yemen cover bombed building

What Military Target Was in My Brother’s House

Unlawful Coalition Airstrikes in Yemen

Summary

When I got to the house, there was still dust in the air, and everything was covered in a layer of black ash. My wife and kids were lying there, covered in black ash. Thank God they were alive. I saw my sister-in-law Asma and her daughter under some rocks, and I tried to dig them out. Asma’s head was open, and her leg was bleeding. Her 2-year-old daughter, Hyam, was lying on her shoulder, her head was smashed open. Her other daughter, Hasna, who’s 7, was shouting “Baba” [father]. Her hair and skin were covered in ash, and she was burned badly. Her father, my brother Muhammad, had been asleep when the strike happened, and the roof landed on top of him. When I dug him out, there was a thin trickle of blood dripping from his ear. He was already dead.
—Muhammad Saleh al-Qihwi, whose house was destroyed in an April 2015 airstrike on the town of Amran, July 23, 2015.

On March 26, 2015, a coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia, with United States participation, began a military campaign in Yemen that has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 2,500 civilians, mostly by coalition airstrikes. This report documents 10 coalition airstrikes from April through August that appear to have violated international humanitarian law, the laws of war.

The laws of war are intended to minimize harm to civilians and other non-combatants during armed conflict. While not all civilian casualties indicate laws-of-war violations, attacks that deliberately target civilians, that do not discriminate between civilians and combatants, or that cause disproportionate loss of civilian life or property, are all unlawful. Individuals who commit such violations with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes.

In the cases discussed in this report, which caused at least 309 civilian deaths and wounded at least 414 civilians, Human Rights Watch found either no evident military target or that the attack failed to distinguish civilians from military objectives. Under international law, states have an obligation to investigate alleged violations of the laws of war, and appropriately punish those individuals responsible for war crimes. Human Rights Watch is unaware of any investigations by Saudi Arabia or other coalition members in these or other reported cases.

In September 2014, Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), commonly known as the Houthis, a Zaidi Shia group from northern Yemen, took control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. In January 2015, they effectively ousted Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and his cabinet members, who subsequently relocated to Saudi Arabia. The Houthis, along with elements of the armed forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, then swept south, threatening to take the port city of Aden.

On March 26, 2015, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition—consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan—launched an aerial campaign against Houthi and allied forces. The United States is also a party to the conflict by playing a direct role in coordinating military operations. According to >Lt. Gen. Charles Brown, commander of the US Air Force Central Command, the US military has detached personnel to the Saudi Arabian center planning airstrikes to help coordinate activities. US participation in specific military operations, such as bombing raids, may make US forces jointly responsible for laws-of-war violations by coalition forces. As a party to the conflict, the US is obligated to investigate allegedly unlawful attacks in which it took part.

The United Kingdom and France, while not members of the coalition, have supported the coalition by making arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other members.

The 10 attacks detailed in this report occurred in the Houthi-controlled governorates of Sanaa, Amran, Hajja, Hodeida, and Ibb. Airstrikes hit residential houses, market places, a factory, and a civilian prison.

Human Rights Watch investigated each of these incidents by interviewing victims and witnesses to the attack, searching for possible military targets in the vicinity, and speaking to medical staff who treated the injured. On the basis of information from relatives, witnesses, medical staff, and local Houthi authorities, Human Rights Watch compiled the names of 309 individuals—199 men, 43 women, and 69 children—killed in the 10 attacks. We found no evidence that any of those killed in these attacks were combatants. The full casualty list from the attacks is included as an appendix to the report.

Human Rights Watch also wrote to Saudi authorities to seek additional information about the strikes, including the weapons used, the intended targets, and the precautions taken to minimize civilian harm. At time of writing, Human Rights Watch had not received any response.

Under the laws of war, a party to the conflict may only attack military objectives, normally the enemy’s forces, their weapons, and their structures. In carrying out attacks, all feasible precautions need to be taken to minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects. The weapons used and the manner in which the attack is carried out must distinguish between the military objective and civilians. Attacks in which there is no evident military target, that strike indiscriminately, or cause civilian harm disproportionate to the anticipated military gain, are unlawful.

Human Rights Watch investigated several coalition airstrikes in which there was no evident military target in the vicinity, such as strikes on the markets at Muthalith Ahim and Amran. These amount to an unlawfully indiscriminate attack, if not a deliberate attack on civilians. In other cases, bombs struck, sometimes repeatedly, civilian objects a significant distance from any military objective, killing and wounding civilians. If insufficient precautions were taken to avoid civilian loss—such as not clearly identifying a military target or using weapons with wide area effects in populated neighborhoods—these attacks would also be indiscriminate. Attacks harming civilians might also have been the result of incorrect targeting coordinates or other errors—an inquiry would need to determine whether all feasible precautions were taken.

Parties to the conflict must also take all feasible precautions to spare civilians under their control against the effects of attacks. That includes avoiding deploying in densely populated areas, and removing, to the extent feasible, civilians in the vicinity of their military forces. In several instances, it is not clear if the Houthis or allied forces took significant measures to move civilians away from places they stored ammunition or deployed their forces.

Human Rights Watch is also concerned by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition’s use of explosive weapons with wide area effect in populated areas. A weapon that impacts an area in a radius of dozens or hundreds of meters of where it explodes will almost certainly kill or wound civilians when used in populated areas. The coalition appears to use explosive weapons that are unguided or are used without spotters, which means that they cannot be targeted precisely, posing additional risk to civilians.

International law does not explicitly prohibit the use of these weapons in populated areas, but a party using weapons with wide area effect in populated areas is unlikely to be able to comply with the laws-of-war requirement that an attack should distinguish between combatants and civilians.

On May 8, 2015, coalition authorities declared the entire Houthi stronghold cities of Saada and Marran to be military targets. Such blanket determinations, effectively disregarding the status of civilians who remain in the area, violate the laws of war. Human Rights Watch investigated several attacks after the May 8 announcement on apparent civilian objects in Saada, including airstrikes on a residential house, two markets, and a school.

In September 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Council expressed concern about the escalation in armed violence in Yemen, and called for an investigation into all cases of abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law.

States that are party to a conflict have an obligation to investigate credible allegations of war crimes and hold those responsible to account. War crimes are serious violations of the laws of war committed with criminal intent. Human Rights Watch has seen no indication that the Saudi Arabia-led coalition has conducted any meaningful investigations into alleged laws-of-war violations.

On August 19, 2015, Human Rights Watch, together with 22 other human rights and humanitarian organizations, called on the UN Human Rights Council at its upcoming September session to create an independent international commission of inquiry to investigate alleged laws-of-war violations by all parties to the conflict. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights similarly called on UN member states to encourage the establishment of an “international independent and impartial” investigative mechanism.

Instead, on September 7, 2015, President Hadi announced the creation of a national commission to investigate all alleged violations of the laws of war and international human rights law since 2011. During the ensuing Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries effectively blocked an effort led by the Netherlands to create an international investigative mechanism.

Human Rights Watch calls on all parties to the conflict to abide by international humanitarian law. The coalition should promptly investigate alleged laws-of-war violations by its forces, including those detailed in this report, and provide compensation and other redress to civilian victims as appropriate. Human Rights Watch urges the coalition to cease using explosive weapons with wide area effect in populated areas because of the inevitable civilian harm caused. In addition, the coalition should revoke any declaration that particular cities or towns are in their entirety military targets, and take appropriate disciplinary action against officials making such declarations.

President Hadi’s government should request the coalition to provide detailed information about intended military targets for airstrikes in which civilians died. His government should make such information publicly available and press for compensation where there is a finding of wrongdoing.

The United States and other coalition supporters should also press the coalition to abide by its international legal obligations. The United States should investigate any airstrike alleged to have violated the laws of war in which the US directly participated, such as by providing targeting information.

The UN Security Council should highlight its concern for ongoing abuses in Yemen by requesting a public briefing from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It should publicly remind all parties to the conflict that under Resolution 2140, anyone responsible for “planning, directing, or committing acts that violate applicable international human rights law or international humanitarian law” or “obstructing the delivery of humanitarian assistance” to Yemen is subject to travel bans and asset freezes.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights should monitor the national investigative mechanism created by President Hadi, provide support to help ensure that it conducts its work in accordance with international standards, and regularly report to the UN Human Rights Council on progress of the investigations. Member states of the Human Rights Council should consider holding a special session to discuss the human rights situation in Yemen if the Saudi Arabia-led coalition does not adequately address the issue of civilian casualties or if the humanitarian situation in Yemen fails to improve. The council should supplement the national mechanism set up by President Hadi by creating an independent, international investigative mechanism to >investigate alleged violations of the laws of war by all parties to the conflict.

Recommendations

To Saudi Arabia and other Coalition Members, and the United States

  • Abide by the laws of war, including the prohibitions on attacks that target civilians, that do not discriminate between civilians and combatants, and that cause civilian loss disproportionate to the expected military benefit.
  • Take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians, including making advance effective warnings of attacks when possible.
  • Conduct transparent and impartial investigations into credible allegations of laws-of-war violations, including the incidents included in this report.
  • Make public the findings of investigations and undertake disciplinary measures or prosecutions where violations or war crimes are found.
  • Revoke any declaration that particular cities or towns are entirely military targets, and take appropriate disciplinary action against individuals making such declarations.
  • Consistent with the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks, end the use of explosive weapons with wide area effect in populated areas.
  • Provide prompt and appropriate compensation to civilians and their families for deaths, injuries, and property damage resulting from wrongful strikes. Consider providing payments to civilians suffering harm from airstrikes without regard to possible wrongdoing.
  • Institute a policy of conducting investigations into airstrikes in which there were high numbers of civilian casualties, even where no evidence suggests violations of the laws of war.
  • Make public information on intended military targets in airstrikes that resulted in civilian casualties, and all countries participating in such strikes.
  • Facilitate all humanitarian aid and commercial shipments carrying items needed for the survival of the civilian population, particularly assistance for those injured in the conflict.

To President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi’s Government

  • Urge that the coalition provide detailed information about intended military targets of airstrikes in which civilians died. Make that information publicly available and press for compensation where there is a finding of wrongdoing.

To the United States

  • Publicly clarify the US role in the armed conflict, including what steps the US has taken to minimize civilian casualties in air operations and to investigate alleged violations of the laws of war.

To Coalition Supporters

  • Urge Saudi Arabia and other coalition members to implement the recommendations listed above, especially pressing for impartial investigations into airstrikes that allegedly violate the laws of war.
  • Publicly clarify your country's role in the fighting, including whether you are participating in a manner that would make you party to the conflict.
  • The United States should conduct investigations into any airstrikes for which there is credible evidence that the laws of war may have been violated and that the United States may have been a direct participant, either by refueling participating aircraft or providing targeting information, intelligence, or other direct support.
  • Those countries that are supplying weapons to the coalition, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany, should investigate whether these weapons have been used in any airstrikes that have involved violations of the laws of war and end the sale or delivery of such weapons.

To Houthi and Allied Forces

  • Abide by the laws of war, including taking all feasible steps to minimize the risks to populations under their control, including by assisting civilians leave areas subject to military attack.
  • Avoid placing military objectives in densely populated areas and take steps to remove civilians from areas under attack.

To UN Security Council Member States

  • Request a public briefing from the UN high commissioner for human rights on the current human rights situation in Yemen.
  • Remind all parties to the conflict in Yemen that anyone responsible for “planning, directing, or committing acts that violate applicable international human rights law or international humanitarian law, or acts that constitute human rights abuses,” as well as those responsible for obstructing the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Yemen, are potentially subject to travel bans and asset freezes under Resolution 2140.
  • Encourage the Panel of Experts established pursuant to Resolution 2140 to gather evidence on individuals responsible for violations of applicable international human rights law or international humanitarian law or obstructing humanitarian aid and to share the evidence with the 2140 Sanctions Committee.

To the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

  • Monitor the work of the national investigative mechanism decreed by President Hadi on September 7, 2015, and provide support to help ensure that it conducts its work credibly and impartially in accordance with international standards.
  • Regularly report to the Human Rights Council on progress of the national investigative mechanism or other investigations, and make recommendations on further steps needed to ensure that alleged violations of the laws of war and human rights since 2011 are properly investigated, documented, and publicly reported.

To UN Human Rights Council Member States

  • Hold a special session to discuss the human rights situation in Yemen if the Saudi Arabia-led coalition does not address the issue of civilian casualties, or if the humanitarian situation in Yemen fails to improve.
  • Supplement the national investigative mechanism by creating an independent, international investigative mechanism to investigate alleged violations of the laws of war by all parties to the conflict.

Methodology

This report is based on Human Rights Watch field research in the Yemeni governorates of Ibb, Amran, Hajja, Hodaida, Taizz, and the capital, Sanaa, in July 2015. Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed 62 people who had witnessed airstrikes carried out by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

Most interviews took place at the sites of the airstrikes or in hospitals where the wounded were brought. Human Rights Watch conducted all interviews in Arabic or in English with Arabic translation.

All participants gave oral consent to be interviewed; participants were informed of the purpose of the interview and the way in which their information would be documented and reported, and that they could stop the interview at any time or decline to answer specific questions posed. No one received any remuneration for giving an interview.

Human Rights Watch also reviewed the medical log books and individual records of patients admitted to hospitals in Amran, Hajja, Mokha, and Hodaida.

On September 26, 2015, and on November 6, Human Rights Watch wrote to the Saudi Arabian government to share its findings and to seek information on intended targets of 10 of the airstrikes that we had investigated. At time of writing, Human Rights Watch had not received a response. Future responses to this report from the Saudi Arabian government or other coalition members will be posted on the Yemen page of the Human Rights Watch website: www.hrw.org.

I. Background

In September 2014, Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthis, a Zaidi Shia group from northern Yemen, seized control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.[1] They were backed by units of Yemen’s army that remained loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had stepped down in 2011.[2] In January 2015, Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and his cabinet departed Sanaa and subsequently relocated to Saudi Arabia.[3]

In March, Houthi forces and their allies advanced southward, threatening to take the port city of Aden and other areas. On March 26, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of Arab states began aerial attacks against the Houthi forces. Coalition aircraft began bombing Houthi forces in Sanaa and other locations.

