Yemen: After 8 Years of Siege… Houthi Crimes in Taiz

More than 22,000 civilians have fallen victim to the siege and terrorist attacks by Houthi militias on the city of Taiz, which has been ongoing for 3,000 days.

A report issued by the Yemen Information and Rehabilitation Center for Human Rights, titled “Taiz… The Longest Siege in History (8 Years of Systematic Killing),” documented a total of 25,973 violations against civilians between March 21, 2015, and June 30, 2023.

The report, published by the Saba News Agency, revealed the death and injury of 22,053 civilians as a result of Houthi militia attacks, mines, and fires. The report indicated that the number of fatalities reached 4,105 civilians, including 878 children and 464 women, while the number of injured reached 17,948 civilians, including 2,132 children and 2,660 women, since the Houthi militias imposed the siege on the city of Taiz in 2015.

According to the report, “tens of thousands of mines planted by the Houthi militias claimed the lives of approximately 779 civilians, including 38 children and 23 women, and injured 1,296 civilians, including 71 children and 30 women.” The report documented 496 cases of civilian abduction, 175 cases of forced disappearance, 897 cases of arbitrary detention, and 102 cases of torture, resulting in the death of many individuals or permanent disabilities, complete paralysis, or insanity.

The report recorded 97 cases of assault by Houthi militias against civilians, and 78 violations of freedom of opinion and expression in the province, which is classified as a cultural capital of the country.

The report documented that approximately 4,255 families were forcibly displaced and internally displaced, noting that “the total public properties affected by the violations reached 614 properties, with 11 buildings destroyed and 87 public facilities destroyed, 62 facilities and buildings completely damaged, and 379 partially damaged. In addition, 29 public properties were raided and looted, and 26 public vehicles were damaged.”

It also stated that the total private properties affected by the violations reached approximately 3,387 properties, with 377 houses and private facilities destroyed and 323 completely damaged, and 1,941 partially damaged. It confirmed the raid and looting of approximately 48 houses and facilities, and the damage of 511 private vehicles, with 187 cases of violations against private properties being monitored.

The report comes amid wide political and human rights movements witnessed in the province of Taiz, coinciding with the passing of 3,000 days of the Houthi militias’ siege.

Civil society organizations called on the United Nations and its Special Envoy to Yemen to assume their humanitarian and legal responsibilities towards the residents of Taiz, who have been under siege for 3,000 days, and to exert pressure to stop the violations and crimes committed by the Houthi terrorist militias against the province’s residents.

The statement issued by 28 Yemeni organizations emphasized the necessity of holding the Houthi militias accountable in accordance with international treaties, agreements, and laws, and the implementation of UN resolutions issued against the militias.

Houthi militias control seven directorates in the east, north, and west of Taiz, while there are 16 liberated directorates that are still under Houthi siege since 2015.

The Houthi siege includes cutting off land, sea, and air routes connecting the city of Taiz to the rest of the world, as well as the closure of ports and vital facilities, preventing the entry of humanitarian aid and essential goods.