Violations by the Eritrean Naval forces on Yemeni fishermen in the Red Sea
“The Eritrean government should stop the violations perpetrated against Yemeni fishermen by its naval forces, release the detainees, hand over the boats and equipment seized, conduct a transparent investigation into these violations, and compensate the victims for the incurred losses. “ Mwatana for Human Rights said.
During the years 2019 to 2022, Mwatana for Human Rights documented multiple violations committed by the Eritrean Naval forces, targeting dozens of Yemeni fishermen, including 9 children while they were fishing in the Red Sea in the designated spots, of the Yemeni coasts and islands in the Red Sea, whether those controlled by Ansar Allah (Houthi) armed group, or the coasts and islands controlled by the UAE-backed joint forces in the western coast of Yemen.
The frequency of violations by the Eritrean forces against Yemeni fishermen increased outside its borders and territorial waters, with the intensification of the armed conflict in Yemen and the spread of chaos, ranging from killings, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention under inhuman conditions, torture, cruel and ill-treatment such as beatings with sticks to hard labor, and denial of food and drink. The Eritrean forces also confiscated the fishermen’s boats, supplies, and fuel that they need to return to land, moreover attempts to sink their boats by deliberately crashing their boats. In addition to these flagrant violations, the fishermen suffer heavy material losses, and lose their only source of income due to Eritrean Naval forces’ confiscation of their boats.
Throughout the raging conflict in Yemen since late 2014, Mwatana for Human Rights documented several forms of violations against Yemeni fishermen committed by various parties to the conflict. These violations were widely practiced, including airstrikes on fishing boats, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture, aiming to deprive fishermen of their right to benefit from marine resources.
“The attacks carried out by the Eritrean Naval forces in the Red Sea are disgraceful behavior. Civilians were left with no options.After all parties to the conflict committed violence against them, and after the country’s skies and land raged with war, the Eritrean naval forces pursued Yemeni fishermen in the heart of the sea, stealing their source of income and even persisting in confiscating their freedoms and lives. These violations must stop, and the perpetrators must be held accountable and the victims must be compensated.” Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, said.
On the afternoon of Saturday, August 14, 2021, while seven fishermen were on their boat fishing near Hanish Island of the Al-Khawkhah District in Al-Hudaydah Governorate located in the western part of Yemen, Eritrean naval forces on two boats fired a barrage of bullets at the fishermen killing a 14 -year- old child and seriously injuring another child in addition to a 45- year-old fisherman. The Eritrean naval forces also intentionally crashed their boat with the aim of drowning it, while one of their soldiers was hitting a fisherman with a stick. The fishermen were left on their damaged boat in the middle of the sea without help for a whole day, carrying a dead child and two gunshot wounded.
On the morning of the next day, other Yemeni fishermen found the targeted boat and transported the victims to Hanish Island, where they received first aid, and then the Yemeni Coast Guard forces took them to the Al-Haymah port in Al-Khawkhah district in Al-Hudaydah Governorate in order to receive medical care.
On the morning of Wednesday, August 25, 2021, an Eritrean warship carrying about 40 soldiers in military uniform and others in civilian clothes intercepted two fishing boats carrying 18 Yemeni fishermen who were fishing in Yemeni territorial waters, 50 nautical miles from their point of departure in Al-Hawk district, Al-Hudaydah Governorate. The ship lowered 6 military boats, and the Eritrean gunmen pointed their weapons at the fishermen ordering them to follow them. They took them to the Eritrean island of “Harmal” and held them for a whole day without food or water. They looted their large boat, fish, fuel, and food supplies, then deported them in their small boat with 17 other fishermen.
On Saturday, November 16, 2019, 23 Yemeni fishermen who were fishing in the Eritrean territorial waters were abducted by 12 soldiers of the Eritrean Naval forces in military uniform, while others were wearing civilian clothes, they pointed their weapons at the Yemeni fishermen and moved to their boat and slapped and beat two of them, then they all were detained on the island of “Maqeedah” which is an Eritrean military site. The fishermen were beaten there, and on the third day, they were transferred to the “Mersa Fatima” area on the Eritrean coast, where a large number of Eritrean female and male soldiers existed. The fishermen were forcibly disappeared for ten months and seventeen days, without being allowed to contact their families or lawyers.
In another incident, Maher (a pseudonym – 38 years old, a Yemeni fisherman) mentions that on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, he was abducted along with 26 Yemeni fishermen two nautical miles from the Hanish island by Eritrean gunmen wearing military uniforms. They beat the fishermen with rifle butts and took them on their boat to “Pra Soli”, an Eritrean area, and ordered them to surrender their belongings.
“Youssef (a pseudonym, 20 years old, Yemen fisherman) was hard of hearing. He did not hear the orders of the soldiers so one of the soldiers took his stick and started beating him on the head and back without mercy in front of his father. Youssef cried a lot, his groans bled his father’s heart and ours but we were powerless. Any one of us who spoke faced the same punishment”. (Maher/pseudonym – 38 years old, Yemeni fisherman)
Mwatana for Human Rights also documented that the Eritrean Navy stopped three fishing boats near “Kabrit” Island of the Al Luhyah District in Al-Hudaydah Governorate on October 20, 2022, with 20 Yemeni fishermen on board, including 7 children, and drove them to the Eritrean “Ud” area, where they were held for three days, then transferred to a military camp in the Eritrean “Terma” region where they were held for eighteen days. “We were surprised by the presence of about 80 fishermen who have been detained for a month in Terma”. (Saif – 40 years old, Yemeni fisherman)
After that, the children were only taken to the Eritrean seaport of Assab, where they were subjected to harsh treatment, including beatings with sticks, hard labor, and construction work. The children were released and transferred to Yemen in the Wahijah area of Mokha district In Taiz Governorate, on the morning of Sunday, November 13, 2022. The rest of the fishermen were released on Sunday, December 17, 2022, after they were forcibly disappeared for nearly two months, during which they suffered torture, abusive and degrading treatment under the pretext that they did not possess fishing permits, despite their presence and fishing in Yemeni territorial waters.
Saif (40 years old, Yemeni fisherman) says: “We were carrying the motors of the boats on our backs, under the whips of the Eritrean soldiers, and their insults. They beat us in front of our children and beat our children in front of us “.
Mwatana for Human Rights condemns these disgraceful practices by the Eritrean Navy and stresses the need to exert vigorous efforts to prosecute the perpetrators for violations against civilians at sea. Mwatana for Human Rights also calls on these forces to immediately stop their attacks and calls on the Eritrean government to put an end to the violations committed by its naval forces.
Mwatana for Human Rights called on the internationally recognized Yemeni government to bear its responsibility by working to stop the violations targeting Yemeni fishermen, and to make the necessary efforts to release those detained by the Eritrean forces, and work to ensure victim redress and that these violations are not repeated.
