Non-international armed conflict (2014 – )
Estimated starvation-related casualties: 131,000 to 1 December 2020
Yemen’s most recent conflict began in September of 2014, when the Houthi armed group—aligned with former president Ali Abdulla Saleh—forcibly took control of the capital, Sana’a. By early 2015, the Houthis and forces loyal to Saleh had dissolved parliament and placed President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi under house arrest. In 2015, a coalition of states led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened in the conflict in support of President Hadi, with the consent of Hadi’s internationally-recognised government.
The fighting that followed has seen the Houthis pitted against the Saudi/UAE-led coalition and Yemeni military in a bloody conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands.
After numerous unsuccessful efforts to broker peace, a 60-day truce went into effect on 2 April 2022.
Food insecurity during the conflict
Food insecurity is not incidental to the Yemeni conflict. The war has dramatically exposed the vulnerability of the civilian population to famine and has seen Yemen teeter on the edge of the biggest famine in modern history. According to the WFP and OCHA, food insecurity in Yemen has increased almost every year since the conflict began. Civilians in areas impacted by active fighting have been the hardest hit.
“… most of the 233,000 conflict-related deaths by the end of 2020 were attributable to ‘indirect causes’, including a lack of food, health services and civilian infrastructure …”
Fighting on both sides has been marred by attacks on the supply of food, water, and humanitarian assistance. Such conduct has been characterized by the prevention of civilian access to agricultural produce, livestock, and traditional fishing methods, including through airstrikes and laying of landmines. It has also been characterized by attacks on water infrastructure and restrictions on humanitarian access, such as the arrest and intimidation of humanitarian workers, blockage of aid convoys, and illegal seizure of the property of humanitarian organisations and aid workers.
By late 2020, the situation had become so dire that it prompted UN Secretary-General António Gutteres to urge all those with influence to act urgently to stave off the worst famine the world had seen in decades. Meanwhile, OCHA reported that most of the 233,000 conflict-related deaths in Yemen by the end of 2020 were attributable to ‘indirect causes’, including a lack of food, health services, and civilian infrastructure.
In early 2021, the WFP warned of the imminent threat of catastrophic famine, with ‘over 400,000 children at risk of dying’ and 16.2 million people facing acute food insecurity. OCHA estimated that 66% of people that needed support to treat or prevent malnutrition in 2021 were women and, of the 4.7 million people that required treatment for acute malnutrition in 2021, 1.2 million were pregnant or lactating women.
Evidence of starvation crimes
The results of a year-long investigation released in September 2021 by Mwatana for Human Rights (‘Mwatana’) and GRC revealed systematic violations of international law by both sides to the conflict.
“Patterns of behaviour, viewed in the context of the dire humanitarian situation, suggest that those responsible for wrongful conduct acted with knowledge of the likely consequences of their actions …”
The investigation found that warring parties had intentionally and unlawfully deprived civilians of objects indispensable for their survival, including through the obstruction of humanitarian access. Humanitarian aid organizations and UN bodies have engaged directly with parties to the conflict, including by reporting on food and water security-related issues and by advocating for humanitarian access.
Patterns of behaviour, viewed in the context of the dire humanitarian situation, suggest that those responsible for wrongful conduct acted with knowledge of the likely consequences of their actions. Mwatana and GRC gathered evidence of repeated failures to take measures to limit the indiscriminate impacts of landmines in wholly civilian areas, which impeded civilian access to agricultural land, firewood, and humanitarian assistance as a result. Hundreds of systematic attacks were conducted against farms, agricultural and water infrastructure, fishermen, fishing boats and fish markets. The evidence also revealed broad patterns of restrictions to humanitarian access in the context of acute food insecurity. Thus, it is highly likely that the wrongful conduct has been deliberate and that it satisfies the elements of the crime of intentional starvation of civilians.
Impunity for starvation crimes
There remains a significant accountability gap with respect to starvation crimes in Yemen, with little suggestion that relevant actors are willing or able to conduct criminal trials in accordance with international standards.
In 2017, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) established the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (GEE) to carry out a comprehensive examination of alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law and other applicable fields of international law, including international humanitarian law (IHL) and international criminal law (ICL). The GEE identified attacks that reflected a reckless disregard for the impact of military operations on the civilian population and its access to food, and found violations of international law committed by all parties to the conflict. Calls by the GEE for concerned States to investigate and prosecute alleged violations do not appear to have been heeded. Avenues for accountability at the domestic level, including a Joint Incidents Assessment Team created by the Saudi/UAE-led coalition, are not likely to result in meaningful justice in the short or medium term. Despite the efforts of several states to support its renewal, the HRC failed to renew the GEE’s mandate in October 2021. Consequently, there is no longer any independent United Nations entity to centralise, investigate and document violations in Yemen.
Under Resolution 2140 (2014), the UNSC established a Sanctions Committee, supported by a Panel of Experts on Yemen (PoE). Among other things, the Committee is mandated to designate ‘individuals or entities who engage in or provide support for acts that threaten the peace, security and stability of Yemen’ to be the subject of sanctions and oversee their implementation. The PoE has recommended that the UNSC include in its monthly agenda ‘a focussed discussion on the issue of accountability for international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses’.
To date, UNSC and HRC activity on issues pertaining to the conflict in Yemen has not resulted in any perpetrator of violations of international law being held responsible for their wrongful conduct. Justice for the millions impacted by starvation crimes remains elusive.
Read more on the use of starvation by warring parties in Yemen in Mwatana and GRC’s Starvation Makers report.
UNSC resolutions addressing food insecurity in the conflict in Yemen: S/RES/2204(2015); S/RES/2216(2014); S/RES/2266(2016); S/RES/2402(2018); S/RES/2451(2018).