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition comprises five members of the Gulf Cooperation Council—Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—as well as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan.[4]

The United States is also a party to the conflict. In June, a US defense department spokesman stated that the United States was helping the coalition with “intelligence support and intelligence sharing, targeting assistance, advisory support, and logistical support, to include aerial refueling with up to two tanker sorties a day.”[5] In November, Lt. Gen. Charles Brown, commander of the US Air Force Central Command, stated that the military had a small detachment of personnel located in the Saudi Arabian center planning airstrikes to help coordinate activities.[6] This constitutes taking direct part in hostilities and US participation in specific military operations, such as bombing raids, may make US forces jointly responsible for laws-of-war violations by coalition forces. Under international law, the US is obligated to assist in investigations where there are credible allegations of war crimes and hold those responsible to account.[7]

According to the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir, the coalition launched its military operations at the request of President Hadi, whom the coalition forces continue to recognize as Yemen’s head of state.[8] At least one member of Hadi’s cabinet who is in exile in Riyadh is a member of the> committee that selects strike sites, according to several diplomats who spoke with him about his position.[9]

The United Kingdom, a supporter of the coalition, is “providing technical support, precision-guided weapons and exchanging information with the Saudi Arabian armed forces through pre-existing arrangements,” the UK Ministry of Defence said in response to a House of Lords question on July 14, 2015.[10] The weapons include 500-pound Paveway IV bombs, used by Tornado and Typhoon jets.[11] France is also providing jets, military transport aircraft, aerial refueling tanker aircraft, helicopters, amphibious assault ships, military patrol boats, light armored vehicles, and logistical support to some member states of the coalition.[12]

Coalition airstrikes have struck alleged Houthi military targets in densely populated areas in the capital, Sanaa, and other cities, including Saada, Marran, Amran, Hajja, Hodaida, Taiz, Ibb, Lahj, al-Dale`a, Shabwa, Marib, and Aden. During a five-day ceasefire from May 12 to 17, the coalition suspended the airstrikes, except in Yemen’s border regions with Saudi Arabia. The United Nations on July 10 announced a seven-day pause in strikes, which quickly collapsed. On July 25, the coalition announced a unilateral humanitarian pause, during which it again suspended airstrikes for five days, except in the border regions.[13]

At time of writing, airstrikes were continuing, and so-called southern “resistance” forces were advancing north from Aden with the support of the coalition, including ground troops from Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates, with other countries, notably Mauritania and Senegal, pledging troops.[14]

Human Rights Watch documented 16 airstrikes between March 26 and July 24 that appear to have been unlawfully indiscriminate, resulting in civilian casualties.[15] These include a March 30 airstrike on a camp for internally displaced persons in Mazraq, a town in Hajja governorate of northern Yemen, about six kilometers (3.7 miles) from the border with Saudi Arabia. The strike killed at least 29 civilians and wounded 41, and damaged a medical facility at the camp, a local market, and a bridge.[16]

A March 31 airstrike on a dairy factory outside the port city of Hodaida killed at least 31 civilians. Shortly after 11 p.m., one or more warplanes carried out four separate strikes that hit the Yemany Dairy and Beverage factory, a multi-building compound about 100 meters (328 feet) from a military air base controlled by Houthi forces. Military units loyal to former president Saleh were at another nearby military camp. Eleven days later, on April 11, coalition warplanes subsequently attacked both the military air base and the neighboring military camp. [17]

In Saada City, a Houthi stronghold in the north, Human Rights Watch examined more than a dozen airstrikes that occurred between April 6 and May 11 that destroyed or damaged civilian homes, five markets, a school, and a petrol station, though there was no evidence these sites were being used for military purposes. These strikes killed 59 people, mostly civilians, including at least 35 children.>[18]

On May 8, 2015, Brig. Gen. al-Assiri, the military spokesman for the coalition, declared the entire cities of Saada and Marran, another Houthi stronghold, to be military targets. This followed Houthi incursions into and rocket attacks on Saudi Arabia from Saada governorate that killed at least 12 civilians in the Saudi Arabian city of Najran and areas of Jizan province, according to Saudi Arabian government sources.[19] Several coalition attacks on apparently civilian objects that Human Rights Watch investigated in Saada took place after the May 8 announcement.

Treating an entire city or town as the object of military attack violates the laws-of-war prohibition on attacks that treat separate and distinct military objectives in a city or town as a single military objective.[20] Doing so unlawfully denies civilians protection from attack.

Human Rights Watch also documented the coalition’s use of four types of cluster munitions in Yemen in 2015.[21] Cluster munitions are indiscriminate when used in populated areas and pose long-term dangers to civilians. They are prohibited by a 2008 treaty adopted by 116 countries, though not Saudi Arabia or Yemen.

Other strikes may not have violated the laws of war, but resulted in civilian casualties and should be investigated to determine if all feasible precautions were taken and to avoid such loss of civilian life in the future. For instance, an airstrike on Hajja City, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Sanaa, on May 29, 2015, killed at least three civilians, including one child, and wounded at least 17 civilians. Human Rights Watch visited Hajja City and the site of the attack on July 24. At the site of the attack, it was evident that a bomb had struck right outside the wall of the Naman camp for private security personnel, which is located near the top of a high hill in the city. According to residents, the Houthis were apparently using the camp to store weapons. The blast had spewed rocks and pieces of concrete onto residential houses located on the steep hillside below the camp, significantly damaging at least five houses.[22]

Since late 2014, Houthi and allied forces conducted ground operations primarily against local armed groups in the southern cities of Taizz, Lahj, al-Dale`a, and Aden. They have conducted unlawfully indiscriminate shelling, including in some cases by launching Katyusha rockets, killing dozens of civilians.[23] Houthi forces also carried out indiscriminate attacks by firing artillery rockets from Saada governorate into the southern Saudi Arabian border city of Najran and areas of Jizan province.[24] The Houthis also laid antipersonnel landmines, which are banned under the laws of war as inherently indiscriminate, in Aden before withdrawing from the city in July 2015. The landmines have killed at least 11 civilians.[25]

Houthi forces and their allies and opposition armed groups have engaged in military operations around Aden, Taizz, and other areas that repeatedly put civilians and civilian structures such as hospitals at unnecessary risk.[26]

According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights the fighting in Yemen had killed at least 2,500 civilians, most as a result of airstrikes, by October 23.[27]

The high commissioner has expressed >grave concern at the high number of civilian casualties in Yemen and called for urgent and thorough investigations.[28]

Nongovernmental organizations have increasingly called for an international investigation into alleged attacks by all parties to the conflict that may violate the laws of war. President Hadi instead announced on September 7 the creation of a national commission to investigate all alleged violations of the laws of war and human rights since 2011.[29] During the three-week-long UN Human Rights Council session that began in Geneva one week later, the Netherlands put forward a draft resolution that would have mandated the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, together with relevant experts, to document violations by all sides since September 2014. It withdrew its draft on September 30 under pressure from Saudi Arabia and due to weak backing from key countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. The Yemeni government boycotted negotiations on the Dutch resolution during the council session. Several members of the coalition, including Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, openly opposed the proposed UN inquiry.[30]

The Arab group in the council, led by Saudi Arabia, prepared the draft resolution that the council adopted on October 2. This resolution lacked any reference to an independent UN inquiry, calling instead on the high commissioner for human rights to provide Yemen with “technical assistance” to support Hadi’s national investigative mechanism and to report to the council on the resolution’s implementation.[31]

The Humanitarian Crisis

With the beginning of the bombing campaign, Saudi Arabia imposed an aerial and naval blockade, which has limited aid and commercial shipments to Yemen. About 90 percent of Yemen’s basic food intake before the war came from imports, with only 15 percent of prewar imports reaching the country as of June 2015.[32] By July, the UN stated that 13 million Yemenis were food insecure, that is, lacking reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.[33]

Throughout the blockade, only 20 percent of the country’s minimum fuel needs have been met, gravely exacerbating difficulties of food and water distribution.[34] Fuel is also needed to operate clean-water pumps, and according to UN reports water and sanitation aid has reached only 3.3 million of the over 20 million Yemenis who lack access to clean water.[35]

On July 2, the UN designated Yemen to be at the highest level of humanitarian emergency—level 3—with an estimated 80 percent of the country’s population in need of immediate humanitarian aid.[36]

In mid-July, coalition-backed armed groups were able to reestablish control over the city of Aden, thus allowing aid shipments into the port.[37] Soon afterwards, on August 2, Saudi Arabia announced the closure of the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida, one of Yemen’s largest, which received more than two-thirds of all ship arrivals during the blockade.[38] On August 18, coalition aircraft bombed the port. It remains unclear the extent of the damage to the port and the military objectives targeted.[39] It was reported in October that coalition warships have been "broadcasting a warning to commercial vessels to stay clear of operational areas."[40]

Aid agencies report that, outside of Aden, the remainder of Yemen’s southern governorates remain inaccessible because of ongoing fighting.[41] Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and to a lesser extent, Islamic State in Yemen, have become more active in Aden, threatening the activities of humanitarian organizations.[42]

Under the laws of war, fuel and other goods with military uses can be prevented from entering the country unless it would threaten the population’s survival or otherwise cause disproportionate harm to the civilian population compared with the expected military gain.

Human Rights Watch has documented specific instances in which the coalition has prevented commercial ships carrying urgently needed fuel from berthing in Yemen, despite their fulfilling all the procedural requirements that the Saudi government has put in place since March. In these instances, the coalition violated humanitarian law restrictions on the imposition of a military blockade.[43]

II. Applicable International Humanitarian Law

International humanitarian law, also known as the laws of war, applies to the armed conflict between the Saudi Arabia-led coalition and the Houthis. It also applies to the non-state armed groups allied to the coalition or the Houthis, as well as to other states that are parties to the conflict.

The fundamental tenets of the laws of war are civilian immunity from attack and distinction. While the laws of war recognize that some civilian casualties are inevitable, they impose a duty on warring parties at all times to distinguish between combatants and civilians, and to target only combatants and other military objectives.

Civilian objects are those that are not considered military objectives.[44] Military objectives are combatants, including civilians directly participating in the hostilities, and those objects that “by their nature, location, purpose or use, make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage.”[45]

In general, the laws of war prohibit direct attacks against what are by their nature civilian objects, such as homes and apartments, places of worship, hospitals, schools, or cultural monuments, unless they are being used for military purposes.[46]

Deliberate, indiscriminate, or disproportionate attacks against civilians and civilian objects are prohibited. Attacks are indiscriminate when they are not directed at a specific military objective, or employ a method or means of warfare that cannot be directed at a military objective or whose effects cannot be limited.[47] They are also indiscriminate if they treat as a single military objective a number of clearly separated and distinct military objectives located in a city, town, village, or other area containing a similar concentration of civilians or civilian objects.[48] Threatening such attacks may amount to unlawful acts for which the primary purpose is to spread terror among the civilian population.[49]

A disproportionate attack is one in which the expected incidental loss of civilian life and damage to civilian objects would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.[50] The expected danger to the civilian population and civilian objects depends on various factors, including their location (possibly within or near a military objective), the accuracy of the weapons used (depending on the trajectory, the range, environmental factors, the ammunition used, etc.), and the technical skill of the combatants (as lack of technical capacity can result in imprecise targeting).[51]

In the conduct of military operations, parties to a conflict must take constant care to spare the civilian population and civilian objects from the effects of hostilities.[52] Parties are required to take precautionary measures with a view to avoiding, and in any event, minimizing, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, and damage to civilian objects.[53]

Before conducting an attack, a party to the conflict must do everything feasible to verify that the persons or objects to be attacked are military objectives, and not civilians or civilian objects.[54] According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) the requirement to take all “feasible” precautions means, among other things, that those conducting an attack are required to take the steps needed to identify the target as a legitimate military objective “in good time to spare the population as far as possible.”[55]
They also must take all feasible precautions in the choice of means and methods of warfare to minimize loss of civilian life and property.[56] The laws of war do not prohibit fighting in urban areas, although the presence of civilians places greater obligations on warring parties to take steps to minimize harm to civilians.

Forces must avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas, and endeavor to remove civilians from the vicinity of military objectives.[57] Belligerents are also prohibited from using civilians to shield military objectives or operations from attack.

"Shielding" refers to purposefully using the presence of civilians to render military forces or areas immune from attack.[58] The unlawful deployment of forces within or near densely populated civilian areas does not relieve opposing forces from taking into account the risk to civilians when conducting attacks. The obligation to respect the laws of war does not depend on reciprocity by belligerent forces.[59]

Human Rights Watch opposes the use of explosive weapons with wide area effect in populated areas due to the inevitable civilian harm caused.

Individuals who commit serious violations of international humanitarian law with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes. Criminal intent has been defined as violations committed intentionally or recklessly.[60] Individuals may also be held criminally liable for attempting to commit a war crime, as well as assisting in, facilitating, aiding, or abetting a war crime. Responsibility may also fall on persons planning or instigating the commission of a war crime.[61] Military commanders and civilian leaders may also bear personal responsibility as a matter of command responsibility if they knew or should have known about the commission of war crimes and failed to prevent them or punish those responsible.

Those acts considered to be war crimes can be found in customary law as reflected in the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and other sources. They include a wide array of offenses, including deliberate, indiscriminate, and disproportionate attacks harming civilians, and mistreatment of persons in custody.[62]

III. Cases of Unlawful Airstrikes

Amran

On April 11, 2015 at about 11:45 a.m., a coalition aircraft dropped two bombs near the office of the Ministry of Education in Amran, a town under Houthi control 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Sanaa. One bomb hit a single-story building housing three families about 20 meters (66 feet) outside the education ministry compound, killing four members of one family, including two women and a girl, and wounding one more.

Muhammad Saleh al-Qihwi, whose house was destroyed in the strike, said he was at the Tawheed Mosque, about 100 meters (328 feet) away, when he heard the blast:

When I got to the house, there was still dust in the air, and everything was covered in a layer of black ash. My wife and kids were lying there, covered in black ash. Thank God they were alive. I saw my sister-in-law, Asma, and her daughter under some rocks, and I tried to dig them out. Asma’s head was open, and her leg was bleeding. Her 2-year-old daughter, Hyam, was lying on her shoulder, her head was smashed open. Her other daughter, Hasna, who’s 7, was shouting “Baba” [father]. Her hair and skin were covered in ash, and she was burned badly. Her father, my brother Muhammad, had been asleep when the strike happened, and the roof landed on top of him. When I dug him out, there was a thin trickle of blood dripping from his ear. He was already dead.[63]
The house of Muhammad Saleh al-Qihwi was destroyed in an airstrike on April 11, 2015, killing four members of his family. © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

Al-Qihwi told Human Rights Watch that as far as he knew, there were no Houthi or other military forces or structures in the area at the time of the airstrike, nor had he seen Houthis using the education ministry building. On that morning he had not seen any Houthi vehicles on the road. He said that the only other airstrike in the area had taken place a few days earlier, and had struck a park a few kilometers away, near Amran University, but he did not know what the intended target of that strike was either. [64]

Muhammad al-Harasi, 31, a guard at the Ministry of Education building who was present at the time of the airstrike, told Human Rights Watch that he saw anti-aircraft fire coming from a mountain a couple of kilometers to the southwest. He also said that he believed that senior officials from Amran’s administration had been meeting in a nearby house.[65]

Human Rights Watch examined the site on July 23. Al-Qihwi’s house had been completely destroyed by the bomb blast, which had also blown out a section of the concrete wall surrounding the Ministry of Education compound. A second bomb had left a crater next to the road near the compound.

An attack on the Ministry of Education compound would have been unlawful, unless the compound was being used for military purposes. Civil authorities would not be legitimate military targets unless they were directly involved in planning or participating in military operations.

Abs/Kholan Prison

At about 3:15 p.m. on May 12, just before the afternoon prayer time, two bombs hit the Abs/Kholan Prison and other buildings in Abs, a town 150 kilometers (93 miles) north of the port city of Hodaida. Thirty-three men convicted of petty crimes were incarcerated there at the time. The strikes killed at least 25 civilians, including one woman and three children, and wounded at least 18 civilians.

Human Rights Watch examined the site on July 25. The bomb hit the prison’s mosque, at the corner of the prison compound, collapsing the structure. Ali Muhammad Hassan Mualim, 55, a local builder, told Human Rights Watch that he was chewing qat with friends at the time of the strike, in a building about 200 meters (219 yards) away and facing the prison: [66]

When I heard the explosion, I went out and ran toward the prison. I saw bodies, about 30 of them, some cut in half, some with severed limbs. Sometimes I get flashbacks to that day and I get sick—I start throwing up and get headaches.[67]

Among those killed were 17 prisoners, a prison guard, and two people in a shop near the prison, according to a medic at the hospital in Abs.[68] Mualim said he also saw the body of a man who had been driving by the prison on his motorcycle at the time of the attack.

