Human rights organizations in Yemen operate in an extremely complex and dangerous environment, facing multiple violations from all parties involved in the conflict. A decade into the war, these organizations continue to monitor and document violations against civilians, while supporting peace efforts and striving for transitional justice.
However, these efforts encounter various threats and obstacles, particularly restrictions on their movements, with staff members facing arrest, torture, and sometimes even death. This impedes any prospects for achieving transitional justice as part of any potential peace agreement to end the war in Yemen.
Reports from the SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties, a member of the Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition, indicate that those working in this field face severe challenges while performing their duties in Yemen, undermining the foundation for implementing transitional justice in the country.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the concept of transitional justice refers to “the full range of processes and mechanisms associated with society’s attempts to come to terms with a legacy of widespread past abuses to ensure accountability, achieve justice, and foster reconciliation.”
To apply this concept in Yemen as part of a future peace agreement, Yemeni human rights organizations need to operate in an environment that guarantees their security and safety, as the documentation carried out by these organizations will serve as the basis for implementing transitional justice in the country.
However, the reality on the ground does not allow this. In areas controlled by the Houthis, authorities impose strict limitations on organizations, including banning access to affected regions and imposing severe penalties on activists.
In other regions, such as those controlled by the legitimate government, internal conflicts and political interests serve as barriers to the work of these organizations, with some facing threats that erase any opportunity to establish a context where transitional justice can be implemented in Yemen.
Despite these challenges, human rights organizations strive to represent the voices of victims and contribute to building sustainable peace, while simultaneously calling for the enhancement of transitional justice as an essential step towards a more stable future.
Since 2014, Yemen has been experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with ongoing conflict among various parties destroying the social and economic fabric and threatening basic human rights.
While conflicting parties endeavor to achieve their political and military objectives, transitional justice and peace remain distant hopes for civilians who have suffered tremendously under daily violations.
This is where the role of international human rights organizations becomes crucial in supporting efforts to ensure the implementation of transitional justice and peace. However, these efforts face complex challenges, especially given the instability in communication channels between the international community and human rights defenders in Yemen.
In this context, human rights organizations that are part of the Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition for Yemen are focused on amplifying voices advocating for human rights and transitional justice, despite structural and political obstacles.
Justice and Peace: Can Balance Be Achieved?
The SAM for Rights and Liberties organization states that achieving a real balance between the demands of transitional justice and peace in Yemen is a complex challenge. This issue requires comprehensive strategies that consider both internal and external challenges surrounding the conflict.
The organization emphasizes that sustainable peace cannot be built at the expense of transitional justice, as the rights of victims must be respected and efforts must be made to compensate them for the harm they have suffered over years of war.
SAM asserts that no peace agreement can exclude the demand for transitional justice in Yemen, as it is the fundamental pillar for building trust between the parties and ensuring that violations do not recur.
The organization highlights the main challenges hindering the realization of transitional justice in Yemen. The ongoing conflict and the overlap of external interests are among the most significant obstacles, as military and economic support tends to fuel the conflict rather than resolve it.
Moreover, the organization points to a lack of trust in the political elite in Yemen and the weakness of judicial institutions, which are influenced by political interference, making the implementation of transitional justice programs nearly impossible.
SAM presents its viewpoint on the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in achieving transitional justice in Yemen, suggesting that pressure on the concerned parties to refer them to the court could compel them to negotiate more seriously.
However, such pressure could elicit negative reactions, as parties involved in the crimes might feel cornered, leading them to cling to their positions, thereby complicating the peace process and undermining any attempts to achieve transitional justice.
Local Communities and International and Regional Powers
In the absence of effective official intervention, SAM states that local communities and civil society organizations play a pivotal role in promoting reconciliation in Yemen. Local activists and civil society organizations can build bridges of communication between conflicting parties, especially in areas affected by sectarian or tribal conflicts.
This dialogue can take place through workshops and community initiatives, where these actors contribute to building trust and promoting shared values, paving the way for sustainable peace that does not exclude the concepts of transitional justice.
However, it cannot be overlooked that Yemen has become a battleground for international and regional conflicts, with countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran intervening directly and indirectly throughout the course of war and peace, often disregarding the demand for transitional justice.
SAM asserts that these interventions have contributed to prolonging the conflict by providing military and economic support to various parties, complicating peace and transitional justice efforts and erecting obstacles to their achievement.
