Dear President Saleh,
Human Rights Watch is writing to you with regard to the armed conflict currently taking place in Sa`da governorate and other areas of northern Yemen. We urge you to ensure that forces under your control, including tribal or other forces fighting alongside regular security forces, at all times respect the laws of war. Yemen is party to the primary international humanitarian law treaties, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its Additional Protocols of 1977. Its forces are also bound to comply with customary international humanitarian law.
A primary obligation of warring parties under the laws of war is to distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants, and never to launch attacks that target civilians, and not to conduct attacks that cause indiscriminate or disproportionate loss of civilian life and property. The laws of war also oblige all parties to the conflict to facilitate the provision of medical supplies, food, fuel, and other essential humanitarian goods to alleviate the suffering of civilians, including displaced persons. Yemen is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including its optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which calls upon parties to end the use of children under the age of 18 in hostilities, and to the 1997 treaty banning the use of antipersonnel landmines.
When Human Rights Watch visited Yemen in July 2008, government restrictions prevented us from traveling to Sa`da and other areas of conflict to assess the compliance of government forces and Huthi forces with the laws of war. A government-imposed information blackout added to this difficulty. Our researchers did, however, gather information on the fifth round of fighting (May 5 - July 17, 2008) that included allegations of serious laws of war violations by both sides, including the use of children under 18 in combat, use of anti-personnel landmines in civilian areas, and taking civilians hostage. Both sides also failed to facilitate humanitarian access to areas under their control. In addition, we heard allegations of aerial bombing and artillery shelling attacks on populated villages by government forces.
Now that armed conflict has erupted once again in and around Sa`da governorate, we urge you to take all necessary measures to ensure that in this fighting Yemeni security forces as well as any allied forces comply with their obligations under the laws of war, and to investigate and appropriately hold accountable members of the security forces who order or carry out actions that violate international law.
We also urge you to ensure that international and other impartial humanitarian agencies are able to assess humanitarian needs in the areas affected by the conflict and to deliver essential humanitarian supplies to those areas.
Thank you for your attention to these important matters.
Sincerely,
Joe Stork
Deputy Director
Middle East and North Africa division