The second bomb struck minutes later, hitting the home of Omar Ali Farjain, about 50 meters (164 feet) from the prison, killing his wife and three of their children. The strike injured Farjain and his daughter, Maryam, 5, who was left with burns and metal fragments in her head.[69] The blast ripped the façade off the building and incinerated the family’s car parked in front.

Muhammad Ahmed Yahya Wadar, a government soldier who lost his brother in the attack, arrived at the scene right after the bombing:

I heard the bombing from home, and immediately came running to the prison. I saw torn bodies—legs and hands lying where the prison mosque used to be, including my brother Kamal’s. He was a guard at the prison. His son was wounded in the explosion as well.[70]

Human Rights Watch has not been able to determine the intended target of the attack. Khalid Ali Farjain, the brother of Omar Farjain, said he had visited the prison every day since the war began to provide food to the inmates, and that he had never seen any military activity at the prison, such as weapons stored inside or nearby, or Houthi or allied military personnel.[71]

One local resident said that a few dilapidated buildings near the prison belonged to the Yemeni military and had been used to house families of officers, but others denied this. Human Rights Watch discovered the chassis and parts of what appeared to be two military jeeps among the dilapidated buildings, but found no other signs that the area had been used for military purposes, or that people had recently lived in the buildings.

The remains of Abs/Kholan Prison, hit by an airstrike on May 12, 2015. Minutes later, another bomb struck the home of Omar Ali Farjain across the street. The two attacks killed at least 25 civilians. © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

A National Security officer in Sanaa told Human Rights Watch that at the time of the strike, the Houthis had been holding several Saudi prisoners of war at the Abs/Kholan Prison. Human Rights Watch was unable to verify this information.[72]

Since the beginning of the war, several airstrikes in other parts of Abs targeted the military airport, a military compound, and another building off the main road that residents said was being used for military purposes.

Ordinary prisons are civilian objects that may not be targeted unless they are being used for military purposes. Had the Houthis been using the prison to hold captured combatants, it would be a legitimate military objective, though any attack would need to be proportionate, not causing more civilian casualties than the anticipated military gain of the attack.

Zabid

At about 4:15 p.m. on May 12, aircraft dropped at least five bombs on the Houthi-controlled town of Zabid, 96 kilometers (0.6 miles) south of the western port city of Hodaida, killing at least 60 civilians, including 13 women and eight children, and wounding at least 155.[73]

Human Rights Watch examined the site on July 26. Three of the bombs had struck a three-story building in the middle of the Shagia market. The first bomb struck a sweets shop in the building. The second strike, which witnesses said took place about five minutes later, hit a restaurant on the building’s ground floor. The third struck the building’s second floor, causing the structure to collapse. The force of the blasts also destroyed two other buildings housing another restaurant and four grocery stores.

Abdu Ahmed Thayfi, 36, a qat seller at the Shagia market, was injured in the second strike:

I heard the first strike, and then a few minutes later, the second. I felt as if everything was spinning around me, and then it went black. I woke up and saw the muscle of my left leg torn open. My right leg bone was snapped in half. My brother Muhammad suddenly appeared and wanted to take me to the hospital, but I refused to go, because I knew they would want to amputate my leg.[74]

Thayfi ended up having a bone transplant in his left leg and avoided an amputation.

Abdullah Amin al-Dhabi, 34, a local freelance editor, told Human Rights Watch that after hearing the explosion, he rushed to the market to find his cousin, a qat seller there:

I saw at least 50 limbs ripped apart from the fragments of the explosion. I also saw other bodies of people I could recognize in front of the Shagia restaurant. There I saw my cousin, next to the bodies of three other people I knew: two of them were kids under the age of 12, another was a woman who used to sell bread by the door of the restaurant. Days later, we heard that neighbors were still finding the hands and heads of other victims on their roofs and their shops. The whole area stank.[75]

Dr. Faisal Awad, chairman of the Zabid Relief Society, which led efforts to identify the dead, told Human Rights Watch that the authorities gathered 66 unidentified body parts from the marketplace.[76]

At the same time as the strikes hit Shagia market, two bombs fell on a lemon grove about 600 meters (656 yards) from the market, and about 50 meters (54 yards) from the entrance to the home of Ahmed Bagesh, the owner of one of the restaurants destroyed in the market attack, killing nine civilians, including two women and four children. Three witnesses said that one of the two bombs did not explode, and that Houthi fighters came soon after the incident and removed the munition.[77]

Three bombs hit a building housing a restaurant and sweet shop in the middle of Shagia market in the town of Zabid on May 12, 2015. This airstrike, and another minutes later on a neighboring lemon grove, killed at least 60 civilians.  © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

Three bombs hit a building housing a restaurant and sweet shop in the middle of Shagia market in the town of Zabid on May 12, 2015. This airstrike, and another minutes later on a neighboring lemon grove, killed at least 60 civilians. © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

Bagesh told Human Rights Watch:

Just as I heard the strikes on the marketplace, there were also two strikes right outside our doorway. My sister’s husband had just left our house—he had been over for a visit—and when I ran out, I found the top half of his body lying on the path by the door. The bottom half had been blown about 10 meters away.[78]

Thabit Hamdain, 55, a qat seller at the Shagia market, told Human Rights Watch that a large public-sector textile factory about one kilometer (0.6 miles) from the market had been producing military uniforms for the Houthis, and said he suspected this was the target of the airstrike.[79] The factory was unaffected by the airstrikes and had not been subsequently targeted by the time Human Rights Watch visited Zabid on July 26.

Hamdain noted that the day before the airstrike he recognized three mid-level Houthi commanders eating lunch in one of the restaurants in the market. [80] Bagash, the restaurant owner, said that Houthi fighters often came to the market to buy qat and to eat at the restaurants, but they did not “hang around.” He also said there were no Houthi checkpoints near the market.[81]

The presence of small numbers of Houthi military personnel at the market would not make the entire market a legitimate target for a bombing attack. A factory producing uniforms or others goods for the military would be a valid military target, but the workers inside would not be considered civilians directly participating in the hostilities. The coalition should conduct an investigation to determine whether the attack was unlawfully indiscriminate, whether an attack on the factory during working hours was disproportionate, and whether all feasible precautions had been taken to minimize civilian casualties.

Muthalith Ahim

At about 10 p.m. on July 4, coalition aircraft bombed the marketplace in the middle of the village of Muthalith Ahim, about 20 kilometers south of the Saudi border in Yemen’s northwest. Because the attack occurred during the holy month of Ramadan, the area was crowded with people breaking their fast in restaurants late in the evening. The airstrike destroyed at least six buildings along the main road of the village, including a four-story building housing the Sanaa Restaurant, a small shop and hotel, and a water truck and car parked outside.

Human Rights Watch examined the site on July 24 and spoke to the staff of four hospitals that received the dead and wounded, as well as officials with the Ministry of Human Rights. The attack killed at least 65 people, including at least six African migrants and three children, and wounded at least 105. Forty of the wounded who were sent to al-Jumhouri Hospital in Hajja were suffering from metal fragment injuries, and most needed surgery, according to a nurse who was on call that night.[82]

The remains of two buildings destroyed in a July 4, 2015 airstrike on the marketplace in the village of Muthalith Ahim, which killed at least 65 people.  © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

Muhammad Hassan, 35, a waiter at Sanaa Restaurant who was wounded in the attack, told Human Rights Watch that several hours earlier, there had been a strike on a gas station about two kilometers (1.2 miles) further north. Then, about an hour later, there was a strike on a football field about one kilometer (0.6 miles) away, and at the same time another strike on an empty building about two kilometers away. He said he had heard from some people in town that the Houthis were using the empty building to store weapons.[83] None of the other interviewees raised this allegation with Human Rights Watch.

Hassan estimated that at the time of the strike, there were about 50 people in the restaurant, and about 100 in the hotel above. Outside the restaurant, there was a large open space with fishmongers and people selling vegetables, cell phones, qat, and other items. He believed that there were also about 50 to 60 African migrants, as well as many displaced Yemenis from northern border villages, sitting on the steps of the restaurant at the time of the bombing. Hassan told Human Rights Watch:

I was outside in the alley beside the restaurant taking out the trash when the strike hit. I saw fire and smelled gunpowder. The pressure of the explosion threw me back about 10 meters into a pile of trash bags. I tasted blood, and felt a pain in my chest, and then I lost consciousness. I woke up here at the Hajja hospital, only to find out that 13 waiters from the restaurant who worked with me were killed in the explosion.[84]

Muhammad’s doctor said he had metal fragment injuries to his left shoulder, chest, and right leg. After multiple surgeries, Muhammad had yet to regain movement in his left arm.[85]

Salem al-Mashwali, 40, a truck driver who was in the market at the time, described the scene after the explosion:

I counted 45 bodies intact, many lying under the stalls of the qat sellers. I saw other bodies that had been shattered to bits, some already stiff. People all around me were shouting. I saw the driver of the water truck, a friend of mine, and his assistant both dead in the vehicle, as it was burning. I witnessed a terrible thing, a very scary scene.[86]

Dr. Adnan al-Wazzan, a pharmacist at al-Jumhouri Hospital in Hajja, some 140 kilometers (87 miles) away, drove an ambulance to Muthalith Ahim after the strike:

We got news of the strike about 30 minutes after it happened, but we waited two hours before leaving because we were scared the coalition might target us on the road. We finally left at 12:30 a.m. While on the road we passed a truck carrying 23 of the victims—we stopped the driver to see if we should help the people on the truck or keep driving. It was piled high with bodies, heads open and bleeding. Two of the people in the truck were already dead, another 10 were near death. We kept on driving and made it to the Bani Hassan medical center [in Hajja, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Muthalith Ahim], where most of the wounded had been brought. I will never forget the scene—there were bodies all over the floor.[87]

Abd al-Rauf al-Silwi, 52, a mechanical engineer who went to the site of the bombing early the next morning, told Human Rights Watch:

When I arrived, there were still many bodies—most of their faces looked normal, like they were sleeping, just with some marks from metal fragments. In front of Sanaa Restaurant, I saw one man with his backbone sticking out of his neck. By the qat market, I saw dozens of bodies, charred, some headless, others without legs. I saw 10 bodies inside the Hadramawt Restaurant, many missing their arms and legs, all killed while they were in the middle of having their dinner. The arm of one man was still attached to the large water cooler by the entrance. A water truck had exploded, and I saw the head of the driver hanging off the end of what was left of the truck.

It is not clear if any Houthi or allied fighters were killed in the attack. Al-Mashwali, the truck driver, told Human Rights Watch there had been a Houthi checkpoint about 50 meters (55 yards) from where the strike hit, manned by 10 to 12 Houthi fighters.[88]

Witnesses who spoke to Human Rights Watch said the strike did not damage the checkpoint.

Even if the checkpoint, a legitimate military objective, was the target of the attack, the coalition should conduct an investigation to determine if all feasible precautions were taken to minimize the harm to civilians, and whether the attack as carried out was unlawfully indiscriminate or disproportionate.

Amran Markets

Starting about 4:30 p.m. on July 6, bombs hit two locations in the governorate of Amran, north of Sanaa, killing at least 29 civilians, including a woman and 15 children, and wounding at least 20 civilians.

The first strike hit an area known as Bawn market, where vegetable sellers gather near the main road between Amran and Raydah, about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) northeast of Amran City. Mufarih, 35, a potato seller who only goes by his first name, told Human Rights Watch he was walking towards the local mosque because he had missed the afternoon prayer, when the bomb hit:

I suddenly saw all this dust rise and felt something hit my back, and then I blacked out. I woke up at Raydah Hospital at about 6 p.m. The doctors had removed a metal fragment from my back. I later went back to the site of the strike and saw how close I had been, I was only 15 meters away from where the bomb landed.[89]

Nishwan, 21, a vegetable seller who only goes by his first name, described the blast to Human Rights Watch: “It was like fire lifting me into the air. My leg was broken in three places. I tried to stand up, but couldn’t.” [90]

Khaled `Odah, 35, a local vegetable seller who had his right leg amputated after sustaining injuries in an airstrike on Bawn market outside the town of Amran on July 6, 2015. © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

Radwan Yahya Ahmed, 25, a fruit seller injured in the strike, showed Human Rights Watch his wounds. Doctors had to remove large pieces of skin from his shoulders to transplant to his cheeks.[91] He and other witnesses to the strike interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that they had not seen any Houthi or allied military vehicles on the road at the time of the strike, nor did they know of any military targets in the area. The Bawn market strike killed at least 10 civilians, including nine children, and wounded at least six.

Minutes later, a second bomb struck the Jawb market along the road just over one kilometer (0.62 miles) further north, damaging a gas station, a car outside the local mosque, and the home of Mansour Ahmed Taqi, 40, a local farmer.[92] The market had been there for at least two years and was the largest in the area, attracting hundreds of people daily.[93]

Faten Saleh said she was standing at the doorway of her home with her baby and her older son and daughter when the bomb hit the first market. She saw her husband, Zahir Mabkhoot Taqi, running towards her with their son Taqi, 9, close behind:

He [Zahir] was calling and waving at me to grab my bag and to leave the house as quickly as possible, saying that the planes might bomb us as well. About 15 meters (16 yards) from our house, suddenly another bomb landed. A piece of metal hit him in the back and cut through his side, killing him. We found Taqi’s body ripped to pieces. My husband’s cousin was close by, but was only wounded. My husband was just a simple farmer, but later on TV, they said he was a Houthi trainer. I don’t know why they would lie about that, but I promise you it’s not true.[94]

Mabkhoot al-Jawbi, a local farmer, 70, said his son, grandson, aged 17, and two cousins were killed in the blast. He helped with the burial at the local mosque and said that he helped with 17 funerals of local villagers.[95]

Bawn market outside the town of Amran was hit by a bomb on July 6, 2015, killing 10 civilians.  © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

Mansour Ahmad Taqi, another relative of Zahir Taqi, said he was home when the strike hit, damaging part of his house. When he came to the gate, he saw at least 20 wounded and dead lying in the market place, at least three in the car outside the local mosque, another person lying at the gate of the mosque, and another three people lying near the entrance to the home of Zahir Taqi—namely Zahir, his son Taqi Zahir Mabkhoot Taqi, aged 9, and his cousin Habib Saleh Taqi. “His son’s hand was found inside the electricity meter of the house on the other side of the road days later,” Mansour Taqi told Human Rights Watch.[96]

Jawb market outside the town of Amran was hit by a bomb on July 6, 2015, minutes after a bomb struck nearby Bawn market, killing at least 19 civilians and damaging a gas station, a car outside the local mosque, and the home of Mansour Ahmed Taqi. © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

The Jawb market strike killed 22 people, at least 19 of them civilians, including one woman and six children, and wounded 14. Four of the dead were members of the Taqi family. Three people who were in a car at the time of the attack had not been identified at the time that Human Rights Watch visited, so it was not possible to determine whether they were civilians.

Al-Jawbi told Human Rights Watch that after the attack, there was no more market in the area: “Now there is nothing. People are afraid.” He said that he was unaware of any military targets in the area, such as military vehicles, at the time of the strike.[97]

According to Khaled Sanad, the representative of an aid organization linked to the Houthis, a third airstrike hit a security checkpoint south of Amran, about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) away, at about the same time as the attack on the two markets, killing four Houthi members manning the checkpoint and three civilians who were on the road at the time.[98]

Shara`a, Ibb

On August 8, starting at 8:30 p.m., coalition aircraft dropped five bombs in the span of several minutes, destroying eight homes in the village of Shara`a, located in southern Ibb governorate’s Radhma district. The village has a population of about 800 people.[99] The strikes killed eight civilians, including three women and three children, and left at least two civilians wounded. The al-Salam military base, which was occupied by Houthi forces, is located two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the village.[100] Although the base was apparently not struck, 10 minutes before bombs hit Shara`a, two strikes hit the Al-Ahram event hall, located next to the base.

