The ongoing catastrophe in Yemen emerged since the Houthi rebels took over the country’s capital in 2014 due to the instability that came right after President Saleh was ousted in 2012. And sadly, what was once a domestic uprising soon turned into history’s most deadly and brutal international conflict. As a result, the current President of Yemen, Mansour Hadi, called for the help of Saudi Arabia with the backing of the Gulf States and the US to help defeat the rebellion.
According to a recent report released by the Human Rights Watch Committee, the Saudi-led military coalition bombing Houthi rebels in Yemen has carried out 87 unlawful attacks since 2015, resulting in high civilian death toll and at least 8.4 million people are at risk of famine.
Not to mention the way in which the Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the rebels has become a matter of great primary concern all over the world. All parties to the conflict have perpetrated indiscriminate attacks and have mostly targeted civilian infrastructure, amounting to possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The UN track record of Yemen’s civil war clearly shows that it has often dodged key issues multiple times; leading many critics to argue that it is often beholden to state interests
Moreover, there is clear evidence to establish that the Saudi-led forces have violated the international law in the worst possible manner. But still, despite the magnitude of this horrifying crisis, the UN Security Council (UNSC) has deliberately failed to respond to this deadly catastrophe in Yemen adequately. Surprisingly, a substantive and much needed UNSC resolution has still not been passed since April 2015, and the Council has done little to facilitate the resumption of peace talks in the region. The UN track record of Yemen’s civil war clearly shows that it has often dodged key issues multiple times; leading many critics to argue that it is often beholden to state interests.
It should not be forgotten how ‘The Responsibility to Protect’ doctrine, which emerged after the formation of International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, clearly highlighted the responsibility of states to protect their own populations from ‘mass atrocities’ and emphasised the role that the international community and peace-making organisations must play in fulfilling that responsibility when a state is no longer able to do so itself.
Furthermore, the ICISS report clearly mentioned how the principle of non-intervention yields to the international responsibility to protect when a population suffering from serious harm as a result of internal state failure is unable to halt or avert it.
However, the way in which the Saudi coalition has gone about fighting the rebellion in the region does not resemble justified intervention in any way. It instead clearly portrays a flagrant violation of International Humanitarian Law. Hence, by violently abusing its power and taking control, the Saudi coalition’s war can only be considered absurd with an unnecessary, unilateral and illegal military action indicating a clear need for the international community to react at their very earliest.
Currently, invoking the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ sanctions passed by the UNSC can immediately enable the international peacemakers to punish the Saudi-led coalition states for their deliberate recklessness in the region, providing them with a proper incentive to follow and respect international law when fighting their war. It is also crucial to understand that the distinction between military and civilian targets is very central to International Humanitarian Law and must be adhered to at all times.
In fact, all UN member states now have the responsibility to immediately halt the sale of weapons to conflicting parties who routinely violate International Human Rights Law. It is about time that the UNSC and international peacemaking powers facilitate a sustained ceasefire by ensuring that all parties to the conflict return to substantive peaceful negotiations.
However, unfortunately, whether it be due to lack of political will or lack of backbone, the international community up till now has failed to uphold the doctrine of ‘Responsibility to Protect’ effectively in global crisis several times.
And if this silence continues, tens of thousands more civilians will continue to burn in hell as a direct result of this conflict, and even millions more will die from disease and starvation. Only time will reveal whether the so-called international peacemakers are capable of making the right decisions in time. Until then, one can only hope.
The writer graduated with an LLB Hons, University of London International Programmes. Twitter @fizzaalik
Published in Daily Times, March 18th 2018.