Yemen Urgently Needs to Adopt a Discourse that Promotes Coexistence and Social Peace
In a statement coinciding with the International Day for Countering Hate Speech (June 18), Mwatana for Human Rights declared that parties to the conflict in Yemen have, over the years, engaged in hate speech, demonization of opponents, and incitement to violence against individuals and groups based on race, religious affiliation, political opinion, regional affiliation, and more. This rhetoric has fueled acts of persecution against adversaries and opponents and exacerbated societal divisions, at a time when Yemen desperately needs a discourse that fosters coexistence and social peace.
Mwatana for Human Rights has documented hundreds of incidents of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, killing, and restrictions on freedom of movement during the war. These violations have targeted individuals and groups who have been incited against by the warring parties through hate speech, including Bahá'ís, Yemeni Jews, journalists, women, religious minorities, political opponents, migrants, and individuals from specific social and familial backgrounds.
Abdulrasheed Al-Faqih, Vice Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, stated, "Various parties to the conflict in Yemen have consistently used hate speech to achieve political gains, stoke fear and societal divisions, and incite violence. This has led to an enormous number of human rights violations and resulted in thousands of civilian casualties due to unchecked hate speech."
Al-Faqih emphasized that hate speech poses a "serious threat to the diversity of societies, public peace, coexistence, the rule of law, and human rights. This is particularly true when the call to hate becomes a political tool used by ruling authorities to propagate their divisive and authoritarian ideologies."
Political Opponents
The proliferation of mutual hate speech among the various parties to the conflict in Yemen has encouraged these parties to commit numerous crimes against their political opponents. These crimes include enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture, and killing. The escalation of hate speech against political parties has also contributed to the eradication of political pluralism in the country. Furthermore, the warring parties have gone so far as to criminalize and accuse their political adversaries of treason, subjecting many to unfair trials and illegal procedures that include false accusations, aiming to impose death sentences on them.
Alongside the dissemination of inflammatory and hateful rhetoric, the various parties to the conflict in Yemen have marginalized and criminalized opposition in the areas under their control. The conflict has fragmented Yemen into political enclaves, and the warring parties have further restricted the remaining political freedoms.
Ethnic Affiliation and Family Name
In addition to numerous campaigns of incitement and defamation based on ethnic affiliation and family name, the various parties to the conflict in Yemen have, since its onset, fueled hate speech within communities based on these criteria. This has led to numerous violations by the warring parties, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and discrimination and criminalization based on family name and ethnic affiliation.
In areas under the control of the internationally recognized government, such as Marib, widespread violations have occurred, affecting hundreds of civilians solely because of their family names, under the assumption that these families were affiliated with the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group. Conversely, in areas under the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group control, numerous civilians have faced violations based on their family names, under the presumption that these families are associated with opposing parties or certain religious groups.
Press Freedoms
Various parties to the conflict in Yemen have persistently used hate speech to incite violence against journalists, alongside acts of intimidation and suppression of press freedoms. Since the beginning of the conflict, journalists in Yemen have faced numerous violations, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture. The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group has even issued death sentences against several journalists. Moreover, all parties involved in the conflict have sought to control local media outlets, steering their content to serve political interests, incite against opponents, and spread hate speech targeting journalists and independent journalism.
Women
Parties to the conflict in Yemen, especially the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group, have undermined women's rights and freedoms through hate speech, direct incitement, intimidation, and creating societal tensions against women in their areas of control. The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group has significantly restricted women's freedoms, imposing the presence of a "mahram" (male guardian) as a condition for women's travel and denying women access to reproductive health services. Women have faced continuous harassment in cafes, public places, institutes, and educational institutions. Additionally, the Houthis have enforced gender segregation in public universities and utilized mosque platforms to propagate hate speech against Yemeni women. They have even resorted to using public street walls in their controlled governorates to display inflammatory slogans against women.
Religious Minorities
Religious minorities in Yemen have faced numerous violations that have impinged on their dignity and freedoms. The Bahá'í community, in particular, has suffered from arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and forced displacement at the hands of the Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement. Several Bahá'ís have been sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court in Sana'a following unfair trials and illegal procedures. The Houthi authorities have also deliberately used religious rhetoric to incite hatred against the Bahá'ís.
Similarly, followers of Judaism in Yemen have endured violations including displacement, property confiscation, and enforced disappearance. Yemeni Jewish citizen Levi Salem Musa Marhabi has been detained by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group since 2016, despite having completed his sentence. The Houthi group continues to refuse his release or reveal his fate solely because of his religion.
Migrants
Mwatana for Human Rights released a report titled "Transit in Hell," documenting the violations committed by all parties to the conflict in Yemen against African migrants crossing Yemeni territory. These violations include killings, mutilation, arbitrary detention, torture, and other forms of inhumane and degrading treatment such as enforced disappearance, recruitment, sexual assault and exploitation, forced deportation, and extortion. The Saudi border guards, the Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces, the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group, the Southern Transitional Council forces, internationally recognized government forces and their affiliated groups, as well as human smuggling and trafficking gangs, are all implicated in these violations.
These parties have employed hate speech to marginalize migrants, incite against them, tarnish their social image, and fuel violent behavior towards them. Additionally, the humanitarian crisis caused by the war and the dire economic conditions in Yemen have further contributed to the spread of hate speech against migrants, with claims that they impose an additional burden on Yemen's already strained economy.
Thus, Mwatana for Human Rights calls on all parties to the conflict to cease their use of hate speech, to adopt a discourse that promotes peaceful coexistence among all members of society, and to protect Yemeni society from being drawn into conflicts. Mwatana also emphasizes the importance of safeguarding Yemeni civilians from the violations fueled by hate speech used to achieve political goals.
Furthermore, Mwatana urges civil society and Yemeni citizens to confront hate speech and to distinguish between freedom of expression and hate speech that can cause harm to others. It calls for community support in countering the hate speech that the conflicting parties have perpetuated over the years.