Human Rights Watch was not able to visit the village, but spoke to seven residents by telephone.

At 8:30 p.m. the first bomb hit the home of Mane`a al-Haddi, killing his mother, wife, sister and his sister’s two children, ages 6 and 7. The blast wounded him as well. He told Human Rights Watch:

The first strike that hit the village targeted my house. I ran out to see what had happened, despite being injured. But two minutes later, my cousin’s house was hit by a second bomb. Then minutes later, two more fell, one on my house again, and a fourth on my cousin’s house again.[101]

Another resident described the scene after the first strike:

I never expected to see something similar, people running around and crying. It was horrific. We were trying to pull some of the people out the rubble when two minutes later another bomb fell and sent us running.[102]

Minutes after the first strike, a bomb hit the home of Sheikh Muhammad al-Haddi, a retired army general, only a few meters from the first strike.[103] His home was a gathering place for many in the village, who used his generator to charge their cellphones and laptops because it was the only house with reliable electricity. There were about 70 people at his house at the time of the strike, charging their devices, watching TV, playing cards, talking, and chewing qat, according to Mane`a al-Haddi, who was there at the time.[104]

The attack severely damaged Sheikh al-Haddi’s house and left it uninhabitable. Two men who ran from the house after the initial blast on the home of Mane`a al-Haddi were killed.

The blast also destroyed the home of his neighbor, Nagi al-Masan, killing 3-year-old Saeed Waheb Tanbash, who was inside at the time.

The remnants of the house of Sheikh Muhammad al-Haddi, which was damaged in an airstrike on August 8, 2015. The home had attracted many visitors, as the only house in the village with a generator, and there were about 70 people present at the time of the bombing. Noone in the house was wounded.  © 2015 Private

About two minutes later, two more bombs hit at the same time, one on the southern corner of Mane`a al-Haddi’s home, and one by the entrance to Sheikh al-Haddi’s house. Two minutes later a fifth bomb fell on the neighboring home of Naji Saleh Hadash, a retired military officer.

Mane`a al-Haddi told Human Rights Watch, “It is the first time our village witnessed anything like this, the village is still in a state of terror. Even the dogs run away whenever a plane passes by now.”

Nasir Mohsen al-Thaibani, a 33-year-old local resident, told Human Rights Watch that at the time of the strikes, Houthi forces were at the al-Salam military base, but he said the base was not hit by any of the airstrikes.[105]

All of the witnesses interviewed said that there were no Houthi or allied forces in the village or passing through at the time of the strikes.

Sawan, Sanaa

At about 12:30 a.m. on July 12, an airstrike killed 23 people, all from the same family, including seven women and 14 children, from the ages of 2 months to 16 years, in Sanaa’s residential neighborhood of Sawan. The strike also wounded 31 people. The area is populated by the marginalized muhamashee people part of Yemen’s minority group, about 11 percent of the population, that suffers social segregation and discrimination, including in accessing public education and employment.

Human Rights Watch examined the site on July 20. The blast destroyed 10 small, single-story houses and damaged another 50. 

Residents told Human Rights Watch that an airstrike hit the External Medical Clinic, a military medical facility located next to the Military Engineers’ Compound, about 500 meters away, about five minutes after the strike on the homes. Human Rights sought access to the compound, but armed guards denied us entry, saying they would need to get authorization.

The rubble after a July 12, 2015 airstrike destroyed homes in the residential neighborhood of Sawan in Sanaa, the capital. The airstrike killed 23 civilians. © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

Majid al-Jamal, 30, whose relatives were killed in the blast, said he was sleeping at the time the bomb struck:

I didn’t hear the strike itself, or the plane. But I awoke to the sound of bricks being smashed against the side of my home. I jumped out of bed and rushed outside and saw burned bodies, but I could not do anything to help.[106]

Yumna Obayth, 35, a mother of 10 whose house was damaged in the strike, said:

Why, I ask, why would they bomb us? We have no guns, no food, nothing. We are poor. They brought down the house over the heads of my children. Now we are living outside in the street, what can I do?[107]

The Military Engineers’ Compound was a legitimate military target. The nearby military medical facility was not a valid military target—medical facilities, including those serving military personnel, may not be targeted unless they are being used to commit hostile acts and a warning has been given. The proximity of the hospital to the engineer’s compound unnecessarily placed it at risk of being damaged in an attack on the compound.

Yareem

At about 2 a.m. on July 19, airstrikes killed at least 16 civilians, including three women and nine children, and wounded at least 16 civilians, in Yareem town, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Sanaa.

Human Rights Watch examined the site on July 22. The strike had partially damaged, and in some cases completely destroyed, 11 one-story residential homes and a two-story building.

Human Rights Watch also established that the site is located about 200 meters (219 yards) from the entrance to the 55th Rocket Artillery Brigade. Residents told Human Rights Watch that since the beginning of the air campaign in March, and on that night, they heard anti-aircraft guns being fired from the base. One nearby resident said that the now-dismantled Republican Guard, the military wing under the command of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, had controlled the base since 1994. The base had been the main depot of Scud ballistic missiles for the Yemeni military, the resident said, but those had been removed about four years ago, and now the main weapons at the base were artillery rockets. There had been as many as 2,000 troops at the base in the past, he said, but only 300 troops were there since current conflict started.[108]

Local residents told Human Rights Watch that at about 1:30 a.m., three strikes hit the military base at 10-minute intervals. The fourth strike hit the residential area.

Sabah Saleh Ahmed al-Boghomy, 50, said she and her husband owned most of the houses in the neighborhood, and her relatives lived in several of them. She said she was asleep at the time of the strike and was awakened by her daughter screaming and shaking her, saying that planes were bombing the military base. Al-Boghomy tried to calm her by taking her outside:

After we left the home, all of a sudden the windows of the house shattered and the roof collapsed. We heard a loud explosion but had no idea that it was in our own yard. At the time my three sons, their wives and children and my two [other] daughters were still inside the house…. I remember hearing my neighbor screaming, “Save my children, save me, we are under the rubble!” [109]

Her family survived the attack without injury, but she said she knew of at least 12 neighbors who were killed in the strike. The attack destroyed six of their family homes and three cars.

A local resident, Hana Saad al-Nazhi, told Human Rights Watch that when she heard the first explosion, she grabbed her children and hid in a small room in their home:

We stayed in that room while all the strikes happened, so I assumed that my brothers were safe and had escaped, only to realize when I went outside that one strike had hit my brother’s house. It wiped his house to the ground, they blew it up and killed him and his daughters… What was the military target in my brother’s house? [110]
Hana Sa`ad al-Nazhi and her son, who were both injured when an airstrike hit a residential area in Yareem on July 19, 2015, killing at least 16 civilians.  © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

Another brother, Radwan Saad al-Nazhi, came to the site of the strike after hearing the blasts from his home, located a few streets away. He told Human Rights Watch that altogether eight members of two of his brothers’ families were killed, five of them children. His sister, Hana Saad al-Nazhi, and her children were the only ones who survived the airstrike, but with injuries:

I am not employed, my brothers were, I am not. I make a living doing odd jobs in the streets.… I had to take my sister and her three kids out of the hospital because I could not pay their bill.[111]
Residents sifting through the rubble of homes destroyed in an airstrike three days prior in Yareem town. The strike killed at least 16 civilians. © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

Muhammad al-Faqih, 45, said he was sitting in his living room when he heard the initial strikes on the military base. He grabbed his clothes and woke his five children and wife, telling them to get dressed and be ready to leave. His son Osama al-Faqih, 20, was walking down the steps out of the house just as the strike hit about 20 meters (7 feet) from the door of their home. Muhammad al-Faqih, standing behind him just inside the door, was blown back into the house:

We scrambled to our feet and got out of the house, and I heard cries. I turned to my left and saw my neighbor, an older woman. She was lying on the ground, with a large rock crushing her legs. She was begging us to help her so we did. After we helped move it, we rushed off to get my son, who we realized was injured, to the hospital. As we got to the main road we saw another neighbor, Salma, wandering along, and wailing for help. She was badly burned and her head was open and gushing blood.… I don’t know what happened to her. [112]

Osama had a metal shard lodged in his neck that the doctors planned to remove, Muhammad al-Faqih told Human Rights Watch. He said that they were lucky that other families had helped to pay their medical bill. His house was only slightly damaged by the strike.

Ali Muhammad al-Milah was in his house, which was destroyed in the strike, at the time of the blast:

I didn’t see anything when the explosion happened, it was all black. My ears started ringing, they are still ringing now, days later. I came back the next morning and saw five bodies just lying on the ground, including the bodies of two young kids. Only yesterday when I was here they found the body of another kid, a young girl. They pulled her out of the rubble.[113]

Another resident said he heard a fifth strike about 10 minutes later, again on the military base.[114]

The military base was a legitimate military target. The attack that struck the residential neighborhood should be investigated by the coalition to determine if it was unlawfully targeted and whether all feasible precautions had been taken to minimize civilian loss of life and property.

Mokha Steam Power Plant

On July 24, in a series of attacks that began between 9:30 and 10 p.m., coalition aircraft repeatedly struck two residential compounds of the Mokha Steam Power Plant, which housed plant workers and their family members, killing at least 65 civilians, including 13 women and 10 children, and wounding at least 55. The plant is located outside Mokha City, a western port about 280 kilometers (174 miles) southwest of Sanaa. The main residential compound is one kilometer (0.6 miles) from the power plant, and the smaller compound is adjacent to the plant.

Human Rights Watch examined the site on July 26. Craters and building damage showed that six bombs had struck the plant’s main residential compound. This compound housed at least 200 families, according to the plant’s director general.[115] One bomb had struck a separate compound for short-term workers about a kilometer (0.6 miles) north of the main compound, destroying the water tank for the compounds, and two bombs had struck the beach and an intersection nearby. Bombs hit two apartment buildings in the main compound directly, collapsing part of their roofs. Other bombs exploded between the buildings, including in the main courtyard, stripping the exterior walls off dozens of apartments, leaving only the load-bearing pillars standing. Workers and residents at the compounds told Human Rights Watch that one or more aircraft dropped nine bombs in separate sorties in intervals of a few minutes.

Wajida Ahmed Najid, 37, a resident in one of the compounds, whose husband is a plant employee, said that when the first strike hit, she grabbed her three children close and they huddled together hoping the danger would pass:

After the third strike, the entire building began to collapse on top of us. Then I knew we needed to leave because it was not safe to stay. I grabbed my girls and we started running in the direction of the beach, but as we were running pieces of metal were flying everywhere, and one hit Malak, my 9-year-old daughter. Thank God she is going to be okay. While we were running, I saw bodies, seven of them, just lying on the ground, in pieces.[116]

A doctor at Amal Hospital in Hodaida told Human Rights Watch that they had removed a metal fragment from Malak’s abdomen.

Khalil Abdullah Idriss, 35, a nurse at the plant’s clinic, said that he rushed to al-Salam clinic in Mokha City when he heard news of the attack.[117] There, he and other medics administered basic first aid, then sent the wounded on to hospitals in Hodaida. He said that within an hour of the airstrikes, they had received at least 30 wounded and eight bodies. At 1 a.m., he said, he went to the main compound:

As I walked through the gates, I saw my friend, an engineer at the plant, Abdu Samid al-Subaie. He was lying on the ground, just outside his apartment. He had a deep gash to his waist and he was bleeding to death as his two children lay at his side screaming and crying. But it was hopeless. At the same time, the airplanes were still buzzing above us. We could hear them for hours afterward.[118]

Loai Nabeel, 20, who works at a shop in the compound, said he rushed to his family’s apartment when the attack started.[119] A second bomb hit the apartment before he got there, collapsing the roof. He found his mother and younger brother by the entrance and brought them to the beach before he went back to search for his sisters Hadeel, 12, and Taghreed, 17:

It was dark. It took me 10 minutes to find Hadeel under the rubble. The bomb hit the roof of the room where she was sleeping and her head was seriously wounded. I found Taghreed in another room with minor injuries to her head. Hadeel is still in a coma.[120]

Power plants that produce electricity used by the military are legitimate military targets. However, the harm incurred to the civilian population by an attack on a power plant can be enormous, making its destruction unlawfully disproportionate, as the long-term harm to civilians will be far greater than the immediate military gain.

The residential compound of a steam power plant in the coastal city of Mokha two days after a July 24, 2015 airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition killed 65 workers and their family members.  © 2015 Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch

The Mokha power plant, built in 1986, was not struck in the attack. Human Rights Watch found no sign that either of the two residential compounds for the power plants had been used for military purposes. More than a dozen workers and residents said that there had been no Houthi or other military forces at the compounds.

Early in the morning of July 25, a news ticker on Al-Arabiya TV, a Saudi-owned media outlet, reported that coalition forces had attacked a military air defense base in Mokha. The ticker was swiftly taken down and the story can no longer be found anywhere on Al-Arabiya’s website. Human Rights Watch identified a military facility about 800 meters (875 yards) southeast of the Mokha Steam Power Plant’s main compound, which plant workers said had been a military air defense base. The plant workers said that it had been empty for months, and Human Rights Watch saw no activity or personnel at the base from the outside, except for two guards.

Al-Sham Water Bottling Factory

On August 30 at about 3:50 a.m., an airstrike hit Al-Sham Water Bottling Factory in the outskirts of Abs. The strike destroyed the factory and killed 14 workers, including three boys, who were nearing the end of their night shift, and wounded 11 more. Many of the dead and wounded, as well as the owner of the factory, were from the same family.

Hamza Abdu Muhammad Rouzom, 26, a factory worker present at the time of the explosion, told Human Rights Watch he was on the shift that started at 8 p.m. and was set to end at 5 a.m.:

Because we work with noisy machines, if there were planes flying overhead, we would not have heard them. The explosion was almost like a dream, it all happened so quickly. I heard a whizzing sound for a second, then a huge explosion. I lost consciousness for at least 30 minutes, and when I woke up I saw people were trying to help me. I was covered in blood and dust and had a big cut on my right foot. They carried me to my car, and as they did, I looked around me and saw fire everywhere. I saw my friends and coworkers wounded, some completely burned. It was one of the worst moments of my life.[121]

He was taken to a hospital in Hodaida, but because of a lack of medical supplies, was transferred to a second hospital soon after.

Khaled Ibrahim Musaed, 34, a journalist who lives about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the factory, said that coalition aircraft carried out more than a dozen strikes on a range of military and government installations that night in other parts of Hajja governorate, and the strike on the factory was the last.[122] Two workers at the plant told Human Rights Watch that this was the only strike in the direct vicinity and that they knew of no military targets close to the area.

Residents gather on August 30, 2015 on the outskirts of Abs at Al-Sham Water Bottling Factory, which an airstrike hit hours earlier, killing 14 workers.  © 2015 Khaled Ibrahim Musaed

Later on August 30, after the airstrike, Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, the military spokesman for the coalition, reportedly told Reuters that the plant had been used by the Houthis to make explosive devices, and was not, in fact, a bottling factory[123] All of the individuals Human Rights Watch interviewed said that plant was being used to bottle water and was not used for any military purposes. A group of international journalists traveled to the site of the blast two days after it was hit and reported that they could not find evidence of any military targets in the area.[124] They said that they carefully examined the site, and took photos and videos of piles of scorched plastic bottles melted together from the heat of the explosion. They could not find any evidence that the factory was being used for military purposes.

