Abu Dhabi [UAE], January 19: Yemen witnessed a continuous escalation of grave human rights violations perpetrated by the Houthi militia against the Yemeni people throughout 2024, according to official Yemeni government statements.
Essam Al-Shaeri, Director-General of International Organisations and Reports at the Yemeni Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights, revealed in statements to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) that multiple violations were recorded, including shelling, sniping, intentional killings, arbitrary arrests, the planting of mines, displacement, the confiscation of property, and the arrest of UN and international organisation staff.
He explained that despite the efforts made to monitor and document these violations through human rights reports issued by international and local entities, the available data does not fully reflect the scale of the tragedy. This is due to field challenges, including the difficulty of accessing areas controlled by the Houthis, their pursuit of observers, journalists, and opinion makers, as well as the reluctance of some victims and their families to report for fear of persecution or harassment by the Houthis.
He stated that 1,985 violations committed by the Houthis were monitored and documented during 2024, including intentional killings, injuries, arbitrary arrest, personal assaults, child recruitment, political trials, and attacks on public and private property.
In detail, the Yemeni official confirmed that the documented violations were distributed as follows: intentional killings (225 cases), including 49 children and 13 women; injuries: 182 people, including 62 children and 18 women; arbitrary arrest: 863 cases; 73 personal assaults against civilians; 166 cases of child recruitment; 66 politically motivated trials; 316 cases of attacks on private property; and 82 attacks on public property.
In his statements, the Yemeni official called on the international community and relevant organisations to take urgent action to stop these violations and condemn the Houthi militia, stressing that the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights will spare no effort in documenting violations by all parties and seeking to bring perpetrators to justice in international courts.
According to a report by the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, during the first half of last year, 128 civilians were killed, including 33 children and six women, and 93 others were injured, of whom 35 children and eight women, as a result of indiscriminate attacks and sniper operations carried out by the Houthis against civilians and civilian objects in several governorates, most notably Al-Bayda, Amran, Al-Jawf, and Taiz. In Hodeidah governorate, 43 people were killed and wounded by landmines during the same period.
In addition, the report recorded the killing and injury of 180 people in various governorates as a result of mines and remnants of war.
The report indicated that the Houthis are manufacturing mines locally and equipping them with explosives to increase human casualties, making their removal more dangerous. A total of 37,804 mines were removed during the same period through the Project 'Masam'.
The report referred to Houthi attacks on civilians and civil objects in the governorates of Taiz, Al-Dhalea, Al-Bayda, Hodeidah, and Marib, which resulted in the killing of 153 people and the injury of 180 others, including women and children.
In its report issued in December 2024, the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations stated that it had documented 3,055 cases of violations during the period from August 2023 to July 2024, resulting in the killing of 168 people and the injury of 473 others, adding that the violations included more than 36 types of human rights violations.
Source: Emirates News Agency
