After Nearly Two Decades of US Lethal Operations in Yemen, Redress Long Overdue

Sana'a – The United States should conduct a full review regarding the impact of its lethal operations in Yemen, Mwatana for Human Rights said in a report released today. In its review, the United States should acknowledge each instance of civilian harm and the wider impact on communities subjected to these operations, work to provide reparations, condolence payments, and other forms of amends, and ensure accountability where required, Mwatana for Human Rights said.The new report, "Death Falling from the Sky:investigates ten US airstrikes—all apparently conducted with unmanned aerial vehicles (drones)—and two US ground raids in Yemen between 2017 and 2019. At least 38 Yemeni civilians, including 13 children, six women, and 19 men, were killed in the 12 operations, and at least seven civilians, six of whom were children, were injured. The  operations also caused other types of deep and long-lasting civilian harm. The significant body of evidence that informs Death Falling From the Sky was collected over a nearly four-year period in Yemen. Mwatana researchers visited strike sites; interviewed survivors, family members, and witnesses; photographed weapons remnants; collected photographs and videos; and examined relevant documents, including death certificates, birth certificates, medical reports, government and military statements, and documents detailing where victims worked and studied, and demonstrating the extent of harm victims faced.As part of Mwatana’s efforts to seek transparency, truth, and accountability, it, together with the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic, made significant efforts to seek a response from the United States, including whether the US would acknowledge civilian harm and provide reparation, compensation and other amends as well as accountability.Death Falling From the Sky follows a 2015 Mwatana-Open Society Justice Initiative report that described the civilian harm resulting from nine US airstrikes in Yemen between 2012 and 2014. Both reports only counted people as civilians in instances where Mwatana found no credible indication of any association with an armed group or armed force.

"Nearly twenty years after the US began its campaign of unaccountable killings in Yemen, civilian victims are still waiting for an explanation and redress,” said Radhya Almutawakel, Mwatana for Human Rights Chairperson. “The Biden administration should not ask victims and their families to wait any longer."

In addition to its support to the Saudi/UAE-led coalition in Yemen, the United States has continued to carry out direct attacks in Yemen. The 12 US operations documented in this report killed and wounded civilians, had adverse economic effects on families, and caused significant social and psychological harm.Family members described to Mwatana the grief they felt over the loss of their loved ones. A grandmother fainted after seeing the body of her 17-year-old grandson. A 40-year-old man collapsed after learning his two brothers had been killed. An adult son gathered his mother’s remains. A husband rushed to get his pregnant wife to the hospital, watching her die, accompanied by their nine-year-old son. A mother was found dead, clutching her child. Another mother found her 14-year-old son’s body on fire. The boy’s father could “not forget [the boy’s] younger sisters screaming at the sight.”US operations take a psychological toll on survivors and on impacted communities. One survivor told Mwatana that more than a year after a US strike had injured him and killed his cousin, he had recovered physically but continued to feel helpless and depressed.Yemeni residents, particularly in certain areas of the country, have lived in fear of US strikes and the possibility that these strikes may kill civilians, including themselves or their family members, for many years. Half of the operations documented in the report took place in the central Yemeni governorate of Al Bayda, and a third in or near Yakla village—a small, isolated, mountainous area of Al Bayda governorate that lacks most basic services.People described the anxiety provoked by the persistent buzzing of drones overhead. One man told Mwatana that he and his neighbors had been worried that a strike might occur after noticing an unusually heavy presence of drones in the sky. Three days later, a US strike killed a young man and a boy resting under a tree in the afternoon heat. “The drones have a black record of killings,” he said. In a few cases following US operations, surviving members of families left their homes, saying they felt unsafe and worried about future strikes.The US operations also led to significant adverse economic effects for families. In many cases, civilian men killed by US strikes left behind large families that relied on their incomes. A few of the men killed were expatriate workers, and the money they sent home was an important source of income for their families. After a US strike killed a man who had worked painting houses in Saudi Arabia, his family reported struggling to make ends meet. In almost all of the operations included in this report, the US destroyed important civilian property, including vehicles, homes, and livestock.The incidents described in this report raise serious concerns about the extent to which the United States is complying with international human rights law and international humanitarian law in Yemen. The United States is failing to investigate credible allegations of violations, to hold individuals responsible for violations accountable, and to provide prompt and adequate reparations to those harmed.The report provides a series of recommendations to the United States, including to  conduct more thorough and transparent investigations into claims of civilian harm, to abide by all applicable international law, including that constraining the use of force and protecting the right to life, and to ensure accountability and reparations for violations, and provide other forms of amends to civilians harmed, regardless of an attack’s lawfulness. The report also recommends the US does far more to facilitate reporting of civilian harm, including in Arabic.While Yemeni government officials have occasionally criticized US operations, there is no evidence that the government of Yemen has taken meaningful action to protect the lives of its citizens from the impact of US operations.

“The US has contributed to fueling and furthering conflict in Yemen for years and the Biden Administration has the opportunity to change course,” said Kristine Beckerle, Legal Director, Accountability and Redress at Mwatana for Human Rights. “Reversing Trump Administration changes is not enough. The status quo that existed in 2016 was flawed, unaccountable and resulted in repeated international law violations. To disrupt cycles of violence, there needs to be redress.”