IV. Houthis Endangering Civilians

Human Rights Watch documented several cases in which Houthi forces endangered civilians by establishing a military presence and using military bases located in populated areas, including to store weapons and ammunition, and took inadequate steps to remove civilians from danger.

For example, residents of the northern town of Haradh told Human Rights Watch that Houthi commanders at checkpoints told them in April that the entire town and surrounding areas were a military zone. The Houthis said that the local council had signed off on the decision, and that local residents would be allowed to enter the area between 7 and 10 a.m. to collect their belongings, but then they had to evacuate.[125] The residents said that many poorer residents of Haradh had no place to go, so they stayed in town despite these orders. All of the residents of Haradh with whom Human Rights Watch spoke said that the Houthis had not provided any assistance to families that needed help in leaving the area.

Haradh residents told Human Rights Watch that Houthi forces established a checkpoint near the abandoned office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and stored what appeared to be ammunition in its courtyard.[126] One resident who lives near the IOM office said that fighters set up the checkpoint on June 3, and that it was manned by gunmen wearing a mix of civilian dress and military caps and uniforms. Several days later, he said, he saw a pickup truck arrive. Gunmen got out and unloaded dozens of what looked like weapons crates and stored them in the yard of the IOM office. Two men had to carry each crate. He said that since then, he had seen many cars coming to bring and remove boxes. He said at least 70 families were still living in the area at the time.[127]

A second Haradh resident, who also lives near the former IOM office, told Human Rights Watch that he saw eight men with weapons arrive at the office one day in late June to unload about 200 heavy crates.[128] He estimated that there were 100 families, about 600 people, living in the area at the time.[129] On July 1, the IOM office was damaged by an airstrike.[130]

Declaring an area a military zone and ordering civilians to leave does not relieve a warring party from taking all feasible measures to protect civilians still present, such as assisting in their relocation. The civilians remaining near the IOM building were at grave risk.

The May 29, 2015 airstrike on the apparent Houthi camp in Hajja City killed at least three civilians and wounded at least 17 when a bomb blast sent rocks and pieces of concrete onto residential houses located on the steep hillside below the camp. Residents of the neighborhood told Human Rights Watch that they had seen Houthi forces bringing weapons into the security camp from the beginning of the war. Two residents said that they saw fighters remove light weapons from the building in the evening after the strike. The residents told Human Rights Watch that the Houthis had not taken any steps to inform them or their neighbors that they were storing weapons at the facility, or to warn them that the area was a military target.[131]

V. Acknowledgments

This report was researched and written by Belkis Wille, researcher for the Middle East and North Africa division, with assistance from Ole Solvang, senior researcher in the Emergencies division, and former Yemen research assistants Osamah al-Fakih and Abdullah Qaid.

Joe Stork, Middle East and North Africa division deputy directors, Ole Solvang, senior researcher in the Emergencies division, and Robin Shulman, program editor, edited the report. James Ross, legal and policy director, provided legal review. Mark Hiznay, senior researcher in the Arms division, Josh Lyons, satellite imagery analyst, Bede Sheppard, deputy director of the Children’s Rights division, and Adam Coogle, Middle East and North Africa researcher, provided specialist review. Sandy Elkhoury, Middle East and North Africa senior associate, Kathy Mills, publications specialist, and Jose Martinez, senior coordinator, prepared the report for publication.

Appendix I: List of Airstrike Casualties

Location: Abs/Kholan Prison

Date: 5/12/2015

Name

Gender

Age

Killed/Wounded

Suleiman Abdu Muhammad al-Haj

Male

18

Killed

Muhammad Ahmad Aqash

Male

18

Killed

Kamal Wadar

Male

over 18

Killed

Wife of Omar Farjain

Female

over 18

Killed

Abdullah Omar Ali Farjain

Male

8

Killed

Maria Abdullah

Female

2

Killed

Nassim

Female

3

Killed

Walid Abdu Muhammad

Male

20

Killed

Maryam Omar Ali Farjain

Female

5

Wounded

Omar Ali Farjain

Male

over 18

Wounded

Abdul Haddi Kamal Wadar

Male

under 18

Wounded

*The rest of the casualty list is on file at Abs Clinic

Location: Zabid

Date: 5/12/2015

Name

Gender

Age

Killed/Wounded

Ahmed Sulaiman Olian

Male

over 18

Killed

Khalil Abdu Sulaiman al-Mizgagi

Male

35

Killed

Amar Muhammad Amin al-Ahdal

Male

over 18

Killed

Bunian Ahmad Sawlah

Female

over 18

Killed

Abd al-Aziz Salem Omar Orouq

Male

30

Killed

Thabit Ahmad Qaderi

Male

over 18

Killed

Ibrahim Ahmad Hiba Makbuli

Male

over 18

Killed

Abdu Ahmad Dar

Male

over 18

Killed

Abdu Yusif Taher Marzouqi

Male

over 18

Killed

Muhammad Dawud Hakim

Male

over 18

Killed

Muhammad Izzi Abdullah Rukbi

Male

over 18

Killed

Mansour Muhammad Abdullah Mawqri

Male

over 18

Killed

Noaman Hassan Ragab

Male

over 18

Killed

Ahmed Ali Muftah Askri

Male

over 18

Killed

Ahmad Muhammad Awad Makbuli

Male

over 18

Killed

Aiman Muhammad Hassan Rami

Male

over 18

Killed

Gumala Ayash Said Derein (Uzaiti)

Female

over 18

Killed

Hassan Yahya Ismail Murahal

Male

over 18

Killed

Faisal Muharam Salman al-Shamiri

Male

over 18

Killed

Muhammad Anwar Futaini Wisabi

Male

over 18

Killed

Murad Muhammad Adam Haddi

Male

over 18

Killed

Wafa Yahya Salem Mauda Kabah

Female

over 18

Killed

Abdullah Abd al-Aziz Salem Qirshi (Orouk)

Male

3

Killed

Abdullah Abdullah Ridwan

Male

over 18

Killed

Ismail Dawud Sulaiman al-Ahdal

Male

over 18

Killed

Akram Abd al-Hamid al-Qubati

Male

30

Killed

al-Raimi al-Shaibah

Male

over 18

Killed

Bashar Hawash Daoud al-Wisabi

Male

12

Killed

BashIr Ghalib Mahdi al-Shamiri

Male

22

Killed

Bayan Ahmad Sawlah

Female

over 18

Killed

Gawad Muhammad Qaid al-Wisabi

Male

over 18

Killed

Husam Saif al-Qubati

Male

over 18

Killed

Hamoudah Wajih

Female

over 18

Killed

Salah Yahya Muhammad Ali

Male

over 18

Killed

Abd al-Hakim Muhammad Abdullah Ghalib

Male

over 18

Killed

Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Adhim Dabwan

Male

over 18

Killed

Abd al-Latif Yahya Muhammad Qurashi (Orouk)

Male

15

Killed

Fatima Salem Omar Qurashi (Orouk)

Female

30

Killed

Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Salem Qurashi (Orouk)

Male

5

Killed

Murad Faisal Muhram Salman al-Shamiri

Male

over 18

Killed

Nagib Qaid Abdu Ghalib

Male

over 18

Killed

Neima Hassan Omar Kaboub

Female

40

Killed

Haifa Abd al-Aziz Salim Qurashi (Orouk)

Female

8

Killed

Hassan Ali Qasim Marwai

Male

over 18

Killed

Waila Kamela

Female

over 18

Killed

Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Salem

Male

9

Killed

Hayfa Abd al-Aziz Salem

Female

7

Killed

Abd al-Latif Orouq

Male

18

Killed

Abdullah Bin Abdullah al-Shamiri (Bagesh)

Male

40

Killed

Faisal Muharam

Male

45

Killed

Murad Faisal Muharam

Male

12

Killed

Numan Rajab al-Khalil

Male

over 18

Killed

1st daughter of Yahya Ahmad Sawlah

Female

over 18

Killed

2nd daughter of Yahya Ahmad Sawlah

Female

over 18

Killed

Daughter of Yahya Khabah

Female

over 18

Killed

Daughter of Ayash Aziz

Female

over 18

Killed

Ibrahim (Hibah)

Male

over 18

Killed

Salah al-Shamiri

Male

over 18

Killed

Hassan Murahal

Male

35

Killed

Daughter of al-Musyab

Female

18

Killed

Abd al-Majid Muhammad Abd al-Ghani

Male

15

Wounded

Qasim Ali Qasim Akil

Male

15

Wounded

Abdullah Ahmad Abdi

Male

13

Wounded

Abdullah Salim Dawud

Male

16

Wounded

Yahya Awad Yahya Murahal

Male

15

Wounded

Khawla Salim Ali Musaib

Female

10

Wounded

Ahmad Futaini Hawis

Male

10

Wounded

Ismail Abdullah Ismail Salami

Male

15

Wounded

Bassam Muhammad Abdullah Radman

Male

14

Wounded

Zyad Rabia Muafa Galal

Male

12

Wounded

Hisham Said Ahmad Hin

Male

16

Wounded

Muhammad Abdullah Mata

Male

12

Wounded

Muhammad Ammar al-Bahr

Male

13

Wounded

Murtadha Faris Hadadi

Male

9

Wounded

Qasim Ahmad Qasim Mahwat

Male

15

Wounded

Nasim Muhammad Saghyir Talha

Male

18

Wounded

Akram Wahb Allah Hafid

Male

15

Wounded

Haitham Wahb Allah Hafid

Male

16

Wounded

Othman Muhammad Adam Saigh

Male

15

Wounded

Muhammad Ahmad Sulaiman Olian

Male

8

Wounded

Murad Kadaf Sulaiman Ashiq

Male

6

Wounded

Abdullah Abd al-Wahab al-Ahdal

Male

15

Wounded

Adil Hatim Ali Garwan

Male

12

Wounded

Ahmad Abdullah Hilal

Male

43

Wounded

Muhammad Ahmad Numari

Male

22

Wounded

Muhammad Abdu Hamza

Male

19

Wounded

Adel Hatim Ali Garwan

Male

12

Wounded

Ridhwan Abdu Ahmad Mizgagi

Male

over 18

Wounded

Hamada Ismail Futaini Kushi

Male

22

Wounded

Walid Muhammad Ali Omar Ahiaf

Male

35

Wounded

Sami Ahmad Muhammad Sulaiman Quba

Male

30

Wounded

Muhammad Fawzi Khadim al-Okli

Male

25

Wounded

Hassan Omar Ayash

Male

45

Wounded

Isam Ahmad Bahkali

Male

36

Wounded

Abdullah Sulaiman Daoud al-Wisabi

Male

25

Wounded

Asim Abd al-Ghafar Abd al-Wahab al-Maghbashi

Male

27

Wounded

Abd Al-Rahman Muhammad Badr al-Hubaishi al-Shamiri

Male

25

Wounded

Fathi Ghalib al-Maqbani

Male

28

Wounded

Hashid Nasr Farhan

Male

26

Wounded

Nizar Yahya Rafia

Male

25

Wounded

Faris Abdu Ali Shama

Male

30

Wounded

Mahmoud Ali Muhammad Hajri

Male

13

Wounded

Sulaiman Daoud Halabi

Male

28

Wounded

Mariam Hatash Kharfag Abdullah

Female

30

Wounded

Yahya Obaid Omar Bashah

Male

30

Wounded

Ahmad Hassar Mashrai

Male

35

Wounded

Muhammad Amin Izzi al-Ahdal

Male

50

Wounded

Bassam Badr Qasim Mahreqi

Male

26

Wounded

Abdullah Muhammad Muhsin Balkam

Male

23

Wounded

Adel Muhammad Abdullah Zailai

Male

27

Wounded

Ishaq Abd al-Hakim Ahmad al-Shamiri

Male

20

Wounded

Murad Kadaf Sulaiman Asheq

Male

7

Wounded

Abdu Salim Hubal

Male

40

Wounded

Mutia Mansour Said Gabir

Male

14

Wounded

Khalid Ahmad Kadari

Male

38

Wounded

Yahya Ahmad Izzi Gubaili

Male

20

Wounded

Abdu Ibrahim Garahi

Male

45

Wounded

Murad Tahir al-Sharabi

Male

15

Wounded

Muhammad Abd al-Kadir Nassir Hizam

Male

20

Wounded

Futaini Ammar Salim Zawbal

Male

over 18

Wounded

Samir Tahir Hassan Maqbouli

Male

27

Wounded

Basil Hassan Sadiq

Male

28

Wounded

Ghalib Muhammad Antari

Male

36

Wounded

Gamal Muhammad Abdullah Gharmash

Male

25

Wounded

Nadir Rizq Izzi Saghyir

Male

25

Wounded

Haitham Wahb Allah Hafid

Male

16

Wounded

Hisham Ghalib Haroun

Male

35

Wounded

Fadl Omar Obaid Maraqah

Male

30

Wounded

Sami Ahmad Mubarab

Male

30

Wounded

Issam Omar Obaid Maraqah

Male

35

Wounded

Izzi Obaid Mass Maraqah

Male

40

Wounded

Abdullah Obaid Mass Maraqah

Male

30

Wounded

Fahman Yasir Saif al-Qubati

Male

over 18

Wounded

Abd al-Majid Abdullah Izzi Shaoush

Male

20

Wounded

Muhammad Ali Abdullah al-Qirsh

Male

30

Wounded

Nakli Ahmad

Male

over 18

Wounded

Muhammad Gamal Jidi

Male

over 18

Wounded

Abdullah Awad Qasri

Male

40

Wounded

Haitham Gamal Matari

Male

20

Wounded

Muhammad Saghyir Talha

Male

50

Wounded

Muhammad Abd a-Kadir Nasr al-Sharabi

Male

35

Wounded

Arfat Ahmad Kulaib Duqn

Male

25

Wounded

Obaid Salim Abdullah Khalouf

Male

60

Wounded

Muhammad Awadh Olala

Male

19

Wounded

Hayel Said Ibrahim Khalil (Numari)

Male

19

Wounded

Ibrahim Qasim Muhammad Shalalut (Mahwat)

