Yemen: Houthis Block Vital Goods into Taizz | WPN World People News

Houthi forces have for months restricted food and medical supplies for civilians in Taizz, Yemen’s third-largest city. Confiscating goods necessary for the survival of the civilian population and blocking humanitarian aid are serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Street corner in the Deluxe neighborhood in western Taizz that has been damaged by shelling since March 2015.

Seven Taizz residents described to Human Rights Watch 16 incidents between December 13, 2015 and January 9, 2016, in which Houthi guards at checkpoints prevented civilians from bringing items into the city, including fruit, vegetables, cooking gas, vaccination doses, dialysis treatment packets, and oxygen cylinders, and confiscated some of these items. The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, should immediately end the unlawful confiscation of goods intended for the civilian population and permit full access by aid agencies, Human Rights Watch said.

“The Houthis are denying necessities to residents of Taizz because they happen to be living in areas that opposition forces control,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director. “Seizing property from civilians is already unlawful, but taking their food and medical supplies is simply cruel.”

Taizz is located between the capital, Sanaa, controlled by the Houthis since late 2014, and the port city of Aden, recaptured by pro-government forces in July. Taizz had a pre-war population of about 600,000, but heavy ground fighting in the armed conflict that began in March 2015 has caused two-thirds of the population to flee, with between 175,000 to 200,000 civilians remaining, according to the United Nations.

Houthi forces effectively surround Taizz and maintain checkpoints at the two main entry points to city. Forces opposed to the Houthis mainly control the city center. These forces include Islah, a Sunni Islamist political party, youth activists, and salafis and other militant Islamists, local residents said. The Houthis have alleged that the militant extremist Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, are also deployed against them in Taizz.

Since at least September, Houthi guards at checkpoints have confiscated water, food, and cooking gas that Taizz residents tried to bring into the neighborhoods controlled by the forces opposed to the Houthis. Those who complained directly to Houthi commanders were told to “Ask the ‘resistance’ to feed you,” they told Human Rights Watch.

International agencies and humanitarian organizations have also had difficulty bringing in food and medicine for the civilian population. In October 2015, Houthi forces confiscated drugs intended for hospitals in central Taizz from three trucks sent by the World Health Organization. The Houthis did not give the Health Ministry offices in Sanaa and Taizz the authorization to provide hospitals and clinics in non-Houthi-controlled areas with additional medical support.

On October 22, 2015, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stated that nearly half of the hospitals in Taizz had ceased operations because of a lack of supplies or fuel or because the facilities were damaged from the fighting. It called on the parties in control to authorize the delivery of urgent medicines, which had been blocked for five weeks, to the al-Thawra Hospital.

On October 24, 2015, the UN humanitarian coordinator said that few, if any, commercial goods or goods from aid groups had entered the city center. The next day, the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) said that despite weeks of intense negotiations with Houthi officials, stocks of essential medical supplies could not be delivered to two hospitals in Taizz and that MSF trucks were being stopped at Houthi checkpoints and denied access to the area.

Providers of oxygen cylinders used by medical facilities told Human Rights Watch that Houthi guards seized their shipments at checkpoints and made them promise not to bring in any more oxygen. Health officials told Human Rights Watch that some hospitals have run out of oxygen cylinders and that their price had shot up. The head of the neonatal unit at al-Jumhouri Hospital said that since December, six premature infants had died because the hospital did not have the oxygen or the fuel to run the generator to power the incubators. Limited access to Taizz, because of the security situation, has made it difficult to determine the full impact of the Houthi confiscations of food and medical supplies on the civilian population, Human Rights Watch said. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement on January 5, 2016, that strict control of all entry points into the city had resulted in limited access to food and other essential items and made conditions extremely difficult for the population. The health situation in the governorate had deteriorated, with al-Rawdha Hospital, one of the largest hospitals still in operation, being forced to turn away patients because of shortages. On January 24, the UN humanitarian coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick, said that in Taizz, “Food and other basic goods needed to survive are in short supply. Basic services are scarce, including access to water and fuel.”

MSF reported that it was able to deliver medical aid into Taizz on January 17 for the first time in months, and the UN World Food Programme reported that it delivered 3,000 family food rations to the city on January 21. The UN should monitor and publicly report on the situation to ensure that further aid is allowed into the city without unnecessary delay, Human Rights Watch said.

While international humanitarian law does not prevent sieges against enemy forces, civilians may not be deprived of food and medical supplies necessary for their survival. All parties to the conflict are obligated to facilitate the provision of impartial humanitarian aid to the civilian population. Confiscating civilian goods without compensation is prohibited. Starving civilians as a method of warfare is also unlawful and is a war crime.

“Harm to civilians in armed conflicts may be inevitable, but there is no excuse for increasing suffering and deaths by preventing food and life-saving goods from getting to hospitals and besieged neighborhoods,” Stork said.

Source: Human Rights Watch