LONDON: A group of 15 human rights organizations has called on Houthi forces to reopen main roads into Taiz in order to alleviate the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Yemen’s third city.
The Iran-backed militia is besieging Taiz, having encircled it in 2015. The International Red Cross says the city, still in government control, is suffering a shortage of food, water and basic supplies that is “dangerously acute” even for war-torn Yemen.
Diego Zorrilla, UN deputy humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, told Agence France-Presse that “the situation in Taiz is particularly serious.”
The 15 organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said the Houthis “should ensure free and safe movement for all humanitarian personnel and facilitate the delivery of food, medical supplies, and other essential items and services to the civilians in the city.”
Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at HRW, said: “Houthi restrictions have forced civilians to use dangerous and poorly maintained mountain roads that are the only connection between Taiz city’s besieged population and the rest of the world.
“Opening the main roads would help immensely to alleviate the suffering of a population that has been in near-total isolation for seven years.”
UN mediation led to a two-month truce in April, and Hans Grundberg, UN special envoy for Yemen, invited both sides to meet to “agree on opening roads in Taiz and other governorates to facilitate the movement of civilian men, women, and children.” The truce was extended in June, and again by a further two months on Aug. 2.
In July, Grundberg’s office announced plans for a staggered reopening of the city’s main roads, but this was rejected by the Houthis. On July 26, Taiz residents took to the streets to protest the Houthis’ decision.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees the right to freedom of movement, as does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
International law also demands that in war, impartial humanitarian assistance must be given to civilians, and those in besieged areas must be allowed to leave.
The only routes into Taiz, however, are currently an unpaved path called Al-Aqrodh — a winding, 60 km detour round the city beset by sharp turns and checkpoints — and the steep, mountainous Haigat Al-Abd road to Aden, known as the “death road” by locals.
Traversing these routes can take many hours, and numerous casualties are reported among those who attempt to use them.
The transportation of goods on trucks, or of people on buses, is incredibly difficult, hindering the flow of emergency items and civilians.
The overuse of the roads, meanwhile, has accelerated their deterioration, making them even more dangerous, and during the rainy season they become practically impassable.
Their decrepit state also makes it incredibly difficult for rural inhabitants of the governorate to travel to the city for medical treatment, spreading suffering far beyond Taiz’s main urban area.
The UN has documented multiple incidents of Houthi forces confiscating food and vital medical supplies at checkpoints, including vaccines, dialysis treatments and oxygen cylinders.
Radhya Al-Mutwakel, chair of Mwatana for Human Rights, said: “The siege of Taiz has become nothing more than a card on the negotiating table. Civilians are paying a high cost to exercise their right of movement and access basic needs such as food, water and basic materials.
“The (Houthis) should immediately end undue restrictions on movement by opening major roads and allowing all Yemeni civilians to travel freely throughout their country.”