After ten years of military operations in Yemen, the Saudi/UAE-led coalition is being asked to take responsibility for the vast civilian harm induced during its catastrophic military strikes. On the anniversary of the intervention on March 26, 2015, rights group Mwatana for Human Rights said that thousands of victims still lack justice, redress, and reparations.
“For the tenth year, civilian victims are still waiting for the Saudi/UAE-led coalition to assume its outstanding legal, criminal, ethical, and humanitarian responsibilities,”
said Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Chairperson of Mwatana. She emphasized that redress and accountability are critical “for safely moving towards the future without the heavy burden of war.”
During the war years, at least 1,526 instances of abuses by the Saudi/UAE-led forces have been documented by Mwatana for Human Rights within Yemen’s different regions. They include at least 1,070 air raids and 137 ground attacks on civilian locations, 13 drone strikes, 61 instances of live fire, and 31 instances of explosive devices.
Mwatana confirmed the coalition’s accountability for killing at least 3,859 civilians. It included 1,294 children and 492 women. The total number of wounded was 4,336 others, including 1,217 children and 517 women. In addition, 319 civilians, 88 children, and 4 women were victims of other forms of violations. The most prevalent of which were arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, recruitment and use in hostilities of children, torture, sexual violence, and other abuses.
Despite a pause in air strikes over the past two years, millions of Yemenis continue to struggle from the compounded consequences of war and the absence of a comprehensive peace. Al-Mutawakel cautioned that,
“The responsibility will persist until the war ends and peace and stability are fully restored.”
Mwatana also denounced Western support, especially from the US and UK, which has helped bloc operations through arms sales and logistical support, tools that the group connects to civilian deaths and infrastructure deterioration.
The war started when Saudi Arabia carried out air strikes on Sanaa to drive out Houthi-allied armed forces who had expelled President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi during the 21 September Revolution. A decade later, Yemen remains extremely fragmented, with no side victorious and the country left in disrepair.
“The Saudi-led intervention in Yemen had one main objective: reversing the Houthi takeover of Sana’a,”
expressed Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).
“It unequivocally failed in that mission. Instead, Saudi military adventurism entrenched Yemeni divisions, exacerbated humanitarian suffering across the country, and left Yemen broken as a state.”