Alliances As An Effective Strategy for Achieving Justice
In the face of multiple challenges, the Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition serves as an important example of the role alliances play in defending human rights in Yemen and achieving the transitional justice demanded by Yemenis.
The Coalition consists of 10 Yemeni human rights organizations and seeks to promote transitional justice and accountability. It is open to including more human rights organizations working in Yemen to strengthen collaboration and ensure the continuity of efforts amid the harsh conditions faced in the country, particularly the threats surrounding the work of human rights defenders.
Firas Hamdouni, the program director at DT Institute, which supports the Coalition, states that “cooperation among organizations helps overcome challenges in coordination and strengthen their influence at the international level, thereby allowing them to apply pressure for transitional justice to be the foundation of any effort aimed at achieving peace.”
The Coalition has helped Yemeni organizations access international platforms, such as the UN Human Rights Council, by enhancing their voice and increasing their impact, enabling them to highlight Yemen’s need for transitional justice.
The Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition has worked to boost the credibility of Yemeni organizations on the international stage, allowing them to access broader platforms and secure important funding opportunities.
Experts in human rights believe that alliances are a vital tool for achieving real change in Yemen, as demonstrated by the Coalition organizations, which have managed to document violations and produce joint reports on human rights conditions, particularly during the Universal Periodic Review sessions in Geneva.
One of the notable achievements of the Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition for Yemen is its comprehensive report presented during the Universal Periodic Review of Yemen at the UN, which detailed human rights violations committed by all conflicting parties. This report stands as evidence of the strength of cooperation among organizations and its role in drawing international attention to Yemen. It is also a document that can be relied upon to achieve transitional justice and prevent perpetrators of human rights violations from escaping accountability.
Yemeni Voices in the Human Rights Council
Despite the challenges, the efforts of human rights organizations and their alliances in Yemen remain a fundamental pillar for achieving transitional justice and peace, especially since they have successfully used the Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition to voice their concerns to the international community.
International support for these efforts is essential to ensure the sustainability of the progress made in the field of human rights, as emphasized by SAM and other Yemeni human rights organizations within the Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition.
During the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council, under agenda item 10 regarding the enhancement of technical capacities of civil society organizations, Angela Al-Maamari, a human rights defender and member of the Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition, made a statement highlighting the urgent need for international action to address severe human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen.
Within the session, the Coalition, which includes ten Yemeni civil society organizations, shed light on the acute deterioration of the human rights situation in the country, criticizing the international community’s inaction in addressing ongoing violations.
The Coalition called on countries to intensify efforts to release all arbitrarily detained individuals and enhance support for civil society, emphasizing that merely strengthening technical capacities is not sufficient to address the crisis.
Al-Maamari stressed the importance of establishing an independent international investigation mechanism focused on criminal accountability to end the culture of impunity dominating the scene.
The presented recommendations highlighted the need for the UN to issue detailed reports on transitional justice that include input from the Human Rights Commission and the Special Envoy and to ensure that these reports are grounded in human rights and focused on victims.
Al-Maamari also called for the incorporation of victims and survivors in any peace and negotiation processes, by working towards justice for them and ensuring that they receive appropriate compensation.
While wrapping up their statement, the Coalition called for “a commitment to international standards for achieving justice and accountability, noting that involving victims in decision-making is fundamental to ensuring sustainable peace in Yemen.”
Promoting a Culture of Transitional Justice
The Yemeni community bears the responsibility of fostering a culture of transitional justice and accountability, as achieving peace necessitates addressing the roots of conflict and ensuring justice for victims and affected communities. This requires efforts that begin with ordinary individuals and extend to international human rights organizations, especially those advocating for accountability for violators.
The issue of Yemen today is fundamentally a human rights one, which must be addressed through a local and international consensus around the principles of transitional justice and peace. Achieving this necessitates concerted efforts and sincere collaboration among all parties tirelessly working to create an environment that promotes human rights and supports transitional justice.
The path to achieving transitional justice and peace in Yemen, while balancing both, remains long and complex. Nevertheless, the efforts of human rights organizations and civil society alliances, such as the Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition, play a pivotal role in the humanitarian struggle amid this intricate conflict.
These entities seek to monitor violations and defend the rights of victims, establishing transitional justice as a prerequisite for reconciliation. While external interventions and the interests of conflicting parties complicate this path, alliances like the Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition remain a cornerstone for change.
Today, Yemen requires local and international commitment to realize these demands and transform them into a reality that supports a more just and peaceful future.