Male

35

Wounded

Hamdoun Ismail Futaini Qirshi

Male

27

Wounded

Abdullah Abdu Hatib

Male

25

Wounded

Muhammad Omar Muhammad Ahiaf

Male

40

Wounded

Ali Qassim AqIl

Male

55

Wounded

Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Ammar

Male

over 18

Wounded

Najd Abdu Ali Shama

Male

28

Wounded

Majdi Maged Guman Kharfaj

Male

over 18

Wounded

Nssir Bin Nassir Nawbi

Male

25

Wounded

Ahmad Abdullah Abdu Quroush

Male

26

Wounded

Muhammad Yahya Rudaini

Male

24

Wounded

Sulaiman Muhammad Ali Hajri

Male

58

Wounded

Basim Salim Yasin

Male

22

Wounded

Hussien Ismail Salami

Male

35

Wounded

Abdu Yahya Rafia

Male

over 18

Wounded

Nasser Ahmad Hamoud Fassa

Male

35

Wounded

Muhammad Sulaiman Mahmoud Olaian

Male

50

Wounded

Muhammad Said Awadh Duqn

Male

45

Wounded

Rim Hatash Abdullah Kharfaj

Female

20

Wounded

Sharjaba Muhammad Omar Faraj

Female

42

Wounded

Said Muhammad Talha

Male

30

Wounded

Mahmoud Yahya Qasim al-Ibbi

Male

50

Wounded

Muhammad Yahya Abd al-Baqi al-Ahdal

Male

40

Wounded

Fahd Ahmad Salem al-Abd

Male

25

Wounded

Harib Omar Muhammad Kadir

Male

35

Wounded

Muhammad Saghyir Ali Nahari

Male

25

Wounded

Ahmad Mahmoud Gharbi Muhsin

Male

30

Wounded

Fahim Abdu Muhammad Shaoush

Male

30

Wounded

Qaid Hassan Ibrahim Galal

Male

25

Wounded

Maged Salim Muhammad Muhjib

Male

27

Wounded

Ali Ahmad Abdullah Ilias

Male

33

Wounded

Ahmad Muhammad Antari

Male

28

Wounded

Hussein Sulaiman Awadh Kushmoua

Male

60

Wounded

Ibrahim Said Gabir

Male

over 18

Wounded

Abdu Ali Abdullah Hilal

Male

50

Wounded

Naji Muhammad Ismail Najm

Male

36

Wounded

Hisham Ahmad Abdu Bazi

Male

8

Wounded

Abdullah Ahmad Kadari

Male

29

Wounded

Ahmad Muhammad Bin al-Ahdal

Male

55

Wounded

Muhammad Abdullah Numari

Male

22

Wounded

Hussien Ibrahim Muhammad Shaqika

Male

over 18

Wounded

Kamal Ahmad Muhammad Sulaiman Kuba

Male

28

Wounded

Ahmad Futaini Hwais

Male

10

Wounded

Hisham Abdu Awadh Banjooh

Male

25

Wounded

Abdu Ahmad Baishi (Thanab)

Male

35

Wounded

Zyad Rabia Muafa Galagel

Male

12

Wounded

Muhammad Ahmad Maqbuli

Male

over 18

Wounded

Hassan Ahmad Ibrahim Hubaishi

Male

55

Wounded

Saber Ahmad Ismail Dulaiqa

Male

23

Wounded

Said Nasser Tamam

Male

55

Wounded

Abd al-Rahman al-Mizgagi

Male

over 18

Wounded

Muhammad Abd al-Haddi Matah

Male

10

Wounded

Muhammad Ali Ghalib al-Inabi

Male

50

Wounded

Adel Khadim Muqtari

Male

40

Wounded

Issam Muhammad Ali Ikab

Male

36

Wounded

Rabia Murshid Omar Khadim

Female

50

Wounded

Ibrahim Ahmad Hubaishi

Male

31

Wounded

Amin Rizq Izzi Saghyir

Male

30

Wounded

Muhammad Salim al-Maqbouli

Male

35

Wounded

Muhammad Awadh Abd al-Malik

Male

21

Wounded

Ahmad Ismail Futaini Qurashi

Male

23

Wounded

Faiz Ahmad Qasim Muhawat

Male

19

Wounded

Abd al-Malik Qasri

Male

20

Wounded

Muhammad Daoud Halabi

Male

35

Wounded

Ahmad Salim Amin Balkam

Male

45

Wounded

Abdullah Taher al-Sharabi

Male

21

Wounded

Taysir Muhammad Talha

Male

25

Wounded

Bashir Hussien Abdu Batash

Male

over 18

Wounded

Amro Amr Mass Marfah

Male

over 18

Wounded

Hani Said Ali Gawmah

Male

20

Wounded

Location: Hajja

Date: 5/29/2015

Name

Gender

Age

Killed/Wounded

Hamid Hassan Sabir

Male

45

Killed

Ali Matar

Male

60

Killed

Abd al-Malik Sabah

Male

10

Killed

Amjad Sabah

Male

5

Wounded

Muhammad Sabah

Male

8

Wounded

Omar al-Qarah

Male

12

Wounded

Abdullah Abdu Dahshush

Male

6

Wounded

Osama al-Hushf

Male

16

Wounded

Muhammad Abd al-Ghani al-Qushybi

Male

6

Wounded

Ismail Ali al-Dukhyna

Male

8

Wounded

Ali Kamil al-Dharwani

Male

3

Wounded

`Amir Ahmed al-Hushf

Male

25

Wounded

Abdu Dahshush

Male

30

Wounded

Bint Muhammad Nasser Sasa

Female

under 18

Wounded

Bint Muhammad Abdullah

Female

under 18

Wounded

Rahma Zid al-Ghurbani

Female

6

Wounded

Bint Abdullah al-Dukaina

Female

under 18

Wounded

Bint Ahmad Sabah

Female

18

Wounded

Ibtihal Dahshush

Female

14

Wounded

Maryam Muhammad Nasser Yaqub

Female

30

Wounded

Location: Muthalith Ahem

Date: 7/4/2015

Name

Gender

Age

Killed/Wounded

Abdul Salam al-Raimi

Male

over 18

Killed

Abdullah al-Aawar

Male

over 18

Killed

Faisal Ahmad

Male

over 18

Killed

Bashir Ali

Male

over 18

Killed

Abdu Ali

Male

over 18

Killed

Muhammad Ahmad

Male

over 18

Killed

Abdu Ali al-Raimi

Male

over 18

Killed

Waddah Said

Male

over 18

Killed

Shawki Ahmad

Male

over 18

Killed

Ali Shuai

Male

over 18

Killed

Majid Ali

Male

over 18

Killed

Sultan Ahmad

Male

over 18

Killed

Muhammad Hassan Hassan Abkar

Male

35

Wounded

Muhammad Ahmad al-Raimi

Male

over 18

Wounded

al-Maslamani

Male

over 18

Killed

His assistant

Male

over 18

Killed

Faisal Ali Yusif

Male

22

Killed

Hassan Rabia Muhammad

Male

27

Killed

Abdul Wahid al-Zabidi

Male

40

Killed

* The rest of the list is available with Abs Clinic and Jumhouri Hospital in Hajja City.

Location: Amran Markets

Date: 7/6/2015

Name

Gender

Age

Killed/Wounded

Yahya Yahya Taqi

Male

60

Killed

Habib Saleh Yahya Taqi

Male

38

Killed

Zahir Mabkhut Taqi

Male

29

Killed

Taqi Zahir Mabkhut Taqi

Male

9

Killed

Bashiq Ahmed Musleh

Male

18

Killed

Abd al-Malik Ibrahim Mujahid

Male

16

Killed

Muhammad Nasir al-Jasmi

Male

40

Killed

Rana Muhammad Nasir al-Jasmi

Female

over 18

Killed

Abd al-Fatah Ahmed al-Harthi

Male

30

Killed

Raja Abd al-Fatah al-Harthi

Female

12

Killed

Dhafran al-Sa`lah

Male

40

Killed

Yahya Husain al-Harthi

Male

40

Killed

Atab Yahya Husain al-Harthi

Male

20

Killed

N/A al-Babli

Male

over 18

Killed

Abd al-Ghani Yahya Yahya al-Faqih

Male

17

Killed

Abd al-Latif Mabkhoot Naji

Male

35

Killed

Khairan Abd al-Latif Mabkhoot

Male

8

Killed

Gibran Abu al-Latif

Male

17

Killed

Abdullah Abdu Samad

Male

16

Killed

Abd al-Samad Abd al-Baset Yahya Faqih

Male

12

Killed

Inas Imad al-Thari

Female

15

Killed

Abd al-Malik Ahmad Yahya

Male

15

Killed

Haitham Gamil Qaid Siraj

Male

12

Killed

Muhammad Ahmed Yahya

Male

17

Killed

Muhammad Abd al-Fatah Ahmad Hussien al-Harithi

Male

10

Killed

Atab Yahya Hussien al-Harithi

Male

20

Killed

Muhammad Nasser Muhammad al-Hussami

Male

40

Killed

Zakaria Muhammad Nasser Muhammad al-Hosseini

Male

12

Killed

Rina Muhammad Nasser Muhammad al-Hussami

Female

13

Killed

Muhammad Abd al-Latif Mabkhoot

Male

11

Wounded

Muhib Abd al-Latif Mabkhoot al-Arhabi

Male

13

Wounded

Akram Abd al-Latif Mabkhoot

Male

5

Wounded

Ahmad Gamil Qaid Siraj

Male

11

Wounded

Mustafa Hamoud Hassan al-Ashmouri

Male

over 18

Wounded

Sadam Hassan al-Mahgeri

Male

30

Wounded

Muhammad Derhim al-Tawil

Male

60

Wounded

Sad Yahya al-Qusari

Male

over 18

Wounded

Amjad Majid Mansour Taqi

Male

over 18

Wounded

Abd al-Rahman Fouad Saleh Taqi

Male

over 18

Wounded

Abd al-Malik Ahmad Yahya Saleh Taqi

Male

15

Wounded

Muhammad Ahmad Saleh al-Gawbi

Male

17

Wounded

Hana Mansour Taqi

Female

12

Wounded

Sabah Ahmad al-Abdi

Female

35

Wounded

Ismail Ibrahim al-Mujahid

Male

13

Wounded

Taysier Saleh Yahya Taqi

Male

23

Wounded

Mabrouk Saleh Yahya Taqi

Male

37

Wounded

Sadeq Amin Muhammad Hamoud al-Suala

Male

17

Wounded

Isam Muhammad Hamoud al-Suala

Male

over 18

Wounded

Muhammad Dhafran Hussein al-Suala

Male

40

Wounded

Location: Sawan, Sanaa

Date: 7/12/2015

Name

Gender

Age

Killed/Wounded

Shuba Khamis al-Jamal

Female

60

Killed

Musa Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Male

35

Killed

Asad Musa Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Male

16

Killed

Alaallah Hassan Ahmed Hals al-Jamal

Female

70

Killed

Hassan Musa Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Male

14

Killed

Nasir Musa Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Male

10

Killed

Ashuaq Musa Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Female

8

Killed

Raziki Musa Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Female

2 months

Killed

Mariam Muhsin al-Awdi

Female

20

Killed

Dhaifallah Said Khamis al-Jamal

Male

4

Killed

Kusi Said Khamis al-Jamal

Male

3

Killed

Odai Said Khamis al-Jamal

Male

2

Killed

Amora Ali Khamis al-Jamal

Female

22

Killed

Mutasim Darwish Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Male

2

Killed

Musa Darwish Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Male

4

Killed

Fuad Darwish Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Male

2 months

Killed

Afnan Salim Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Female

12

Killed

Kefaya Amar Khamis Sa`ad al-Jamal

Female

6

Killed

Yahya Saad al-Jamal

Male

18

Killed

Samara Muhammad Khamis Sa`ad al-Jamal

Female

20

Killed

Shuia Musa Hassan Rajih al-Jamal

Female

2

Killed

Mariam Darwish Gurina

Female

30

Killed

Sahlah Abdullah Hassan al-Jamal

Female

30

Killed

*The list of wounded is available in hard copy with Human Rights Watch

Date: 7/19/2015

Name

Gender

Age

Killed/Wounded

Ziad Akram Ali al-Farz`i

Male

17

Killed

Muhammad Sa’ad Saleh al-Nazhi

Male

43

Killed

Shadad Sa’ad Saleh al-Nazhi

Male

35

Killed

Rasha Muhammad Sa’ad Saleh al-Nazhi

Female

13

Killed

Sa’ad Muhammad Sa’ad al-Nazhi

Male

8

Killed

Su`ad Muhammad Ahmed al-Khubani

Female

37

Killed

Amin Majid Ali Zid (?) al-Suwaidi

Male

4

Killed

Mariam Shadad Sa’ad Saleh al-Nazhi

Female

6

Killed

Muna Shadad Sa’ad Saleh al-Nazhi

Female

5

Killed

Sawsan Shadad Sa’ad Saleh al-Nazhi

Female

3

Killed

Abdu Said al-Wesabi

Male

43

Killed

Najla Ali Qasim

Female

25

Killed

Saqr Adnan al-Shu`ibi

Male

3

Killed

Nasimah Adnan al-Shu`ibi

Female

10

Killed

Hani Abdullah Muhammad al-Ansi

Male

27

Killed

Fathia Muhammad Abdullah al-Ansi

Female

37

Killed

Majid Ali Zid al-Suwaidi

Male

35

Wounded

Rasha Shadad Sa’ad Saleh al-Nazhi

Female

13

Wounded

Salma Muhammad Aiash

Female

over 18

Wounded

Ibrahim Muhammad Sa’ad al-Nazhi

Male

20

Wounded

Hisham Mukhtar al-Ansi

Male

25

Wounded

Mukhtar al-Ansi

Male

35

Wounded

Muhammad Muhammad Sa’ad al-Nazhi

Male

over 18

Wounded

Jarallah Omar al-Siri

Male

25

Wounded

Ali Qasim

Male

60

Wounded

Fatima

Female

65

Wounded

Walid Rajab

Male

35

Wounded

Belkis

Female

35

Wounded

Rafiqah Muhammad al-Nazhi

Female

40

Wounded

Hana Sa’ad al-Nazhi

Female

50

Wounded

Elham Ali Muhammad Qasim

Female

17

Wounded

Hasna Yahya Gaber

Female

over 18

Wounded

Location: Mokha Steam Power Plant

Date: 7/24/2015

Name

Gender

Age

Killed/Wounded

Abdullah Muhammad Moqbel Bazel

Male

 

Killed

Mazin Ahmed Hassan al-Mujib

Male

 

Killed

Moath Abdullah Ali Abdullah

Male

 

Killed

Ali Fazel al-Abti

Male

 

Killed

Aymen Abdul Karim Bashir

Male

 

Killed

Wasim Saif Ahmed Asad

Male

 

Killed

Amro Ahmed Ba Alawi

Male

 

Killed

Muhammad Muhammad Ali Aqlan

Male

 

Killed

Khaled Ahmed Muhammad Qasem al-Sabri

Male

 

Killed

Ahmed Khaled Muhammad Ahmed Ghamazi

Male

 

Killed

Muhammad Mabruk Ahmed (unclear)

Male

 

Killed

Ammar Abdul Wasea Andul Waham Ahmed

Male

 

Killed

Tawfiq Ahmed Said al-Athoori

Male

 

Killed

Amjad Abdul Karim Bashir

Male

 

Killed

Muhammad Abdu Hassan al-Sabi

Male

 

Killed

Ahmed Muhammad Abdu Hassan al-Sabi

Male

 

Killed

Osama Yusuf Abdul Razaq

Male

 

Killed

Othman Bajash Othman

Male

 

Killed

Ahmed Ali Saif al-Adoa

Male

 

Killed

Bashir al-Salawi

Male

 

Killed

Thabil Abd al-Rahman Omran Nabil Muhammad Said

Male

 

Killed

Abd al-Rahman Ghamdan Nabil Muhammad Said

Male

 

Killed

Aymen Muhammad Ahmed Noaman

Male

 

Killed

Osama Muhammad Abd al-Hassan al-Absi

Male

 

Killed

Eissa Muhammad Mahyub

Male

 

Killed

Abd al-Samad Abd al-Haq al-Sabai

Male

 

Killed

Hamza Abd al-Rahman Muhammad

Male

 

Killed

Nazar Muhammadd Abd al-Ghani al-Harmim

Male

 

Killed

Adib Abd al-Wahab al-Hakimi

Male

 

Killed

Eissa Muhammad Abd al-Rahim

Male

 

Killed

Muhammad Adnan Shalan

Male

 

Killed

Haytham Khaled Muhammad Said al-Sharji

Male

 

Killed

Shakib Muhammad Abd al-Wadud

Male

 

Killed

Yusuf Abd al-Razaq al-Hakimi

Male

 

