UN Should Stop Rising Civilian Deaths in Yemen

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TEHRAN (FNA)- Reports from the ground highlight the deepening crisis for Yemen’s 26 million civilians, largely forgotten and caught in the cross-chairs of a protracted conflict that has had calamitous consequences for everyone in the Middle East. This is while some 16 million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance before the civil war began in 2015.

The present state of perdition has spread to all parts of the impoverished country as well. Hospitals, schools, airports and markets have all been damaged or destroyed, with reports of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by Saudi Arabia and its cohorts. 

Whatever the reality, people are still dying and the blockade and long-term neglect of basic services has become a major factor in the crisis. Yemen is facing serious humanitarian crisis and immediate action is needed by the United Nations (UN) and the international civil society to end the bloodcurdling war.

According to new data by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), more than 91,000 people have been killed. These appalling numbers are estimates rather than exact counts. They serve as a warning, documenting the anguish Yemenis have endured thus far. War happy parties and war profiteers cynically boast about ‘precision’ warfare and ‘surgical’ strikes that distinguish between fighters and civilians. But the reality is that civilians are still routinely targeted where they live, work, study, and seek medical care.

Beyond the deaths and misery, the declaration of a ceasefire in the port city of Hodeidah as part of the UN-backed Stockholm Agreement has to some extent contributed to a partial drop in reported fatalities, but it’s not enough. Real-time data suggest there should be pressure on the Saudi-led coalition to stop nationwide concentrated anti-civilian violence, as other fronts like Ad Dali, Hajjah and Taiz continue to experience heavy casualties under the Saudis' lethal air strikes.

Keep in mind as well that a collapse in health and waste management services due to fighting has led to contamination, health risks, famine and cholera outbreak, posing a serious challenge not only for aid workers and civilians in affected areas but also for those who wish to return. The need for the UN aid agencies to offer medical assistance to these blockaded communities is no more than ever urgent. The shortage of medicine, drinking water contaminated by rotting garbage, devastated sewage systems and water filtration plants continue to exacerbate the cholera epidemic. 

The devastation caused by the illegal war has also deprived Yemenis not just of their livelihoods but of the very tools they would need to launch a major reconstruction effort to rebuild the poorest country in the Arab world. The Middle Eastern society is now an economic basket case, rivaling the most desperate countries in the world.

By the standards of international humanitarian law, and before this human tragedy of the first order spirals out of control and becomes a point of no return, the UN Security Council must resolve the protracted conflict irrespective of regional politics and the US-backed Saudi coalition's new ground invasion proposals, airstrikes, clues and suggestions of every sort.

The Security Council should intervene and use the leverage it has to stop the violence and air strikes that pay scant heed to defenseless civilians, including people attending weddings and funerals. Concrete action is needed to reverse course and effectively protect millions who rely on UN emergency food aid to survive. The international community should hang its head in shame to say otherwise.

In this case, there is no need for outside powers like the US to overreact and seek to intervene. Their grim role only stands to antagonize the local population, exacerbate the situation and inject a stronger sectarian tone into the conflict, while threatening to push Yemen closer to collapse.

If Iraq and Syria are a guide, the Saudi-led coalition will come out on the losing side. Their guns, drone attacks and airstrikes will not change the situation on the ground. They are risking too much on a pointless gambit, all but assuring that sectarianism, violence and insecurity within the country and beyond continues apace, making sure Yemen remains a failed state and a fertile ground for terrorist groups for many decades to come. 

In a general sense, the only option has to be a negotiated solution, a position also shared by the UN. The Saudi-backed parties to the conflict should carry out political dialogue, as their fighting produces more bloodshed, more civilian deaths and more refugees.

This is a great test for the conscience of the world. The world has to reject the glorification of this immoral violence before it engulfs the entire region and before many more civilians are killed. The world must force war happy Saudis and American merchants of death to stop making lies sound truthful and murder respectable, accept and implement a nationwide cessation of the savage conflict and the resumption of UN-led ceasefire peace talks.

The time is now to force the Saud-led coalition and factions as well as their western backers into compliance with international humanitarian law and accountability. For the Security Council, this means being more consistent in how it fully addresses protection concerns, civilian lives and livelihoods. Its prompt decisions are needed now and not tomorrow, as they are crucial for statewide peace, security and civilian protection.
 

Khashoggi Is Not The Only One Reason The US Should Cut Its Saudi Ties

By Medea Benjamin and Mary Miller

October 18, 2018 "Information Clearing House" - Saudi Arabia has made headlines recently for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. What happened to Khashoggi is certainly tragic, but it’s far from the only crime committed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  Despite its history of thuggery, the US has been cozy with the kingdom for decades. Here’s 10 reasons to sever this nefarious alliance with the Saudi kingdom.

