Yemen:The Coalitions & the Crisis
Submission by Elena Athanasiadou, 6/18/2020
For the past six years Yemen has suffered from a civil war. What began as a political fight, however, has now turned into a multifaceted local, regional and international conflict. Even though the underlying grievances fuelling the war have long existed, the involvement of foreign actors has created new dimensions and has led to horrific violations of international law, qualifying for war crimes.
The conflict has its roots in the Arab spring of 2011, when an uprising forced the autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Supposedly, this transition would bring stability to the poverty-stricken nation. However, President Hadi failed to properly address Yemen’s problems. A rebel movement called Houthis has taken advantage of the new president’s weakness and seized control of Sana’a, Yemen’s capital and largest city. After failed negotiations, president Hadi and his government were forced to resign and took refuge in Saudi Arabia. Although Saudi Arabia – Yemen relations have been historically tense due to border disputes, Hadi reportedly asked the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to militarily intervene in Yemen to protect the government against the Houthis.
In response, Saudi Arabia formed a coalition with the declared aim of restoring Yemen’s internationally recognized government. This coalition consisted of GCC states with the exception of Oman (namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar) as well as Egypt and Sudan. The coalition has received support and intelligence support by the US, the UK and France.
Given the tense relationship between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the formation of the coalition appears irrational; however, Saudi Arabia prefers a weak but stable Yemen so that the region’s balance of power does not shift in favour of its rival, Iran which allegedly has been training and arming the Houthis – a charge it unconvincingly denies. Thus, the Yemen conflict is widely considered to be a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
This complicated situation gets further puzzled due to the overlapping, conflicting and changing interests of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Despite public statements to the contrary, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E are in reality very much at odds with each other. A dispute between the two over control of Yemen’s strategic ports and newfound resources of oil and gold near the Omani border eventually led to the withdrawal of the UAE. After further internal strife within the GCC, other states have withdrawn as well. It is therefore no wonder why the coalition has not accomplished any of its stated goals over the course of six years.
Over time, this mosaic of clashing interests has transformed the Yemen war. As this multi- layered conflict shows no tangible signs of abating, civilians continue to bear the brunt of the military hostilities and the unlawful practices of the parties involved.
International Humanitarian Law (IHL) sets a number of rules for the conduct of hostilities, regulating the methods and means of warfare that the parties to an armed conflict may employ. Based on the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution, it aims to temper military action so as to reduce human suffering. Violations of the aforementioned principles account for war crimes. In addition to IHL, International Human Rights Law (IHRL) continues to apply in situations of armed conflict. These two legal frameworks reinforce each other; violations of IHL rules usually result in impairment of the enjoyment of human rights, thereby violating IHRL too.
The Saudi-led coalition has conducted indiscriminate and disproportionate air strikes on civilians and their possessions. Such airstrikes could theoretically lead to criminal responsibility for war crimes at all levels of command. The coalition has also imposed a blockade at Al Hudaydah Port through which most humanitarian aid comes from. 85% of the Yemeni people rely upon imports through this port. As a result, civilians have been pushed to the brink of starvation and were subject to outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria.
Emirati personnel and Yemeni forces associated with them have tortured, raped and killed suspected political opponents detained in secret facilities. The UAE has also carried out arbitrary detentions, supported disappearances, denied medical treatment and taken away due process rights to detainees. Additionally, forces backed by the United Arab Emirates have recruited children as young as 13, most of which were killed in the coalition’s attempt to capture Al Hudaydah.
The internationally recognized Yemeni government has harassed, threatened and arbitrarily detained individuals who openly question or criticize them including political opponents, journalists, human right defenders, activists and religious leaders.
The United States, Great Britain, France and Iran could be complicit in abuses by providing intelligence and logistics support, and by making arms transfers that were of “questionable legitimacy”. Despite overwhelming evidence that these arms are being used in war crimes and other serious violations in Yemen, these states continue to supply arms to Coalition members, in breach of regulations including the Global Arms Trade Treaty for states parties as well as EU law and domestic laws. More specifically, President Donald Trump has continued to support the Saudi-led coalition with arms sales and intelligence support in spite of increasing opposition from US politicians and voters, and international Human Rights organisations. The US, separate from the ongoing civil war, has waged a counterterrorism drone campaign in Yemen against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), one of the most effective branches of the terrorist organisation. As Keatinge puts it, this campaign “can impact the innocent and the guilty in equal measure”.
Yet the parties involved in the conflict are not the only perpetrators. Unawareness, indifference and impunity are crimes too, crimes we commit on a daily basis. The bombardment of reality shows, advertisements and yellow journalism has left no place whatsoever for profoundly important news to be presented. This situation underscores a collective failure of the international community. And what do we do about it? Nothing. We keep passively accepting the global developments even though we can make a difference, even a slight one with small donations, constructive debates or merely raising awareness.