Killed

unidentified family member

Male

Under 18

Killed

unidentified family member

Male

 

Killed

unidentified family member

Male

 

Killed

Sahira Shawqi Shaher al-Adabji

Female

 

Killed

Bint Ahmed al-Wasabi

Female

 

Killed

Amana Ahmad Mohsen

Female

 

Killed

Ala Absi Muhammad Mahyub

Female

 

Killed

Rasfa Muhammad Qayed

Female

 

Killed

Asma Muhammad Abd al-Hassan al-Absi

Female

 

Killed

Eman Qayed al-Sabri

Female

 

Killed

Doa Qayed al-Sabri

Female

 

Killed

Sahar Qayed Muhammad al-Sabri

Female

 

Killed

Nahla Muhammad Ahmed Noaman

Female

 

Killed

Noha Muhammad Ahmed Noaman

Female

 

Killed

Thoraya Adib Muhammad Taher

Female

 

Killed

Nedal Muhammad Abdu

Female

Under 18

Killed

Khaled Ahmed Qasem

Male

Under 18

Killed

Yasser Muhammad Saleh

Male

Under 18

Killed

Visiting child from Aden

n/a

Under 18

Killed

Sadeq Abdullah Saleh

Male

 

Killed

Wife of Sadeq Abdullah Saleh

Female

 

Killed

1st Child of Sadeq Abdullah Saleh

n/a

Under 18

Killed

2nd Child of Sadeq Abdullah Saleh

n/a

Under 18

Killed

3rd Child of Sadeq Abdullah Saleh

n/a

Under 18

Killed

4th Child of Sadeq Abdullah Saleh

n/a

Under 18

Killed

5th Child of Sadeq Abdullah Saleh

n/a

Under 18

Killed

Sameh Muhammad Ali Ahmad

Male

 

Wounded

Muhammad Najib Muhammad Abd al-Wadoud

Male

 

Wounded

Hadil Nabil Abdu Hassan

Female

 

Wounded

Malak Abdu Muhammad al-Azazi

Female

 

Wounded

Ali Abd al-Salam

Male

 

Wounded

Tamir Muhammad Hassan

Male

 

Wounded

Zakaria Najib Muhammad

Male

 

Wounded

Hussein Samir

Male

 

Wounded

Haifa Abd al-Samad Abd al-Khaliq

Female

 

Wounded

Gamila Ali Hizam

Female

 

Wounded

Gamil Qaid Thabit al-Subaihi

Male

 

Wounded

Muhammad Ali Tariq

Male

 

Wounded

Abd al-Wasia Abdullah al-Hakimi

Male

 

Wounded

*The details of five more casualties are on file with the power plant administration

Location: Ibb

Date: 8/8/2015

Name

Gender

Age

Killed/Wounded

Sa’adah Ali al-Masan

Female

70

Killed

Yasmine Saleh Qaid al-Haddi

Female

28

Killed

Adhbah Sa’ad Abdullah al-Haddi

Male

38

Killed

Shehab Sinan Ahmed al-Haddi

Male

6

Killed

Inferaj Sinan Ahmed al-Haddi

Female

7

Killed

Muhammad Saleh Ahmed Sa’ad al-Haddi

Male

31

Killed

Muhammad Naji Masa’ad al-Saidi

Male

30

Killed

Said Wahib Tanbash

Male

3

Killed

Mane’e al-Haddi

Male

32

Wounded

Hamdi Ahmed Masa’ad al-Haddi

Male

31

Wounded

Location: Al-Sham Water Bottling Plant

Date: 8/30/2015

Name

Gender

Age

Killed/Wounded

Abdullah Haddi Muhammad Rouzom

Male

32

Killed

Omar Muhammad Ahmad Hashed

Male

28

Killed

Muhammad Ibrahim Muhammad Hashed

Male

25

Killed

Abdu Muhammad Ahmad Hassen Shabin

Male

20

Killed

Ahmad Ibrahim Muhammad Hashed

Male

13

Killed

Ali Shamil Ali Boheis

Male

40

Killed

Hassen Muhammad Shabin

Male

30

Killed

Hashed Ali Bin Ali Hashed

Male

16

Killed

Muhammad Hassan Jalhouf

Male

45

Killed

Muhammad al-Roussaie

Male

40

Killed

Hisham Ali Shouai Makin

Male

28

Killed

Walid Muhammad Ibrahim Hansh

Male

25

Killed

Ali Doubish

Male

25

Killed

Ahmad Ali Shabin

Male

16

Killed

Ali Bin Hashed

Male

35

Wounded

Ibrahim Ali Hashed

Male

27

Wounded

Saad Ali Ahmad Hashed

Male

19

Wounded

Hamza Abdu Muhammad Rouzom

Male

26

Wounded

Zain Yusif Zain

Male

35

Wounded

Abdu Ibrahim Muhammad Hashed

Male

32

Wounded

Yahya Ali Donami

Male

28

Wounded

Ibrahim Taib Ali

Male

24

Wounded

Abdu Ali Muhammad Hashed

Male

25

Wounded

Adel Muhammad Ismael

Male

18

Wounded

Muhammad Ibrahim Zamoh

Male

40

Wounded

Appendix II: Human Rights Watch Letter to the Minister of Defense His Royal Highness Mohammad bin Salman Al Sa`ud

September 26, 2015

His Royal Highness Mohammad bin Salman Al Sa`ud

Minister of Defense

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Your Royal Highness,

Human Rights Watch has been conducting research into alleged violations of the laws of war by all parties to the armed conflict in Yemen, including Coalition forces, Ansar Allah (the Houthis), and other armed groups. This includes research into a number of airstrikes by Coalition forces that struck residential homes, markets, and a prison, and killed and wounded civilians or damaged civilian property.

To help us understand whether these attacks were carried out in accordance with the laws of war, we would appreciate responses to the following questions with regard to each of the attacks listed in the attachment.

  1. What was the intended target of the attack?
  2. What weapon or weapons were used in the attack?
  3. What precautions were taken to minimize civilian harm?

Any other information you can provide on any of these incidents, including whether you are conducting an investigation into possible laws-of-war violations, would be appreciated.

To meet our publication schedule, we would need to receive a response from you by October 15 so that your answers and comments can be reflected in our reporting.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to your response and stand ready to discuss with you our findings.

Sincerely,

Joe Stork

Deputy Director

Middle East and North Africa Division

Human Rights Watch

Aerial attacks in Yemen under Human Rights Watch investigation:

  1. Date: April 11; Time: 11:45 a.m.; Latitude: 15°39'36.04"N; Longitude: 43°57'18.59"E.
  2. Date: May 12; Time: 3:15 p.m.; Latitude: 15°59'56.27"N; Longitude: 43°11'55.88"E.
  3. Date: May 12; Time: 4:15 p.m.; Latitude: 14°11'49.05"N; Longitude: 43°19'17.42"E.
  4. Date: May 29; Time: 4 p.m.; Latitude: 15°41'12.22"N; Longitude: 43°36'19.04"E.
  5. Date: July 4; Time: 10 p.m.; Latitude: 16°19'31.58"N; Longitude: 43° 5'22.38"E.
  6. Date: July 6; Time: about 4:30 p.m.; Latitude: 15°46'8.98"N; Longitude: 44° 0'22.42"E.
  7. Date: July 6; Time: about 4:40 p.m.; Latitude: 15°46'38.81"N; Longitude: 44° 0'46.59"E.
  8. Date: July 12; Time: 12:30 a.m.; Latitude: 15°22'48.43"N; Longitude: 44°14'19.99"E.
  9. Date: July 19; Time: 2 a.m.; Latitude: 14°19'4.49"N; Longitude: 44°22'50.35"E.
  10. Date: July 24; Time: about 9:30 p.m.; Latitude: 13°20'40.79"N; Longitude: 43°15'26.26"E.
  11. Date: August 30; Time: 03:52 a.m.; Latitude: 16.080000°N; Longitude: 43.137183°E (MGRS: 38QLC0074478682).

Times are indicated in UTC +3:00. Impact coordinates are presented in the dd.mm.ss.sss format and were recorded with a civilian GPS unit (WGS84).


[1] “Yemen: Civilian Toll of Fighting in Capital,” Human Rights Watch news release, November 19, 2014, http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/11/18/yemen-civilian-toll-fighting-capital.

[2] Ali al-Mujahed and Hugh Naylor “Yemen’s Houthi rebels get boost from country’s ousted dictator,” Washington Post, March 31, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/rebels-push-offensive-in-aden-killing-dozens-with-artillery-fire/2015/03/31/79f53d9e-d729-11e4-bf0b-f648b95a6488_story.html (accessed June 22, 2015).

[3] Belkis Wille, “The Rebels Holding Yemen Hostage,” Daily Beast, January 22, 2015, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/21/the-rebels-holding-yemen-hostage.html, (accessed November 5, 2015); Mohammad Mukhashaf and Sami Aboudi, “Yemeni leader Hadi leaves country as Saudi Arabia keeps up airstrikes,” Reuters, March 26, 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/26/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN0ML0YC20150326 (accessed May 29, 2015).

[4] Pakistan was initially listed as a member of the coalition, but the Pakistani parliament voted in April 2015, to remain neutral in the conflict. “Yemen conflict: Pakistan rebuffs Saudi coalition call,” BBC News Online, April 10, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32246547 (accessed June 6, 2015).

[5] Somini Sengupta, “Pressure mounting on Saudis’ coalition in Yemen,” New York Times, June 30, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/world/middleeast/pressure-mounting-on-saudis-coalition-in-yemen.html?_r=0 (accessed October 17, 2015).

[6] Robert Wall, “U.S Military Working to Prevent Weapons Shortfall in Islamic State, Yemen Strikes,” The Wall Street Journal, Updated November 10, 2015, http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-military-working-to-prevent-weapons-shortfall-in-islamic-state-yemen-strikes-1447143660#livefyre-comment (accessed October 17, 2015).

[7] International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Customary International Humanitarian Law  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), Rule 158, citing First Geneva Convention, article 49; Second Geneva Convention, article 50; Third Geneva Convention, article 129; Fourth Geneva Convention, article 146. The US Law of War Manual states that, “The duties to implement and enforce the law of war also imply duties to investigate reports of alleged violations of the law of war.”  Defense Department “policy has required the reporting of possible, suspected, or alleged violations of the law of war for which there is credible information, or conduct during military operations other than war that would constitute a

violation of the law of war if it occurred during armed conflict (‘reportable incidents’).”  US Department of Defense, Law of War Manual, June 2015, http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/Law-of-War-Manual-June-2015.pdf (accessed November 11, 2015), sec. 18.13.

[8] Transcript of News Conference, Saudi Arabia Ambassador to the United States Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir, Washington DC, March 25, 2015, https://www.saudiembassy.net/press-releases/press03251501.aspx (accessed May 29, 2015).

[9] Two diplomats told Human Rights Watch that a Yemeni cabinet official told them he was on the committee. Human Rights Watch interview, August 14, 2015 and August 20, 2015.

[10] Andrew Chuter, “RAF bombs diverted to Saudis for Yemen strike,” Defense News, July 16, 2015, http://www.defensenews.com/story/breaking-news/2015/07/16/britain-diverts-bombs-destined--raf--help-saudi-fight--yemen/30236031/ (accessed October 17, 2015).

[11] Ian Black, “Britain urged to stop providing weapons to Saudi Arabia,” The Guardian, October 6, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/07/britain-urged-stop-providing-weapons-saudi-arabia, (accessed November 3, 2015). 

[12]Michel Cabirol, “Armement: des exportations en route vers des records en 2015,” La Tribune, October 26, 2015,  http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/armement-des-exportations-en-route-vers-des-records-en-2015-516584.html, (accessed November 3, 2015); Georges Malbrunot, “La ‘diplomatie sunnite’ de Paris séduit les pays du Golfe," Le Figaro, May 4, 2015, http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2015/05/04/01003-20150504ARTFIG00349-la-diplomatie-sunnite-de-paris-seduit-le-golfe.php, (accessed November 2, 2015); Le Monde, “François Hollande au Qatar pour la signature de la vente de 24 Rafale,” May 4, 2015,  http://www.lemonde.fr/economie-francaise/article/2015/05/04/francois-hollande-au-qatar-pour-la-signature-de-la-vente-de-24-rafale_4626712_1656968.html,(accessed November 2, 2015);Gareth Jennings and Robin Hughes, “Egypt receives first Rafale fighters,” IHS Jane’s,  July 20, 2015,  http://www.janes.com/article/53097/egypt-receives-first-rafale-fighters, (accessed November 2, 2015); Jeremy Binnie, “Kuwait lines up Caracal helicopters,” IHS Jane’s, October 22, 2015, http://www.janes.com/article/55491/kuwait-lines-up-caracal-helicopters (accessed November 3, 2015); Bastien Bonnefous, “Au Caire, Manuel Valls finalise  la vente des navires Mistral à l’Egypte,” Le Monde, October 10, 2015,  http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2015/10/10/au-caire-manuel-valls-finalise-la-vente-des-navires-mistral-a-l-egypte_4787080_3218.html (accessed November 3, 2015); Hélène Sallon, “Mistral: l’Arabie saoudite et l’Egypte “sont prêtes à tout pour acheter les deux navires,” Le Monde, August 7, 2015 http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2015/08/07/l-egypte-et-l-arabie-saoudite-candidates-au-rachat-des-mistrals_4715520_3212.html (accessed November 3, 2015); Elizabeth Pinou “UPDATE 1- Despite fanfare, France’s Valls leaves Saudi with few deals”, Reuters, October 13, 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/13/france-saudi-contracts-idUSL8N12D2Q420151013 (accessed November 3, 2015); La Tribune, http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/defense-les-neuf-dossiers-en-suspens-entre-la-france-et-l-arabie-saoudite-512784.html (accessed November 3, 2015); Michel Cabiro, “Défense: les neuf dossiers en suspens entre la France et l’Arabie Saoudite,” Le Figaro, October 13, 2015 http://bourse.lefigaro.fr/indices-actions/actu-conseils/airbus-l-arabie-saoudite-a-commande-quatre-c295w-4355562 (accessed November 3, 2015); Michel Cabirol, “Arabie Saoudite: un mégacontrat à partager entre Thales et Airbus,” La Tribune, October 13, 2015,  http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/arabie-saoudite-un-megacontrat-a-partager-entre-thales-et-airbus-513202.html#xtor=EPR-2-[industrie-services]-20151014 (accessed November 3,  2015).

[13] Al-Jazeera.com, “Arab coalition declares pause in Yemen campaign,” July 25, 2015, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/arab-coalition-declares-pause-yemen-campaign-houthi-saudi-150725140410364.html (accessed October 17, 2015).

[14] The Guardian, “UAE forces bomb Yemen rebels after coalition troop deaths,” September 5, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/05/uae-forces-retaliate-50-coalition-troops-yemen-missile-attack (accessed October 17, 2015); Al-Jazeera.com, “Qatar deploys 1,000 ground troops to fight in Yemen,” September 7, 2015, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/qatar-deploys-1000-ground-troops-fight-yemen-150907043020594.html (accessed October 17, 2015). The North Africa Post, “Mauritania to send ground boots to Yemen, military source,” October 16, 2015, http://northafricapost.com/9559-mauritania-to-send-ground-boots-to-yemen-military-source.html (accessed November 5, 2015); Sudan Tribune, “Sudan to send 10,000 troops to join Arab forces in Yemen: report,” October 19, 2015, http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article56779 (accessed November 5, 2015); Khaled Abdullah, “Qatar sends 1,000 ground troops to Yemen conflict: al Jazeera,” Reuters, September 7, 2015, https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/07/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN0R710W20150907 (accessed November 5, 2015); Abdourahmane Dia, “Why is Senegal sending troops to Saudi Arabia?” BBC News Online, May 5, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32589561 (accessed November 5, 2015).

