The Security Council condemns the Houthi abuses against the children of Yemen
Yemen’s children are suffering enormously from the fires and horrors of Al Houthi’s terrorist militias, which are killing young people and cutting off aid and basic rights. Some of them try to flee their homes, which have been the subject of numerous international demands.
Security Council resolution
In that resolution, the Security Council condemned the recruitment and exploitation of children by the Al-Houthi militia in the conflict and the sexual abuse of children.
On Thursday, the Mayyun Organization for Human Rights welcomed the adoption of the United Nations Security Council resolution calling on Council member states to take this important step by imposing sanctions against the group’s employees involved in these heinous injuries to children in Yemen.
The human rights organization reported that, for nearly seven years of war in Yemen, Iranian-backed militias had not responded to or been associated with any international or regional convictions unless they were associated with sanctions or reported.
Recruitment of Yemen’s children
The report is a follow-up to the United Nations Human Rights and Development Organization report on the victims of child recruitment in Yemen entitled “Children, no guns”, which contains important information, shocking figures and statistics, including names, photos and videos of child soldiers killed in the first half of 2021, which show the extent of violations against children in Yemen.
In its first reports on activities on the ground, Mayyun revealed that 640 Yemeni children aged 13 to 17 had been killed in the first six months of 2021 by the Al-Houthi group, including 13 in the so-called war media, all of which were publicly buried and broadcast by the official media, in flagrant violation of international instruments, national laws, international commitments and commitments, and in total rejection of repeated international calls for an immediate cessation of child recruitment in Yemen.
Shocking figures
The organization assessed the risks by determining the number of child soldiers killed in Yemen’s provinces and, according to data and information available on the ground, the governorates of Sana’a, Dhamar and Hajjah are at the top of the list with the deaths of 333 children in the first six months of 2021, out of a total of 15 governorates monitored, despite those whose names have not been disclosed.
According to information provided by hospitals in the capital and provinces controlled by the group and by the so-called institution for the protection of the wounded, 3,400 children were injured, suggesting that a terrible massacre of children took place in those provinces, particularly in Yemen in general.
There has also been a decrease in the number of children recruited in Sa’dah province, which has risen to sixth place compared to 2020.
The report included a list of the Houthi leaders who are most involved in polarization and child recruitment. Through the Field Monitoring Team in Sanaa and the provinces under their control, the organization identified 125 child recruitment officers, including Yahya Badreddine al-Houthi, Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, Mohammad Badreddine al-Houthi, Abdel Karim Amireddine al-Houthi, Abdel Majid al-Houthi, Ahmed derhem Al Moaeidi, Ahmad Mohammed Hamed Hamed, Abdel Al Mohssen Taouss, Daifellah Rassam.
The organization also revealed the names of 22 regions involved in child recruitment in Houthi-controlled areas.
The Mayyun organization also documented the Houthis’ awarding of the rank of colonel-lieutenant to 155 children, out of the total number of victims killed in the first six months of this year.
The report states that the Houthis recruit children, organize cultural courses, schools and institutes, mosques, summer centers, orphanages and kidnappings, and that the High Council for Humanitarian Aid Administration and Coordination and International Cooperation requires that humanitarian assistance be provided to eligible persons in exchange for the recruitment of their children.
The report states that the Houthis force children to engage in activities such as direct combat, transfer of supplies and information, laying mines, driving cars and motorcycles, building fortifications and trenches, escorting leaders and supervisors, and working at checkpoints, which can lead to death.
For his part, Abd Mohammed Hussein al-Houdheifi, President of the Mayyun Organization for Rights and Development, stressed that Yemeni children are the most vulnerable segment of society and therefore pay a heavy price for the continuation of the war, explaining that the disintegration of the family, school dropouts, child labor and other phenomena are no longer the most dangerous for children in Yemen, but that the war has become a fertile ground for the most serious violations against them.
The report contained many recommendations for the international community to put more pressure on Yemeni parties that violated children’s rights, and for the case of child recruitment to be referred to the International Criminal Court.
