Aqeel: The international community has failed to protect civilians in Yemen

Hasna Tammam: The Houthi militia is committing the most heinous violations against Yemenis

Today marks the anniversary of the celebration of the International Day of Peace, launched by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981, to commemorate the role of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security, and with the aim of promoting the ideals and values of peace between nations and peoples. The first Day of Peace was celebrated in September 1982, and in 2001 the General Assembly unanimously voted on Resolution 55/8282, which designated September 21 as the Day of Abstinence from Violence and Ceasefire.

On this day, the Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights is reminded of the main mission of the United Nations in maintaining peace and security in light of the increasing international conflicts that haunt the state of peace in a number of countries of the world.

 Yemen has been living for five years in a state of lack of peace and security as a result of the Houthi militia’s coup against the legitimate authority in the country. Which is committing grave violations against Yemenis, as the Iranian-backed militia continues to relentlessly target civilians, as it uses children and recruits them in armed conflict. In addition to the fact that women face different types of violence, in the absence of state institutions, protection organizations and community awareness, and they bear all the woes resulting from armed conflicts and are the victims of the conflict most physically, psychologically and morally.

Ayman Aqil, head of Maat Foundation, confirmed that Yemen is suffering from the worst humanitarian disaster in history, since the Houthi coup against the legitimate authority in 2014, as there are more than 80 thousand Yemeni children at risk of death due to starvation and malnutrition, and there are 24 million people in Yemen, i.e. 75% Of the population in need of humanitarian aid during the year 2019, of whom 11.3 million are in urgent need of assistance to survive.

The head of Maat Foundation called on the international community to review its shameful stances during the past five years, and his failure to protect civilians and stop the violations committed by the Houthi militia, and Aqeel demanded that those involved in these violations be held accountable, compensated for the victims, and confronted by all possible means for these violations.

For her part, Hasna Tamam, a researcher at the Maat Foundation, said that the various stages of the conflict in Yemen witnessed violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the Houthi militia, and incidents of extrajudicial killings and arbitrary executions spread, as the militia carried out a number of assassinations in areas resisting its military control. As it continued to target citizens, politicians, media professionals, human rights defenders and mosque preachers.

In the end, the Maat Foundation calls for the need to activate the role of the United Nations to reduce the losses caused by the war and have won all parties, and to quickly take appropriate measures to solve the crisis politically, and demands the General Assembly to put the Yemen crisis on its list of work.