The Houthi's Use of Civilians as Human Shields.The escalation of war in Yemen and the disruption of peace Opportunities

Houthi's Use of Civilians as Human Shields. The escalation of war in Yemen and the disruption of peace Opportunities

YEMEN, February 5, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On Friday ,February 4th 2022 ,a webinar was organised at 8p .m in Yemen with high level speakers from civil society organisations and academics who are specialized in the field of international law and human rights including Mr Wadah Al-Jalil, journalist and political researcher,Mr. Yahya Al-Jamai, a human rights activist , and Mr Kamel Al-Khoudani, journalist and human rights activist and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bina Hayat Foundation for Development, Rights and Freedoms.Mr. Faisal Al-Qaifi, President of the Humane League for Rights was the moderator of this webinar . He opened the session and introduced the concept of human shields and the position of international law regarding these crimes .He said that there are various forms,including placing civilians in facilities that are considered military objectives, in order to protect them and embarrass the attacking party .The idea of storing weapons and military equipment in civilian facilities such as hospitals and schools and using populated places as platforms for launching missiles is criminal.

This criminal behavior is an immoral act resorted by totalitarian and tyrannical regimes together with extremist terrorist groups such as the Houthi group, ISIS and Hezbollah. In recent times, international voices rejecting the Houthi militia’s use of civilians as human shields have risen. European parliamentarians confirmed in a webinar organized by EPP group in the European Parliament that the Houthis are terrorists and that they should stop using civilians as human shields. They stressed their demand to designate the Houthi militia as a terrorist group due to their use of civilians as human shields as well as the storage of weapons in civilian facilities.

Mr. Waddah mentioned that international laws have been enacted to protect civilians since 2004, and the Houthis have used civilians as human shields, starting from the villages of Saada. Al Houthi believes that using civilians as human shields will enhance the methodology of his group.

The Houthis used the city of Hodeidah, digging trenches and storing weapons in populated places .
He spoke about the journalists Abdullah Qabel and Youssef Al-Aizari, who were detained in Dhamar camp as human shields, and stated that Al-Houthi uses Sanaa airport as military barracks and a site to test the ability of his devices .
He mentioned that "The Houthis sometimes bomb civilian places or places where civilians are being held, and accuse the coalition of bombing them."

Professor Yahya evoked the Houthi racist strategy by pointing out that “Al-Houthi racism is based on ethnic racism and has 3 branches. Religious racism (whoever does not believe in them is an infidel), social racism (masters, supervision and slaves) and economic racism (20% of the fifth of Yemenis’ money).He highlighted that Houthi racism is dangerous for them as Yemenis and for the whole world. It does not differ from the ideology of terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda. The ideology of the Houthi group is not based on peace but on killing, bombing and destruction. The Yemenis have exhausted all means of peace with the Houthi group.

There are three countries which have classified Al-Houthi as a terrorist group, namely Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Indonesia. Reclassifying Al-Houthi as a terrorist group would be a good step, and legal action must be taken by classifying it again as a terrorist group and submitting the project to the League of Arab States.

Professor Kamel Al-Khodhani mentioned that “The Houthis take civilians as human shields to blackmail the world, and the Houthi group has reached the point of bombing civilian and medical facilities to show to the world that they are oppressed.

The Houthi militia rejected initiatives put forward by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding opening Sanaa airport to transport citizens between internal airports. Al-Houthi spreads mines and plants them in every inch of the country without caring about the citizens. Children are lied to, recruited, exploited and pushed to the fronts,
It is not possible to reach peace with the Houthi group because they implement a foreign agenda.

Dr. Arwa El Khattabi, President of Broken Share made a comment by highlighting that " Al-Houthi is starving Yemenis and the world is calling out that the situation in Yemen is tragic. However,Al-Houthi uses international aid to finance its war on the population itself.

Manel Msalmi
The European Association for The Defence of Minorities
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WATCH NOW: Yemeni Human Rights activists condemn the Houthi's use of civilians as human shields at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INpTd_BgFeo

¹ https://www.arabnews.com/node/2003056
² https://www.dw.com/en/us-to-declare-yemens-houthi-rebels-as-terrorist-organization/a-56191364
³ https://www.mei.edu/publications/iran-backed-houthi-rebels-step-persecution-bahai-minority-yemen