The conflict has its roots in the Arab spring of 2011, when an uprising forced the autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Supposedly, this transition would bring stability to the poverty-stricken nation. However, President Hadi failed to properly address Yemen’s problems. A rebel movement called Houthis has taken advantage of the new president’s weakness and seized control of Sana’a, Yemen’s capital and largest city. After failed negotiations, president Hadi and his government were forced to resign and took refuge in Saudi Arabia. Although Saudi Arabia – Yemen relations have been historically tense due to border disputes, Hadi reportedly asked the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to militarily intervene in Yemen to protect the government against the Houthis.
In response, Saudi Arabia formed a coalition with the declared aim of restoring Yemen’s internationally recognized government. This coalition consisted of GCC states with the exception of Oman (namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar) as well as Egypt and Sudan. The coalition has received support and intelligence support by the US, the UK and France.
Given the tense relationship between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the formation of the coalition appears irrational; however, Saudi Arabia prefers a weak but stable Yemen so that the region’s balance of power does not shift in favour of its rival, Iran which allegedly has been training and arming the Houthis – a charge it unconvincingly denies. Thus, the Yemen conflict is widely considered to be a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
This complicated situation gets further puzzled due to the overlapping, conflicting and changing interests of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Despite public statements to the contrary, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E are in reality very much at odds with each other. A dispute between the two over control of Yemen’s strategic ports and newfound resources of oil and gold near the Omani border eventually led to the withdrawal of the UAE. After further internal strife within the GCC, other states have withdrawn as well. It is therefore no wonder why the coalition has not accomplished any of its stated goals over the course of six years.
Over time, this mosaic of clashing interests has transformed the Yemen war. As this multi- layered conflict shows no tangible signs of abating, civilians continue to bear the brunt of the military hostilities and the unlawful practices of the parties involved.
International Humanitarian Law (IHL) sets a number of rules for the conduct of hostilities, regulating the methods and means of warfare that the parties to an armed conflict may employ. Based on the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution, it aims to temper military action so as to reduce human suffering. Violations of the aforementioned principles account for war crimes. In addition to IHL, International Human Rights Law (IHRL) continues to apply in situations of armed conflict. These two legal frameworks reinforce each other; violations of IHL rules usually result in impairment of the enjoyment of human rights, thereby violating IHRL too.
The Saudi-led coalition has conducted indiscriminate and disproportionate air strikes on civilians and their possessions. Such airstrikes could theoretically lead to criminal responsibility for war crimes at all levels of command. The coalition has also imposed a blockade at Al Hudaydah Port through which most humanitarian aid comes from. 85% of the Yemeni people rely upon imports through this port. As a result, civilians have been pushed to the brink of starvation and were subject to outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria.
Emirati personnel and Yemeni forces associated with them have tortured, raped and killed suspected political opponents detained in secret facilities. The UAE has also carried out arbitrary detentions, supported disappearances, denied medical treatment and taken away due process rights to detainees. Additionally, forces backed by the United Arab Emirates have recruited children as young as 13, most of which were killed in the coalition’s attempt to capture Al Hudaydah.
The internationally recognized Yemeni government has harassed, threatened and arbitrarily detained individuals who openly question or criticize them including political opponents, journalists, human right defenders, activists and religious leaders.
The United States, Great Britain, France and Iran could be complicit in abuses by providing intelligence and logistics support, and by making arms transfers that were of “questionable legitimacy”. Despite overwhelming evidence that these arms are being used in war crimes and other serious violations in Yemen, these states continue to supply arms to Coalition members, in breach of regulations including the Global Arms Trade Treaty for states parties as well as EU law and domestic laws. More specifically, President Donald Trump has continued to support the Saudi-led coalition with arms sales and intelligence support in spite of increasing opposition from US politicians and voters, and international Human Rights organisations. The US, separate from the ongoing civil war, has waged a counterterrorism drone campaign in Yemen against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), one of the most effective branches of the terrorist organisation. As Keatinge puts it, this campaign “can impact the innocent and the guilty in equal measure”.
Yet the parties involved in the conflict are not the only perpetrators. Unawareness, indifference and impunity are crimes too, crimes we commit on a daily basis. The bombardment of reality shows, advertisements and yellow journalism has left no place whatsoever for profoundly important news to be presented. This situation underscores a collective failure of the international community. And what do we do about it? Nothing. We keep passively accepting the global developments even though we can make a difference, even a slight one with small donations, constructive debates or merely raising awareness.