A patient at Al-Thawra Public Hospital in Taiz southern Yemen, November 7, 2015. By:Mohammed Sallam
Mwatana Organization for Human Rights said that Houthi armed group "Ansar Allah" and forces loyal to former president Saleh have to quickly respond to the urgent relief calls and speed up lifting the siege they have been imposing on Taiz city, southern Yemen. Forces of Houthi-Saleh alliance must left their ban on entry of essential medical supplies and operational materials especially fuel subsidies and oxygen to the remaining functioning hospitals that are on the brink of collapse, which endangers the lives of hundreds of civilians in the city.
Mwatana confirmed that deprivation of civilians - be they are patients or victims of the ongoing conflict- of remaining medical service and causing its collapse is considered to be a grave violation of human rights and flagrant infringement of the international humanitarian laws and amounts to war crimes.
Mwatana held forces of both Houthi armed group and former president Saleh accountable for catastrophic repercussions of suffocating blockade they have been imposing on the city jeopardizing hundreds lives of civilians due to preventing medical supplies and necessary fuels from reaching hospitals and medical centers which are still operational in spite of the horribly deteriorating circumstances in the city.
Mwatana team paid a four-day visit to Taiz during October 28 - 31, 2015 and found out that the remaining operating are living their worst conditions of dying and horrific decline due to the lack of medical supplies and basic operational materials. Forces of Houthi-Saleh alliance have been preventing essential materials and medical supplies from reaching the hospitals and denying their access through the checkpoints and crossings they are controlling at the main borders of the city.
During its visit, Mwatana's team managed to collect a number of testimonies from hospital officials clarifying the situation. According to their testimonies, the hospitals are in desperate need for the essential necessities including drugs, oxygen, medical solutions, fuel and distilled water. On top of that, some of these hospitals were targeted by shells due to the fierce conflict that has been unfolding in the city for eight months between forces of Houthi-Saleh alliance on one hand and the so-called Popular Resistance "armed groups loyal to president Hadi" on the other.
The team roamed over the city that has been going through highest levels of deteriorating living conditions and worst humanitarian circumstances due to the ongoing conflict since last March and the persistent blockade that forces of Houthi-Saleh alliance have been tightly imposing on the city for more than a month. The team met up with officials of four main hospitals operating in the city: General Teaching Republican Hospital, Al-Thawrah Public Hospital, Al-Rawdhah and Al-Safwah private hospitals. These hospitals are the most important ones in the city for the time being.
General Teaching Al-Gumhouri Hospital
It is a state hospital in the city and has a capacity of 500 beds and a staff of 600 employees. For the time being, the hospital accommodates 80 beds and has only 3% of the workforce needed for the hospital to be fully operational. Most of the staff are now volunteers, according to a senior official in the hospital.
According to the official, the hospital was badly damaged due to the ongoing conflict, as it is located in an area that has previously witnessed crossfire. As a result, the hospital is unable to perform its duties as it should be due to shortcomings in power, fuel, medical supplies and water."There is around 12500 liters of diesel being stashed away in the warehouses of the Houthi-run Yemeni Oil Company and couldn't reach the hospital. We managed to get limited medications smuggled by some individuals. What is important is the availability of fuels that are essential for the hospital to operate.
"The closure of the hospital is imminent due to the lack of fuels. Renal Dialysis Department resumed its operation after it was closed for one day on October 7, 2015, due to the deficiency in solutions necessary for renal dialysis. However, the department is still in danger of closure due to the lack of necessary solutions and fuels and that the available amount barley suffices for two weeks. "He said.
"Medical supplies and renal dialysis solutions couldn't reach the hospital because of the ongoing siege that has even prevented the hospital from receiving assistance from any international organizations. The whole hospital has only two oxygen cylinders and these complications threaten the continuity of the hospital in these current critical conditions." He added.
AL-Rawdha Hospital
It is a private hospital with a capacity of 96 beds and 250 employees, according to Suhail Al-Dhubhani, Director of the hospital.
In an interview with Mwatana, Al-Dhubhani pointed out that non-availability of oil subsidies and their exorbitant prices as well as the shortcomings of oxygen are the major obstacles the hospital is facing.
Al-Dhubhani also added, "On Wednesday evening, September 23, 2015, a truck loaded with oxygen cylinders was intercepted and impounded in a checkpoint in Berbasha area southern the city by gunmen of Houthi armed group. We have notified the concerned international organizations of the incident, but in vain. The truck is still being held till this day (October 31, 2015). Medicines and lab solutions are running out every day. In the meantime, these medications and lab solutions are no longer available in Taiz city."