[15] “Yemen: Saudi-led Airstrikes Take Civilian Toll,” Human Rights Watch news release, March 28, 2015, http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/28/yemen-Saudi-led-airstrikes-take-civilian-toll.

[16] “Yemen: Airstrike on Camp Raises Grave Concerns,” Human Rights Watch news release, April 2, 2015, http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/01/yemen-airstrike-camp-raises-grave-concerns.

[17]“Yemen: Factory Airstrike Killed 31 Civilians,” Human Rights Watch news release, April 16, 2015, http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/15/yemen-factory-airstrike-killed-31-civilians.

[18] “Yemen: Unlawful Airstrikes Kill Dozens of Civilians,” Human Rights Watch news release, June 30, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/06/30/yemen-unlawful-airstrikes-kill-dozens-civilians.

[19] “Yemen: Pro-Houthi Forces Launch Rockets on Saudi City,” Human Rights Watch news release, May 13, 2015, http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/13/yemen-pro-houthi-forces-launch-rockets-saudi-city.

[20] ICRC, Customary International Humanitarian Law, rule 13, citing Protocol I, art. 51(5)(a).

[21] “Yemen: Cluster Munition Rockets Kill, Injure Dozens,” Human Rights Watch news release, August 26, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/08/26/yemen-cluster-munition-rockets-kill-injure-dozens; “Yemen: Cluster Munitions Harm Civilians,” Human Rights Watch news release, May 31, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/31/yemen-cluster-munitions-harm-civilians; “Yemen: Saudi-led Airstrikes Used Cluster Munitions,” Human Rights Watch news release, May 3, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/03/yemen-Saudi-led-airstrikes-used-cluster-munitions. On July 9, 2015, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the Saudi Arabia-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen, including the use of cluster bombs. The resolution was adopted without a vote: European Parliament, “Joint Motion for a Resolution on the Situation in Yemen,” Resolution 2760 (2015), http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+MOTION+P8-RC-2015-0680+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN (accessed November 5, 2015). 

[22] Human Rights Watch interview with [name withheld], Hajja, July 24, 2015; Human Rights Watch interview with [name withheld], Hajja, July 24, 2015; Human Rights Watch interview with [name withheld], Hajja, July 24, 2015.

[23] “Yemen: Houthi Artillery Kills Dozens in Aden,” Human Rights Watch news release, July 29, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/29/yemen-houthi-artillery-kills-dozens-aden.

[24] “Yemen: Pro-Houthi Forces Launch Rockets on Saudi City,” Human Rights Watch news release, May 13, 2015, http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/13/yemen-pro-houthi-forces-launch-rockets-saudi-city.

[25] “Yemen: Houthis Used Landmines in Aden,” Human Rights Watch news release, September 5, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/05/yemen-houthis-used-landmines-aden.

[26] “Yemen: Fighting Damages Hospitals,” Human Rights Watch news release, April 17, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/17/yemen-fighting-damages-hospital; “Yemen: Houthis Southern Fighters Endanger Aden Hospital,” Human Rights Watch news release, June 17, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/06/17/yemen-houthis-southern-fighters-endanger-aden-hospital.

[27]Press briefing notes on Burundi, Yemen, Cambodia and Congo,” OHCHR Briefing Notes, October 23, 2015, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16642&LangID=E (accessed November 9, 2015).

[28] “Yemen: Zeid calls for investigations into civilian casualties,” OHCHR news release, April 14, 2015, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15836 (accessed October 17, 2015).

[29] President Abudrahbu Mansour Hadi, “The issuance of Presidential Decree No. 13 for the year 2015 amending Presidential Decree No.140 of 2012,” news release, September 7, 2015, https://presidenthadi-gov-ye.info/archives/%D8%B5%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AC%D9%85%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%B1%D9%82%D9%85-13-%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%A9-2015%D9%85-%D8%A8%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82/ (accessed October 17, 2015).

[30] “UN: Rights Council Fails Yemeni Civilians,” Human Rights Watch news release, October 2, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/02/un-rights-council-fails-yemeni-civilians.

[31] Ibid.

[32]  Julian Borger, “Saudi Arabia-led naval blockade leaves 20m Yemenis facing humanitarian disaster,” The Guardian, June 5, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/05/Saudi Arabia-led-naval-blockade-worsens-yemen-humanitarian-disaster, (accessed October 17, 2015).

[33]  UN News Centre, “Durable ceasefire needed as ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ leaves millions suffering in Yemen-UN relief chief,” July 28, 2015, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51516#.VcioC_lViko (accessed October 17, 2015).

[34] “Fuel shortage in Yemen could become deadly,” Oxfam America news release, July 14, 2015, http://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/fuel-shortage-in-yemen-could-become-deadly/ (accessed 17, 2015).

[35] UN News Centre, “Durable ceasefire needed as ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ leaves millions suffering in Yemen-UN relief chief,” July 28, 2015, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51516#.VcioC_lViko (accessed October 17, 2015).

[36] “Yemen: highest emergence response level declared for six months,” UNOCHA news release, July 1, 2015, http://www.unocha.org/top-stories/all-stories/yemen-highest-emergency-response-level-declared-six-months (accessed October 17, 2015).

[37] Fawaz al-Haidari, “Aid finally trickling Yemen’s devastated Aden,” Reliefweb, August 3, 2015, http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/aid-finally-trickling-yemens-devastated-aden (accessed October 17, 2015).

[38] “Yemen: Reduced imports worsen crisis,” Reliefweb, August 3, 2015, http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen%20OCHA%20Commercial%20Shipping%20Report%204%20August.pdf (accessed October 17, 2015).

[39] Al Arabiya News, “Arab coalition bombs Yemen’s Hodeidah port,” August 18, 2015, http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/18/Arab-coalition-bombs-Yemen-s-Hodeidah-port.html (accessed October 17, 2015).

[40] Jonathan Saul and William Maclean, “Arab coalition slowing aid efforts in Yemen: U.S. Navy report,” Yahoo News, October 14, 2015, http://news.yahoo.com/arab-coalition-slowing-aid-efforts-yemen-u-navy-131737359.html (accessed October 19, 2015).

[41] Fawaz al-Haidari, “Aid finally trickling in to Yemen's devastated Aden,” Reliefweb, August 3, 2015, http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/aid-finally-trickling-yemens-devastated-aden (accessed November 5, 2015).

[42] Yahoo News, “Red Cross suspends activity in Yemen’s Aden after attack,” August 25, 2015, http://news.yahoo.com/red-cross-suspends-activity-yemens-aden-attack-005331700.html (accessed November 5, 2015);  “Yemen: Southern Forces, Houthis Abuse Prisoners in Aden,” Human Rights Watch news release, September 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/01/yemen-southern-forces-houthis-abuse-prisoners-aden.

[43] “Yemen: Coalition Blocking Desperately Needed Fuel,” Human Rights Watch news release, May 10, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/10/yemen-coalition-blocking-desperately-needed-fuel.

[44] See ICRC, Customary International Humanitarian Law, rule 9, citing Protocol I, art. 52(1).

[45] Ibid., rule 8, citing Protocol I, art. 52(2).

[46] Ibid., rule 8, citing military manuals and official statements.

[47] Ibid., rule 12, citing Protocol I, art. 51(4)(a).

[48] Ibid., rule 13, citing Protocol I, art. 51(5)(a).

[49] Ibid., rule 2, citing Protocol II, art. 13(2).

[50] Ibid., rule 14, citing Protocol I, arts. 51(5)(b) and 57.

[51] ICRC, Commentary on the Additional Protocols (Geneva: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1987), p. 684.

[52] ICRC, Customary International Humanitarian Law, rule 15, citing Protocol I, art. 57(1).

[53] Ibid., rule 15, citing Protocol I, arts. 57(1-2).

[54] Ibid., rule 16, citing Protocol I, art. 57(2)(a).

[55] ICRC, Commentary on the Additional Protocols, pp. 681-82.

[56] ICRC, Customary International Humanitarian Law, rule 17, citing Protocol I, art. 57(2)(a)(ii).

[57] Ibid., rules 22-24.

[58] Ibid., rule 97.

[59] Ibid., rule 140.

[60] Ibid., rule 156, citing, for e.g., Prosecutor v. Delalic et al. (Celebici Case), International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Case No. IT-96-21-T, Judgment (Trial Chamber) November 16, 1998, affirmed on appeal Case No. IT-96-21-A, ICTY Judgment (Appeals Chamber), February 20, 2001.

[61] Ibid., rule 151.

[62] Ibid., rule 156.

[63] Human Rights Watch interview with Muhammad Saleh al-Qihwi, Amran, July 23, 2015.

[64] Human Rights Watch interview with Muhammad al-Harasi, Amran, July 23, 2015.

[65] Human Rights Watch interview with Muhammad Saleh al-Qihwi, Amran, July 23, 2015.

[66] Qat is a plant that many Yemenis chew as a mild stimulant.

[67] Human Rights Watch interview with Ali Muhammad Hassan Mualim, Abs, July 25, 2015.

[68]Human Rights Watch interview with Muhammad Muhawas, Abs, July 25, 2015.

[69] Human Rights Watch interview with Maryam Omar Ali Farjain, Sanaa, May 24, 2015.

[70] Human Rights Watch interview with Muhammad Ahmed Yahya Wadar, Abs, July 25, 2015.

[71] Human Rights Watch interview with Khalid Ali Farjain, Abs, July 25, 2015.

[72] Human Rights Watch interview, Sanaa, September 15, 2015.

[73] The casualty figures were reached by cross-checking the names reported by local residents with information from the local medical clinic.

[74] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Abdu Ahmed Thayfi, Zabid, July 9, 2015.

[75] Human Rights Watch interview with Abdullah Amin al-Dhabi, Zabid, July 26, 2015.

[76] Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Faisal Awad, Zabid, July 26, 2015.

[77] Human Rights Watch telephone interviews with Abdullah al-Agam, Fekri Nasser al-Waslah, and Ali Ahmed Thayfi, Zabid, July 9, 2015.

[78] Human Rights Watch interview with Ahmed Bagesh, Zabid, July 26, 2015.

[79] Human Rights Watch interview with Thabit Hamdain, Zabid, July 26, 2015.

[80] Ibid.

[81] Human Rights Watch interview with Ahmed Bagesh, Zabid, July 26, 2015.

[82] Human Rights Watch interview with Muhammad Jaha, Hajja, July 24, 2015.

[83] Human Rights Watch interview with Muhammad Hassan, Hajja, July 24, 2015.

[84] Ibid.

[85] Ibid.

[86] Human Rights Watch interview with Salem al-Mashwali, Hajja, July 24, 2015.

[87] Human Rights Watch interview with Adnan al-Wazzan, Hajja, July 24, 2015.

[88] Human Rights Watch interview with Salem al-Mashwali, Hajja, July 24, 2015.

[89] Human Rights Watch interview with Mufarih, Amran, July 24, 2015.

[90] Human Rights Watch interview with Nishwan, Amran, July 24, 2015.

[91] Human Rights Watch interview with Radwan Yahya Ahmed, Amran, July 24, 2015.

[92] Human Rights Watch interviews with Mabkhoot Ali Taqi al-Jawbi, Faten Saleh, and Mansour Ahmed Taqi, Amran, July 24, 2015.

[93] Human Rights Watch interview with Mabkhoot Ali Taqi al-Jawbi, Amran, July 24, 2015.

[94] Human Rights Watch interview with Faten Saleh, Amran, July 24, 2015.

[95] Human Rights Watch interview with Mabkhoot Ali Taqi al-Jawbi, Amran, July 24, 2015.

[96] Human Rights Watch interview with Mansour Ahmed Taqi, Amran, July 24, 2015.

[97] Human Rights Watch interview with Mabkhoot Ali Taqi al-Jawbi, Amran, July 24, 2015.

[98] Human Rights Watch interview with Khaled Sanad, Amran, July 24, 2015.

[99] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Saif al-Haddi, 30, Advocacy and Outreach Officer at Transparency International, Ibb, September 25, 2015.

[100] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Nasser Mohsen al-Thaibani, Ibb, September 8, 2015.

[101] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Mane`a al-Haddi, Ibb, September 17, 2015.

[102] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with [name withheld], Ibb, September 15, 2015.

[103] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ala’a Ahmed al-Haddi, Ibb, September 8, 2015.

[104] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Mane`a al-Haddi, Ibb, September 17, 2015.

[105] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Nasser Mohsen al-Thaibani, Ibb, September 8, 2015.

[106] Human Rights Watch interview with Majid al-Jamal, Sanaa, July 20, 2015.

[107] Human Rights Watch interview with Yumna Obayth, Sanaa, July 20, 2015.

[108] Human Rights Watch interview, Yareem, July 22, 2015

[109] Human Rights Watch interview with Sabah Saleh Ahmed al-Boghomy, Yareem, July 22, 2015.

[110] Human Rights Watch interview with Hana Saad al-Nazhi, Yareem, July 22, 2015.

[111] Human Rights Watch interview with Radwan Saad al-Nazhi, Yareem, July 22, 2015.

[112] Human Rights Watch interview with Muhammad al-Faqih, Yareem, July 22, 2015.

[113] Human Rights Watch interview with Ali Muhammad al-Milah, Yareem, July 22, 2015.

[114] Human Rights Watch interview with Mohna Gahtan, Yareem, July 22, 2015.

[115] Human Rights Watch interview with Bagil Jafar Qasim, Mokha, July 26, 2015.

[116] Human Rights Watch interview with Wajida Ahmed Najid, Hodaida, July 25, 2015.

[117] Human Rights Watch interview with Khalil Abdullah Idriss, Mokha, July 26, 2015.

[118] Ibid.

[119] Human Rights Watch interview with Loai Nabeel, Mokha, July 26, 2015.

[120] Ibid.

[121] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Hamza Abdu Muhammad Rouzom, Abs, September 8, 2015.

[122] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Khaled Ibrahim Musaed, Abs, September 8, 2015.

[123] Saeed al-Batati, “At least 13 reported dead in Yemen strikes,” New York Times, August 30, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/world/middleeast/civilians-reported-dead-in-yemen-saudi-strikes.html (accessed October 17, 2015).

[124] Gabriel Gatehouse, “Yemen crisis: ‘Bodies melted onto machines’ by strike,” BBC News Online, September 19, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34212125 (accessed October 17, 2015).

[125] Human Rights Watch interview, Hajja, July 24, 2015;  Human Rights Watch interview, Shafar, July 24, 2015;  Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Haradh, July 26, 2015;  Human Rights Watch interview, Haradh, July 27, 2015.

[126] The International Organization for Migration, based in Geneva, is an intergovernmental organization that works closely with governmental, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental partners to manage migration and aid migrants.

[127] Human Rights Watch interview, Shafar, July 24, 2015.

[128] Human Rights Watch interview, Hajja, July 24, 2015.

[129] Ibid.

[130] “Yemen: Airstrikes, Mortars damage IOM premises in Hardh and Basateen,” International Organization for Migration news release, September 3, 2015, https://www.iom.int/news/yemen-airstrikes-mortars-damage-iom-premises-haradh-and-basateen (accessed October 17, 2015).

[131] Human Rights Watch interviews, Hajja, July 24, 2015.

Region / Country