1. There is no political freedom in Saudi Arabia. While most of the world’s monarchies have evolved to lessen the role of royalty, Saudi Arabia remains one of the world’s last absolute monarchies.The Saud royal family picks the king, who then has ultimate authority in virtually every aspect of government. There are no national elections and political parties are banned, as are unions and most civic organizations.
2. Mohammad bin Salman is falsely hailed as a progressive hero. Since becoming Crown Prince in 2015, Mohammad bin Salman has been credited with a number of reforms, such as granting women the right to drive (despite arresting the very women who advocated for that right). These highly publicized changes serve to distract the global community from bin Salman’s ruthless policies, such as escalating the war in Yemen, cracking down on human rights activists, and increasing the number of executions.
3. The government represses religious minorities. Trump says he is promoting tolerance by working with Saudi Arabia, but this theocratic Sunni regime is based on repressing the Shia minority and non-Muslims. It is the only country in the world to ban all churches, and atheism is a capital offense. Year after year, the U.S. government’s own Commission on International Religious Freedom says Saudi Arabia commits “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
4. The regime is one of the most misogynist, gender-segregated countries in the world. Saudi women famously gained the right to drive recently, but the kingdom maintains its oppressive male guardianship system where women must obtain a man’s permission before doing things like getting married or divorced or applying for a passport. Gender segregation persists as well: women are separated from men in public and even private places, like restaurants. Women’s rights advocates are frequently arrested for their activism.
   
   
5. The Kingdom primarily functions on the backs of mistreated foreign laborers. Of the nation’s 30 million people, some 10 million are foreigners. Workers from poor nations seek economic gains within Saudi Arabia, but are often lured under false pretenses and then not allowed to leave the country without permission from their employer. Female migrant workers, treated like indentured servants, often face physical and sexual abuse.
6. Free speech and free association are forbidden in the kingdom. There is no free speech or free press in Saudi Arabia, and criticizing the government or royal family is punishable by flogging, jail time, or even execution. Tragic examples include Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah, two women’s rights activists who were arrested in 2018; Raif Badawi, Samar’s brother, who was sentenced to ten years in prison for blogging in favor of a more liberal society; and Ali al-Nimr, who was sentenced to death in 2014 for his participation in the 2012 Arab Spring protests and is still on death row today.
7. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world. At least 146 people were executed in 2017, mostly by the gruesome practice of beheading. The government does not have an official interpretation of Sharia law, meaning a judge can consider nearly any offence serious enough to warrant the death penalty. The death penalty has been meted out for “offenses” such as atheism, homosexuality, and sorcery.
8. The Saudis export an extremist interpretation of Islam, Wahhabism, that has formed the ideological foundation of extremist groups around the globe. A Wikileaks-revealed 2009 cablequotes then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying, “Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.” In Syria, the Saudis are supporting the most extreme sectarian forces. Together with the Emirates, Saudi Arabia has recruited al-Qaeda fighters in their war with Yemen. And we must not forget that 15 of the 19 hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks were Saudis, as was Osama bin Laden himself.  
9. Saudi Arabia helps maintain the world’s destructive dependence on oil. Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter of oil in the world. With its vast potential for solar energy, Saudi Arabia could lead the world in renewable energy. Instead, the economy remains almost dependent on oil and on the international level, Saudi Arabia works with the United States to oppose global climate agreements that would affect oil profits.
10. They have engaged in a catastrophic war in Yemen. For over three years, Saudi Arabia has been at the forefront of the horrific war in Yemen. Thousands of civilians have been killed and three million have been displaced. A Saudi-run blockade have caused a famine that has killed over 50,000 children. The US is indirectly responsible for these crimes because it continues to sell arms to Saudi Arabia. On August 9, 2018, for example, a US-made bomb hit a school bus in Yemen, killing 40 children.  

By maintaining close ties with Saudi Arabia, the US is sending a message to citizens around the world that it values money and power over human rights. Now that Khashoggi’s gruesome death has opened people’s eyes to the murderous ways of the Saudi Crown Prince, it’s time to peel away the layers to expose the rot at the core of this repressive monarchy.  

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of the peace group CODEPINK and is author of Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the US-Saudi Connection. Mary Miller is a CODEPINK researcher/analyst.

US support for the bombing of Yemen to continue

On September 12, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo officially certified Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates "are undertaking demonstrable actions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure resulting from military operations of these governments."

This is required to allow U.S. planes to continue refueling jets for the Saudi/UAE coalition, without which it could not keep dropping bombs on targets in Yemen. Secretary of Defense James Mattis concurred with Pompeo, though congressional legislation required only Pompeo’s say-so.

Anyone who follows international news could be excused for accidentally cursing at Pompeo’s statement. Among many attacks on civilian targets in Yemen, last month’s bombing of a school bus in a market district, which killed 51 people including 40 children, was among the most horrific, so much so that even Saudi Arabia admitted it was "unjustified." Of course, the Saudi regime should not be allowed to merely get away with investigating itself; indeed, Human Rights Watch released a 90-page report which is highly critical of the Saudi-UAE coalition’s investigations into its attacks, particularly on civilians.

