture, kidnapping, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, killing under torture, recruiting children, besieging cities, bombing houses, killing journalists, and planting more than one million land and sea mines, which are The largest mine laying operation since the end of the second World War.

 

The Houthi group pursued a policy of impoverishment, starvation, stealing employee salaries, stealing humanitarian aid and selling it on the black market. It did not stop there, but rather prevented humanitarian aid from reaching its beneficiaries, which was documented by international organizations in reports that conveyed limited images of the horror of what the Yemeni people are exposed to in the Houthis controlled areas.

 

In order to perpetuate the crime, the Houthi group has turned Sanaa International Airport into a military barracks to bombard civilian facilities and receive Iranian weapons in violation of Resolution 2216 and make the ports as the port of Hodeidah is a starting point for boats and war mines to threaten international navigation, contrary to what was agreed upon in Stockholm, which enabled the Houthi group to commit more crimes and violations of humanity.

 

The violations reached a terrifying level of brutality by bombing cities, populated neighborhoods and camps for displaced people fleeing the inferno of the Houthi group, killing children and women, and the non-stop sniping, and it is unfortunate that the Houthi group saw the indulgence of the international community as a green light to continue its sabotage acts, which are classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

 

In this regard, the undersigned civil society organizations call on the European Parliament to impose sanctions on the Houthi group and to ensure that its leaders do not go unpunished from the perpetrators of crimes and those behind them, in implementation of the international humanitarian law that prohibits attacks on civilians, and prohibits indiscriminate or systematic attacks that would affect Civilian persons or civilian objects without discrimination.

 

The crimes and violations of the Houthi group continue to escalate with every military escalation, regardless of humanitarian and human rights calls for peace, as it continues before the world to target the innocent, bombard and besiege residential areas, displacement communities and service facilities of daily importance to the population and the displaced, deliberately expanding the gap of human suffering and threatening the security and safety of civilians and the displaced. Including women, children and the elderly, and the Houthi group continues to plant mines and take the displaced as human shields. They have previously used the kidnappers as human shields, and in addition to that, the Houthi group has taken all ways to remove the protection of women, so grave violations have been committed against them, reaching the point of killing and physical assault and sexual violence, and the number of detainees reached more than 1,800 women, including civil society activists.

 

While international law criminalizes the recruitment and involvement of children in armed conflict, the Houthi group has forcibly recruited more than 30,000 children in Yemen since 2014, and used schools and educational facilities as training camps for minors, as well as using an education system that incites violence derived from their ideology based on violence and extremist ideas.  It issued excessive death sentences, and executed last September against 9 civilians, including a minor, and there are still women and minors sentenced to death.

 

The civil society organizations that sign this statement condemn all these grave violations and escalating crimes, and express their regret for the failure of the international community, they call on the European Parliament to move quickly in imposing mechanisms to hold the Houthi group accountable and classify it as a terrorist group.

 

It also calls for the creation of a clear and strict mechanism to hold the Houthi group accountable for these crimes, which leads to achieving justice and fairness to the victims and not impunity of criminals, especially since the previous mechanism, the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts – which had been approved by the Human Rights Council in Resolution No. 36/31) 2017), that its mandate expired with the Council Member’s majority vote not to extend its mandate on the fifth of last October – it had failed during four years to seek redress for the victims, and they were unable to reach the victims inside Yemen, and they relied on their sources from remotely and from organizations known for their lack of impartiality. We hope today that the human conscience will respond to these demands and stand by the Yemeni people in stopping the inferno of Houthi crimes.

 

Signed by:

 

  1. 11 February Organization for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms
  2. 8th March Yemeni Union Women
  3. Abna Al Mesamar Forum for Social Development
  4. Adalah Organization for Development and Human Rights
  5. Al Ahq Organization for Rights and Development
  6. Al Dhale Foundation for Media, Monitoring and Human Rights
  7. Al Dhale’e Center for Justice and Equity
  8. Al-Jawf Organization for Rights and Freedoms
  9. Aoun Organization for Human Rights
  10. Arab Initiative for Education and Development
  11. Basmat Amal Foundation for Civil Orientation
  12. Basmat Amal Organization for Development and Human Rights/ Lahj
  13. Civil Network for Development, Media and Human Rights Protection
  14. Coordinating Council for Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights
  15. Democracy and support for human rights
  16. Eye Organization for Human Rights / Al-Bayda
  17. Freedom and Equity Organization for Justice and Development
  18. Freedom Center for the Defense of Media Freedoms
  19. Freedom Foundation for Human Rights and Development
  20. Gulf of Aden Foundation for Human Development and Social Services
  21. Hajour Organization for Human Rights
  22. Humanitarian Center for Human Rights
  23. Irada Organization Against Torture and Enforced Disappearance
  24. Justice and Equity Organization
  25. Karama Organization for Rights and Freedoms
  26. Karama Organization for Rights and Political Empowerment
  27. Life Organization for Human Rights
  28. Mada Organization for Rights and Freedoms
  29. Monitor for Human Rights (Hadramaut)
  30. Monitoring Organization for Human Rights (Al Mahwit)
  31. Monitoring Organization for Rights and Development – Sana’a
  32. Musawah Organization for Development and Human Rights
  33. My Freedom Organization / Hodeidah
  34. National Center for Development and Liberties
  35. National Development Corporation
  36. National Foundation for Development and Human Rights / Hajjah
  37. National Human Rights Organization
  38. Nidal Organization for Human Rights
  39. Peace and Humanitarian Initiative
  40. Peace Foundation for Humanitarian Relief
  41. Peace Organization / Imran
  42. Peace Organization for Rights and Freedoms
  43. Public Organization for the Defense of Liberties
  44. Right Foundation for Human Rights
  45. Rights Organization for Rights, Freedoms and Development
  46. Shahid Organization for Rights and Development (Sana’a)
  47. Shahid Organization for Rights and Freedoms (Ma’rib)
  48. social peace organization
  49. Sons of Taiz Forum for Rights and Development
  50. Student Rights Organization
  51. Ta’ayesh Foundation for Rights and Development
  52. The Public Cohesion for Peace and Human Rights
  53. The Washington Outsider
  54. The Yemeni platform for studies and media
  55. Third Alternative Foundation for Community Development
  56. True Human Rights institution
  57. Witnesses Organization for Human Rights / Imran
  58. Women and Child Association in Al-Jouf
  59. Yemeni Alliance for Transparency
  60. Yemeni Coalition of Independent Women
  61. Yemeni Dutch Center for Rights and Freedoms
  62. Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms
  63. Yemeni Organization of Prisoners and Detainee
  64. The European Association for The Defense of Minorities
  65. Progetto Donna 2021 ,supporting women and children
  66. AIDL
  67. World Council for public diplomacy and community Dialogue

Additional signatures:

Noodt Foundation

Human Rights Without Frontiers

Baloch Human Rights Council

Soterial International

CAP Conscience et Liberté

Archumankind

FOREF

International Human Rights Committee

International Council for Diplomacy and Dialogue

European Federation for Freedom of Belief

 

 

Post Views: 427