Press Release: The National Commission for Inquiry Actions during 2020

The National Commission for Inquiry is committed to inform national, regional and international public opinion of the human rights situation in Yemen based on the its accomplished actions during 2020. Therefore, the Commission presented, in this press release, an explanation of the most important work it has accomplished in investigating violations during the period from January to December 2020.

This year witnessed a significant increase in the civil, political, social, economic, and human rights violations, causing many dead and wounded civilians.

During this period, the Commission completed monitoring and investigating (2901) violations occurred in various Yemeni governorates, in which (4,292) victims of both sexes and all ages were affected, including (1,363) casualties as a result of targeting civilians, including (404) dead, (56) women and (83) children, and (751) wounded, (103) women and (194) children.

The Commission also recorded the fall of (232) victims of the explosion of mines and bombs, including (23) women and (44) children. The Commission further conducted monitoring of (1052) incidents of arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance, targeting (39) archeological and religious objects, (17) incidents of assaults on medical personnel and health facilities, the destruction of (757) public and private buildings, the damage of (17) schools for children, and (118) incidents of recruiting children under the age of 15 years.

The Commission’s field team also documented the bombing of (30) houses and the forcible displacement of (310) citizens, monitoring and investigating (54) incidents of extrajudicial killings. During this period, the Commission listened to more than (8703) informants and witnesses of various types of human rights violations that occurred in most Yemeni governorates.

On the ground, the Commission carried out (12) field visits carried out by the Commission’s members to the districts of Taiz, Lahj and Marib governorates to investigate the incidents of targeting residential neighborhoods, the fall of various projectiles, and mostly daily field visits by the Commission’s researchers in (18) governorates to conduct direct interviews with victims, their families and eyewitnesses.

Given the Commission’s awareness to monitor and evaluate the conditions of the detainees’ rights and fair trial guarantees. The Commission’s members and monitors carried out a number of visits to prisons and detention centers in Taiz, Marib, Aden, Shabwa and Lahj, and discussed with the leadership of the security authorities in these governorates some of the facts under investigation by the Commission.

During 2020, the Commission held closed and public hearings with victims of arbitrary detention and torture, and children victims of the six grave violations. It also conducted workshops with heads of neighborhoods in frontlines zones to facilitate access to victims and verify the harm methodology of civilian. The Commission further maintained communication and cooperation with civil society, especially organizations working in the field of protecting women’s human rights and institutions affiliated with the National Union of the Poorest.

The Commission affirms, by the end of 2020, that it will continue to investigate human rights violations based on the international standards applied by the investigation committees. The Commission calls on all parties to the conflict to comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, which includes the obligation to protect life, integrity and dignity of all civilians without discrimination, and ensuring their access to resources and opportunities for a decent life.

The Commission also condemns all forms of violence against innocent women, men and children as a tool of war, the policies of oppression, arbitrary arrests and restrictions on freedoms. The Commission urges the UN envoy to Yemen to play his role in condemning the violations against citizens and placing the issue of human rights among the priorities of peace agreements sponsored.

Aden | 01 Jan. 2020