Grave Violations… Houthis Lead the List of Crimes against Childhood
A recent UN report places Houthi militias at the top of the list of violations in Yemen due to their severe crimes against the country’s children.
Ongoing Violations
The annual report of the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, which was recently published, revealed that all Yemeni parties committed nearly 1,600 grave violations against children, resulting in the death and injury of over 500 children in 2022.
According to the report, “The United Nations has verified that Yemeni parties, with the Houthis at the forefront, committed 1,596 grave violations against 637 children (522 boys and 115 girls), including 26 children who were victims of multiple violations.”
These violations include killing, mutilation, abduction, forced recruitment, sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, their military use, as well as restrictions and impediments to humanitarian aid delivery.
The report indicates that 544 children (432 boys and 112 girls) were killed or mutilated, with 158 deaths and 386 injured during the past year.
The main causes of these child casualties varied, including explosive remnants of war (282 children), mortar and artillery shelling (103 children), gunfire (77 children), drone attacks (50 children), and children being run over by military vehicles (14 children), according to the report.
The report also mentioned that the United Nations verified the recruitment of a total of 105 children, some as young as ten years old, with 33 of them being used in combat.
Multiple Crimes
Yemeni human rights activist Ahmed Jabari revealed that the Houthi terrorist militias accounted for 53% of the total recorded violations against children, followed by unknown perpetrators at 35%, while the remaining violations were attributed to various Yemeni parties.
According to the Yemeni rights activist, among these violations, Houthi militias organize summer camps for children, exposing them to military content and activities. The Houthi militias continue to top the list of violations due to their brutal acts, especially against children, who have suffered the most from Houthi brutality.