AL-Thawra Public Hospital
It is a state hospital that has a capacity of 400 beds and 750 employees. Upon the broke out of armed conflict last year, capacity dwindled to 120 beds and 145 employees, according to Dr Ahmed Al-Domaini, Head of a department in the hospital.Al-Domaini added, "Due to the ongoing siege of the city, the necessary medicines, essential medical supplies and oxygen cylinders couldn't reach the hospital. Complete blood count (C.B.C) is still held in one of the city entrances by forces of Houthi-Saleh alliance. After some mediation, we could get in the blood platelet separation device to the hospital yesterday (October 29, 2015) after it was impounded for about two months."
He added that some fuels are still impounded in the Yemeni Oil Company's warehouses and didn't reach the hospital for over two months.Al-Domaini stated that it is extremely necessary to get in the 16 oxygen cylinders to the Department of Renal Dialysis in the hospital but they were denied entry in Thaabat checkpoint manned by Houthi gunmen spite of the availability of a valid license to let them in.
He also mentioned that all the departments in the hospital were closed on account of the deteriorating situation except for the departments of Dengue Fever, Surgeries and the Kidney Transplantation. "We can't admit even the delivery cases and since October 28, 2015 we have been transferring all cases we receive to another hospital." He saidAl-Domaini pointed out that the hospital survives by means of some medications smuggled into the city but sold in exorbitant prices.
AL-Safwa Private Hospital
It is a private hospital in the city with a capacity of 60 beds and 118 employees, according to Dr. Mortadha Al-Howaish, Director of the hospital.
In an interview with Mwatana, Al-Howaish said that Yemeni Oil Company didn't supply the hospital with enough amounts of fuels despite the fact the hospital paid all the costs a month and half in advance. Due to the deficiencies in fuel, the hospital had no choice but to buy fuel from black markets and in exorbitant prices. He also pointed out that hospital was closed from May till July, 2015 due to lack of oil subsidies. If the current situation continues, the hospital will have to close down gradually.
He added, "Once we run out of oxygen cylinders, ICR and Operations Theater will shut down. In the hospital warehouse, we currently have only twelve oxygen cylinders and we are rationing their usage. We ran out of oxygen due to the fact that cylinders were denied access to the city through the eastern and western entrances." Al-Howaish also added that the hospital lacks medical supplies necessary for the operations theater. In addition, it is running out of distilled water and laboratory solutions due to the suffocating blockade.
According to Al-Howaish, the ongoing siege has led to the total suffocation of hospitals. Mwatana's team confirmed during its field visit to Taiz that forces of both the Houthi armed group and former president Saleh have been imposing a suffocating blockade on the city. This blockade is carried out through the main crossings manned by these forces in areas such as Thaabat, Salh, Al-Howban, and Berbasha. The team also witnessed these forces at the checkpoints intercepting and preventing foodstuffs, medical supplies, and fuel from entering the city.
Targeting civilians and depriving them of essential necessities like water, food, and medicine is regarded as a grave violation of both international humanitarian law and human rights. According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was drafted in 1998, causing great suffering or harm to civilians’ bodies or health is one of the most flagrant violations. Item 25 of Article (8/B) specifies that the deliberate starvation of civilians as a war strategy—by depriving them of essential necessities and obstructing relief aid, as outlined in the Geneva Conventions—constitutes a war crime.
All activities carried out by the forces of the Houthi-Saleh alliance run counter to the Fourth Geneva Convention, particularly Article 17, which stresses the importance of warring parties taking precautionary measures to evacuate the injured, the sick, the elderly, children, and women in childbed from besieged areas. It also demands that religious personnel of all faiths and paramedics have unfettered access to these areas.
Radhya Al-Mutawakil, Chairperson of Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, stated: "The forces of the Houthi-Saleh alliance must immediately respond to the dire humanitarian situation in the city and lift the blockade on essential goods, medical supplies, and operational materials needed by hospitals. They must end the policy of collective punishment that endangers the lives of hundreds of unarmed civilians."
"In addition to the general decline that nearly all Yemeni hospitals are facing due to shortages of medicine and medical supplies caused by the aerial and maritime blockade imposed by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition since last March, the situation in Taiz is even worse. Most of the hospitals in the city are on the brink of collapse due to the suffocating blockade imposed by the Houthi-Saleh alliance forces for over a month."
