Ten Years Since the Launch of Saudi/UAE-led Coalition Operations in Yemen
In a statement issued to mark the ten-year anniversary of the launch of the Saudi/UAE-led coalition’s military operations in Yemen on March 26, 2015, Mwatana for Human Rights stated that thousands of civilian victims of the violations committed by coalition forces throughout the years of war are still waiting for steps toward redress, reparations, and justice. These victims hope that the Saudi/UAE-led coalition will take responsibility for a wide range of violations and atrocities targeting the civilian population, which have led to the killing and injury of thousands of civilians, including women and children, and caused extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure and vital facilities.
Throughout the years of the war, Mwatana for Human Rights has documented at least 1,526 incidents of violations committed by the Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces across various regions of Yemen. These include at least 1,070 airstrikes and 137 ground attacks targeting civilian sites, 13 drone strikes, 61 incidents of live fire, and 31 incidents involving explosive devices. Mwatana verified the coalition’s responsibility for the deaths of at least 3,859 civilians, including 1,294 children and 492 women, and the injury of 4,336 others, including 1,217 children and 517 women. Furthermore, 319 civilians, including 88 children and 4 women, fell victim to other types of violations, foremost among them arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, child recruitment and use in hostilities, torture, sexual violence, and other abuses.
Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, said, "For the tenth year, civilian victims are still waiting for the Saudi/UAE-led coalition to assume its outstanding legal, criminal, ethical, and humanitarian responsibilities, which include redressing civilian victims, providing reparations, reconstruction, delivering justice, and addressing the devastating impacts of the war. These are urgent and indispensable steps that cannot be further delayed or erased by the passage of time. They are of the utmost priority for safely moving toward the future without the heavy burden of war and its violations, paving the way for ending the war and building a comprehensive, just, and sustainable peace in Yemen and the region."
Al-Mutawakel added, "Despite the importance of halting direct military operations, including airstrikes, over the past two years, millions of civilians across Yemen continue to suffer from the worsening humanitarian crises caused by the conduct of warring parties over the years and the failure to reach a comprehensive peace agreement, perpetuating the state and conditions of war." She affirmed: "As the Saudi/UAE-led coalition remains a key player in the Yemeni landscape, it shares, along with all Yemeni parties, primary responsibility for ending the ongoing crises afflicting Yemen, alleviating the suffering of millions of Yemenis, and addressing the war’s consequences. This responsibility will persist until the war ends and peace and stability are fully restored throughout Yemen."
In addition to the coalition’s airstrikes on civilians across various regions of Yemen, Mwatana documented coalition attacks targeting civilian infrastructure, vital civilian facilities, and civilian objects. These attacks resulted in the destruction of the education and health sectors’ infrastructure, bridges, roads, prisons, detention centers, markets, commercial centers, power and fuel stations, factories, homes, residential neighborhoods, farms, water stations, airports, ports, historical sites, mosques, and other civilian objects.
Mwatana confirmed that the coalition forces have committed widespread and repeated breaches of the principles and rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law throughout their military operations and attacks in Yemen over the years of war. The coalition’s operations have been characterized by a systematic targeting of civilians, residential areas, infrastructure, and economic targets essential for civilian survival. However, the coalition leadership has failed to take any steps to redress victims, compensate them, or hold perpetrators accountable, thus abandoning its legal and moral responsibilities toward civilian victims in Yemen.
Despite the coalition’s widespread violations against civilians, the United States, the United Kingdom, and several European countries have played a key role in enabling the coalition’s operations in Yemen by providing logistical and operational support and supplying weapons. Mwatana has documented the use of these weapons in the killing and maiming of civilian victims and the destruction of vital infrastructure. This support amounts to direct involvement in hostilities, active participation in military operations, and complicity in the legal and moral responsibilities arising from the coalition’s violations.
In addition to the direct violations committed by the coalition forces, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have, since the announcement of the coalition’s military operations, supported local Yemeni armed groups controlling areas not under the control of the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group. These local groups have also committed widespread violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including indiscriminate attacks on civilians, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, child recruitment and use in hostilities, torture, sexual violence, restrictions on freedom of movement, and other abuses.
Mwatana called on the Saudi/UAE-led coalition to release individuals subjected to enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention, provide redress and reparations to victims, and compel their forces to cease committing violations in areas under their control across Yemen. These violations include incidents of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture. Mwatana also urged the coalition to fulfill its responsibilities by conducting thorough investigations into these violations and ensuring accountability for those responsible.
Furthermore, Mwatana urged the international community to continue working toward a comprehensive, just, and sustainable peace agreement to end the suffering of Yemenis. It called for ensuring that the rights of civilian victims — including redress, reparations, transitional justice, and reconstruction — remain at the forefront of peace efforts, guaranteeing justice, accountability, and an end to the culture of impunity.