That bombing, which shocked the conscience of the global community, was only the latest massacre of civilians in Yemen. In 2016, Saudi attacks on a market and funeral hall killed 252 people. In response, the Obama Administration halted the sale of precision guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, citing human rights concerns, but then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson overturned the ban in March, 2017. The humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen is considered the world’s worst at this moment, with well over 10,000 people having been martyred (an estimated 20 percent are children) and 15 million of the total Yemeni population of 23 million considered "food insecure," according to the United Nations. Add in the planet’s worst outbreak of cholera in some time, affecting over a million people, and one gets a picture of the dire situation since the civil war began in 2015.

The United States is the number one weapons dealer in the world, and Saudi Arabia is its biggest customer, having purchased more than $100 billion in armaments since 2010. The bombs in all three attacks cited above were built by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons manufacturer and the largest US government contractor of any kind, with net sales of more than $13 billion in just the second quarter of this year. It’s not hyperbole to state Lockheed makes a killing, in more ways than one.

Earlier this year, the US Senate attempted to intervene to stop US in-air refueling of Saudi jets and other logistical, intelligence and targeting support. The bipartisan measure, led by Republican Senator Mike Lee and the Independent Bernie Sanders failed on a procedural vote, 55 to 44. Similar proposals also fell short in the House of Representatives, but peace- and human rights-minded House leaders, led by Democrat Representative Adam Smith, Ro Khanna (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Jim McGovern (D-MA), and others will soon try again to stop US support for the slaughter, thinking the school bus bombing may have shocked some hearts and may change some minds.

Concerned individuals should contact their House member and demand they support this common sense effort to cease US participation in this tragedy, without which the Saudi-led coalition could not continue and would likely be forced to negotiate more seriously with the Ansarullah-backed government.

Another, more long-term action people of conscience can undertake is to ensure one’s investments or other financial instruments do not benefit Lockheed Martin and other weapons contractors profiting from endless wars in the Middle East and elsewhere. Code Pink, Peace Action, American Friends Service Committee and dozens of organizations support the Divest from the War Machine campaign, where one can find out more about how to divest individual or organizational holdings from the arms merchants. Another good resource, focused on divestment from nuclear weapons manufacturers, which in general are also the largest weapons makers overall, is Don’t Bank on the Bomb.

Divestment is an important long term strategy, and a strong moral statement. However, the US Congress can act now, and must.

For more than three years, Raytheon, a major US defense contractor, has been aiding and abetting war crimes in Yemen, manufacturing the world’s worst humanitarian crises and profiting upon the bodies of Yemeni children torn apart by their bombs.

Largely hidden from the public, billions of dollars have been made by American arms manufactures in the US-backed war in Yemen. As a result, the Saudis are able to deliberately produce massive civilian causalities, using Raytheon’s weapons with the purpose of starving the people of Yemen and depriving them of life saving medicine.

With one Yemeni child dying every ten minutes, without the help of Raytheon, the Saudis would not be as successful as they are now; at the same time Raytheon also benefits from that success, seeing a sharp rise in their share prices, because when civilian death toll rises, so do Raytheon’s stocks.

This can be quite difficult for many Americans to stomach, but the sad truth is that the Saudi airstrikes on Yemen have correlated with the dramatic rise in Raytheon’s share price; in the three years the war has been active, Raytheon’s stocks rose by 94 percent, from $108.44 per share in 2015 to $210.70 in 2018.

Remnants of missiles from Saudis have been retrieved which trace back to Raytheon, hundreds of civilian deaths have been confirmed from these discoveries alone. Considering the fact that Raytheon’s weapons have been used to target weddings, civilian homes, water drilling rigs, and funeral ceremonies, the high rate of civilian deaths is not as surprising.

In April, the Saudis launched a missile at a wedding in northern Yemen, 23 people were martyred with the majority of causalities being women and children. The missiles were later shown to come from Raytheon’s factory in southern Arizona, and four days after the attack, Raytheon’s quarterly earnings rose to $633 million for $2.20 per share.
Bombing civilians in order to make the Ansarullah movement and the revolutionaries surrender appears to be the Saudi’s intent. In 2016, a missile manufactured by Raytheon hit a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders, killing 11, including a staff member. Shortly after, Doctors Without Borders was forced to flee the country, making the humanitarian crises much worse.

Despite all these atrocities, the US government continues to supply the Saudis with arms for their assault on Yemen. In 2017 Saudi Arabia agreed to $7 billion worth of munitions from Raytheon and Boeing. On top of that, the US military is also providing the Saudis with midair fueling and giving them the exact coordinates of where to bomb. All the while weapons manufactures idly sit back making a killing profit off of the killing of children.

That was a put together, joint article written by Kevin Martin, President of Peace Action Education Fund, the country’s largest grassroots peace and disarmament organization with more than 200,000 supporters nationwide, and Marcelo Guadiana, who writes for the Borgen Project and Rouser News, focusing on war and poverty. He is a senior at UMass Boston a B.A. in economics.