3/18
Kristine Beckerle, Yemen and UAE researcher at Human Rights Watch, wrote an op-ed in the Huffington Post urging Congress to call out Saudi Arabia for their human rights violations while Mohammed bin Salman is in Washington.
The Wall Street Journal published an article on the coalition’s air command center. In the piece, Saudi officials make a concerted effort to convince the reader that they are trying to avoid civilian casualties in their war efforts, a claim that is not borne out by available data.
3/19
Avaaz and other advocacy NGOs organized the placement of 5,000 flowers on the US Capitol lawn as a memorial to children who have died in Yemen’s civil war. Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy, who introduced a resolution to stop US military involvement in Yemen, all attended this memorial.
With permission from Saudi Arabia, NPR journalist Steve Inskeep travelled to Yemen and met with fighters and displaced civilians.
3/20
A clash between security belt forces and military police killed three people in Aden. It is unclear whether or not the casualties were civilians.
A senior member of the Southern Transitional Council resigned in response to a council agreement to allow the Republic Guard into Aden. This move reflects widening divisions within the STC.
The new UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said a future political settlement in Yemen should be based on the 2011 Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and the outcomes of the 2013 National Dialogue Conference.
3/21
The US Senate voted 55-44 against a motion to end US military support for the Saudi-led coalition’s war efforts in Yemen. This resolution would have drawn on the War Powers Act, which requires the President to receive congressional approval before engaging in war. If passed, this resolution would have required President Trump to withdraw US forces from hostilities in Yemen within 30 days.
After claiming President Hadi is being held under house arrest in Saudi Arabia and emphasizing the importance of Hadi’s return to Yemen, Yemen’s Minister of State has resigned. Salah al-Sayadi said on Twitter that he will “explain later” the reasons for his resignation.
The UAE’s envoy refused to release 25 inmates who are being held without charge in al-Mukalla, even though the court ordered their release. The detainees’ families are protesting in response to this decision. Last year, journalists and human rights researchers found that UAE and proxy forces were torturing detainees in their extrajudicial prisons; at least one Yemeni has died from torture at the hands of UAE forces.
3/22
The Trump administration informed Congress of three new arms sales worth over $1 billion to Saudi Arabia. Jim Mattis, US Secretary of Defense, also applauded Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian efforts in Yemen, which have drawn criticism from humanitarian NGOs.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Mohammad bin Salman concluded his trip to Washington. Bin Salman left with a promise of weapons, encouragement to combat growing Iranian influence in the region, and pressure to end the conflict in Yemen through a political settlement.
The Houthis claim to have targeted the oil company Saudi Aramco with a ballistic missile, and reportedly hit a Saudi aircraft over Yemen with a surface-to-air R-27 missile.
Clashes between the Houthis and coalition forces escalated on Ta’iz’s western front, reportedly killing 16 Houthi fighters.
A mediation committee brokered an exchange of two prisoners between the Southern Resistance Forces and the Houthis.
3/23
In a series of artillery bombardments on a house in Hudaydah, the Houthis killed all members of a family except an infant who was severely injured.
A roadside bomb killed one woman and injured one soldier in Aden. The intended target of the bomb was the “Fighting Giants” military brigade.
3/24
Al Jazeera reported on alleged abuses by members of the Security Belt, a security force established by the UAE in 2016 that polices areas of southern Yemen. This group has been accused of kidnapping, torturing, and denying fair trials to northern men as well as locals.
3/25
UNICEF is demanding that all warring factions in Yemen allow for the transport of humanitarian aid. UNICEF’s statement accuses the parties of stopping or delaying aid deliveries across the country, and this directly increases the suffering of millions.
Northern Yemenis are being forcibly expelled from the south, according to a new report by Al Jazeera.