Human Rights Watch issued a report yesterday that the widespread use of landmines by the Huthi militias along the western coast of Yemen since mid-2017 has killed and wounded hundreds of civilians and prevented aid organizations from reaching vulnerable communities. Mines "of 1997 prohibit the use of anti-personnel mines; however, Huthis used anti-vehicle mines indiscriminately in violation of the laws of war, which posed a threat to civilians. The organization called on the UN Security Council and the UN to investigate war crimes committed by militias.
The report noted that landmines planted by Houthis in agricultural land, villages, wells and roads have killed at least 140 civilians, including 19 children, in Hodeidah and Taiz governorates since 2018. Landmines and improvised explosive devices have also prevented humanitarian organizations from reaching populations in need, Preventing access to farms and wells, and harming civilians trying to return to their homes.
"Not only have the Huthi landmines planted and maimed civilians killed, but the vulnerable Yemenis have been prevented from harvesting crops and bringing in the clean water they desperately need to survive," said Priyanka Mutaparthi, acting director of emergency program at Human Rights Watch. , Mines have also prevented aid organizations from bringing food and health care to Yemeni civilians suffering from hunger and disease. "Houthi leaders must immediately stop using landmines, which they may be held accountable for once."
The organization noted that it had found evidence that, in addition to the laying of anti-personnel landmines, Houthi militias had planted anti-vehicle mines in civilian areas, modified anti-vehicle mines to detonate a person's weight, improvised explosive devices in the form of rocks or parts of logs, The organization also found that the Huthis used anti-personnel mines in Hiran, near the Saudi border, and used naval mines despite the risks to commercial fishing vessels and humanitarian aid vessels.
The report quoted the victims and witnesses as confirming that the areas caused by landmines were killed by Houthi forces. Landmines also made it difficult for the villagers to feed themselves and keep their income. Five people said they were injured or their relatives were killed. When landmines exploded on farmland or pastures, and many IDPs said that mines prevented crops from harvesting safely and killed their cattle.
The FAO report noted that landmines prevented humanitarian organizations from reaching communities in need along the West Coast, including villages and towns in the Tahita and Mohandeseen administrations, as well as the main coastal city of Hodeidah. Three relief organizations said they could not access main places or provide services To areas because landmines are planted there or along the road, and many of these communities can be reached only through dirt roads, which are more dangerous than asphalt roads.
"The use of Huthis for landmines deprives people of water and food supplies and contributes to the humanitarian crisis throughout the war-torn country. On April 9, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Liz Grande described Yemen as the worst food security crisis in the world. World and one of the worst outbreaks of cholera In modern history, all the areas mentioned here are either in crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity, while cholera cases are rising in the provinces of Hodeidah and Taiz.
The organization called on the Houthi militia officials to "immediately cease the use of these weapons and to investigate reliably and punish the leaders responsible for their use." The UN Panel of Experts and the UN Security Council Panel of Experts called for an investigation into the use of landmines by Huthists and the identification of individuals responsible for their widespread use. The Panel of Experts could also investigate individuals who may be responsible for war crimes, including obstruction of assistance indispensable for the survival of civilians.
The organization stressed that Houthi militias bear the primary responsibility for civilian casualties and the expected civilian damage from landmines, pointing out that the militia media have dealt with the death of mine-clearance experts of the legitimate government during the dismantling of mines as a victory for the Houthis.
The Houthi militias have used landmines in at least six provinces in Yemen since March 2015. The largest number of deaths reported by landmines in the province of Hodeidah was in 2018, Across the country between 2016 and 2018. Human Rights Watch also documented the use of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle landmines by Houthis between 2015 and 2018 in the governorates of Abyan, Aden, Lahj, Marib and Taiz.
The report noted that the Houthi media boasted of the use of landmines and landmines by militias in areas where Human Rights Watch had documented civilian casualties.
The report quoted humanitarian workers from three relief groups as saying that landmines and unexploded ordnance prevented their organizations from reaching needy communities and prevented them from following unpaved roads to reach communities in need in many western coastal areas, including dispensaries, , Brain, and deformity.
Human Rights Watch documented five incidents on farms that resulted in the deaths of three civilians and the wounding of six in the province of Hodeidah, as well as the deaths of three civilians, The report quoted the humanitarian teams as finding evidence that the Houthis had planted mines in wells and other water installations in several West Coast sites, including Zuhairi, Makhmeh, Hayma and Nukhia, as well as in the main water station at the Tahita Directorate.
The report confirms that the Houthis planted mines in water wells and camouflaged containers in the form of rocks and tree trunks, and naval mines threatened commercial ships and aid vessels, and media militias boast of losses.