Yemen militias ‘committed 184,000 violations in 2015’

Riyadh: The Al Houthi militias and forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh committed 184,551 violations against the people of Yemen in 2015, which resulted in the death of 8,182 people across the country, said the Saudi Press Agency SPA in a report released on Tuesday.

The report said the militias destroyed what was left of Yemen’s landmarks, filling the land with the blood of innocent women, children and the elderly.

According to the report, the Yemeni Popular Resistance forces uncovered a series of criminal operations carried out by Al Houthis and their supporters including murder, kidnapping, detention and the misleading of public opinion about the reality of their actions in implementation of Iran’s hostile schemes and efforts to control the region. The report also found that the rebels attempted to blame these acts on the efforts of men participating in Operation Storm of Resolve, which was launched by the Saudi King Salman and the Arab coalition to free Yemen from their control.

In another tragic scene in Yemen, the report stated that the rebels looted international relief aid convoys trying to reach beneficiaries by crossing rough terrains.

Despite all this, the report added, the King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Aids Centre managed to provide 50 humanitarian programmes for the people in Yemen.

Since the Al Houthi and Saleh armed militias forcibly took control of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a on September 21, 2014, the group and their supporters have been engaging in looting of camps, appointing their loyalists in all ministries and public institutions in Yemen, which, said the report, resulting in a lack of community control, the harassment of media persons and journalists by undermining their freedoms, closing-down of TV channels and newspapers, and blocking websites.

Statistics by the Yemeni Human Rights Commission found that the total number of violations committed in Yemen was 184,551 across 17 cities and counties. The commission also found that 19,782, people were wounded, and 8,881 people were unlawfully detained, while the number of public facilities damaged by bombing by Al Houthis were 2,780 public and 22,915 private facilities.

The commission’s 90-page report, which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council within the next two weeks, also showed that the rebels tried to silence the Yemeni voice by closing-down nine satellite channels, 38 newspapers, and blocking more than 86 websites, as well as banning 98 protests and shutting-down 18 human rights organisations, and eight radio stations in an effort to cover up their daily criminal practices against civilians.

Speaking to SPA, Abdul Malek Al Mekhlafi, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Yemen, said that the coup-supporting rebels and their allies are responsible for the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen, pointing out that Iran is party to this act. He also said that the issue of the deteriorating situation in Yemen, including relief work there has been raised during the Geneva negotiations held under the auspices of the United Nations and international organisations.

Al Mekhlafi said, “The rebels are blocking the arrival of relief to besieged areas in Yemen, looting convoys and supplying the contents to their supporters, and are preventing the flow of food commodities to sell them on the black market for profit.”