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Can the UN Talks Bring Peace to Shattered Yemen?
By Medea Benjamin
Source: teleSUR English
June 14, 2015
On June 14, UN-brokered talks will be held in Geneva, but many Yemenis know that with the increasingly hostile armed factions, a destroyed economy and the Saudi/Iran rivalry playing itself out in their country, peace will be hard to come by.
With the Houthi rebels in the north and Al Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula–AQAP–in the south (targeted by US drone strikes), Yemen has long been a hotbed of strife. But when the Houthi rebels made a daring military move in February 2015 and managed to take over the capital Sanaa, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee, the Saudi government decided to intervene to restore Hadi to power.
On March 26, 2015, the Saudis, under the umbrella of the Gulf Cooperation Council, launched a vicious airstrike campaign against the Houthis. Instead of unseating the Houthis, Saudi interference only escalated the conflict, killing over 2,000 Yemenis and creating a humanitarian crisis that have left 80% of the population in dire need of aid. The heavy military intervention has destroyed homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, and entire villages. Civilians lack basic supplies such as food, water, medicine, and adequate shelter. Doctors Without Borders reports that many people living in frontline areas are unable to travel to clinics or hospitals for medical care both because of the fighting and the lack of fuel. Even those who are able to make it to health facilities often find that they are not functioning.
With the Houthi rebels in the north and Al Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula–AQAP–in the south (targeted by US drone strikes), Yemen has long been a hotbed of strife. But when the Houthi rebels made a daring military move in February 2015 and managed to take over the capital Sanaa, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee, the Saudi government decided to intervene to restore Hadi to power.
On March 26, 2015, the Saudis, under the umbrella of the Gulf Cooperation Council, launched a vicious airstrike campaign against the Houthis. Instead of unseating the Houthis, Saudi interference only escalated the conflict, killing over 2,000 Yemenis and creating a humanitarian crisis that have left 80% of the population in dire need of aid. The heavy military intervention has destroyed homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, and entire villages. Civilians lack basic supplies such as food, water, medicine, and adequate shelter. Doctors Without Borders reports that many people living in frontline areas are unable to travel to clinics or hospitals for medical care both because of the fighting and the lack of fuel. Even those who are able to make it to health facilities often find that they are not functioning.
Most devastating has been the relentless Saudi bombing. When a temporary ceasefire agreement was reached in early May, the Saudis deliberately inflicted as much violence as possible before the ceasefire began and once the ceasefire ended, they promptly reengaged in their strikes.
According to two recent Human Rights Watch investigations, among the weapons being used by the Saudis are cluster bombs, which were banned by the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions because they kill civilians long after the fighting has stopped. Of the three types of cluster munitions identified recently in Yemen, two were manufactured in the United States and supplied by the US government. “The Saudi-led coalition and other warring parties in Yemen need to recognize that using banned cluster munitions is harming civilians,” said Human Rights Watch researcher Ole Solvang. “These weapons can’t distinguish military targets from civilians, and their unexploded submunitions threaten civilians, especially children, even long after the fighting.”
According to two recent Human Rights Watch investigations, among the weapons being used by the Saudis are cluster bombs, which were banned by the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions because they kill civilians long after the fighting has stopped. Of the three types of cluster munitions identified recently in Yemen, two were manufactured in the United States and supplied by the US government. “The Saudi-led coalition and other warring parties in Yemen need to recognize that using banned cluster munitions is harming civilians,” said Human Rights Watch researcher Ole Solvang. “These weapons can’t distinguish military targets from civilians, and their unexploded submunitions threaten civilians, especially children, even long after the fighting.”
Full article: https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/can-the-un-talks-bring-peace-to-shattered-yemen/
