Yemen

Last Updated: 06 December 2013

Mine Ban Policy

Last updated October 2013

Mine ban policy overview

Mine Ban Treaty status

State Party

National implementation measures

Legislation enacted 20 April 2005

Transparency reporting

For the period 31 March 2012–31 March 2013

Key developments

Confirmed use of antipersonnel mines at Bani Jamooz north of Sana’a in 2011, possibly by government forces, requires investigation and action by the government; non-state armed groups (NSAGs) have used antipersonnel mines in various locations

Policy

The Republic of Yemen signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 1 September 1998. It entered into force on 1 March 1999. National implementation legislation was enacted on 20 April 2005.[1]

Yemen submitted its 15th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in 2013, covering the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013.

Yemen attended the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in December 2012, where it made a statement on mine clearance. Yemen participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings held in Geneva in May 2013, where it made statements on mine clearance and victim assistance. At both meetings Yemen responded to allegations of recent antipersonnel mine use (see section on Use below).

Yemen is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but it participated as an observer in the annual conference of CCW Amended Protocol II on landmines in November 2012.

Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and retention

Yemen has stated that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. It destroyed the last of its known stockpile of 74,000 to 78,000 antipersonnel mines in April 2002.[2] An additional 30,000 mines were found in November 2006 and destroyed in December 2007.[3] Possible use of antipersonnel mines by government forces in 2011 also raises questions about whether stocks still exist.

In 2013, Yemen again reported that it has retained 3,760 antipersonnel mines for training and research purposes.[4] Yemen still has not reported on the intended purposes and actual uses of its retained mines as agreed by States Parties in 2004.[5] Some of the types of mines used in 2011 are types that are being retained.

Use

In 2013, credible information emerged of antipersonnel mine use at a location north of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, in late 2011, allegedly by the government’s Republican Guard force. The Monitor previously reported antipersonnel mine use, possibly by government forces, in Sana’a that resulted in casualties in January and March 2012. Additionally, NSAGs are using antipersonnel mines in other locations.

Bani Jamooz

According to witness testimony collected by Human Rights Watch (HRW), evidence gathered by a local human rights organization, and evidence collected by an international journalist, antipersonnel mines were laid around the camps of the Republican Guards in Bani Jarmooz, north of Sana’a, in late 2011.[6]

Local inhabitants and mine victims interviewed by HRW said that they first learned that their farmland was mined around September 2011, notably when Abdulhamid Wasel Ali Wasl, a 14-year-old boy from Bayt al-Auseri village, was killed as the vehicle he was travelling in hit an antivehicle mine on September 2.

According to a resident who became a mine victim in November 2011, in late September or early October 2011 he used binoculars to watch between 10 and 15 soldiers in Republican Guard uniforms lay antipersonnel mines in a nearby wadi, or river bed. HRW interviewed a medic from the district of Milhin who lost his leg in an incident on 30 November 2011 in an antipersonnel minefield outside the camp of the 63rd Brigade of the Republican Guard, which resulted in five casualties.[7] The most recent victim interviewed by HRW was Fawaz Mohsin Saleh Husn, a nine-year-old boy from al-Khabsha village, who was injured by an antipersonnel mine at Bani Jamooz on 12 April 2013.[8] In total, HRW estimates that the mines at Bani Jamooz caused at least 15 civilian casualties, including nine children, in the period from September 2011 to May 2013.

From their descriptions and drawings by local residents, HRW identified PMN antipersonnel mines used at Bani Jamooz, while photographs taken by a journalist indicate that other types of mines have also been found in the area, including a PMD-6 antipersonnel mine.[9]

The mine casualties all occurred in the vicinity of military camps that the 63rd and 81st Brigades of the Republican Guard established at Bani Jarmooz around 26 July 2011 and which remained in place as of September 2013. There has been no other military activity in the area that could explain the presence of the mines. HRW did not observe any fencing or warning signs when it visited the site in April 2013.

In a May 2013 letter to Yemen’s Minister of Defense, HRW urged the government to conduct an immediate investigation into the use of antipersonnel mines at Bani Jarmooz to establish when, by whom, and under what authority the mines were laid and the extent of their deployment. It also called for the affected area to be marked, fenced, and cleared and for comprehensive assistance to be provided to the mine victims.[10] The ICBL wrote to Yemen’s Minister of Foreign Affairs to express its concern and ask for investigations, including on where these mines may have come from.[11]

During the session on compliance at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty in late May 2013, the ICBL said “it is clear that mines have been used” in Yemen, but “not clear whether government or rebel forces have been responsible.” It said that there are indicators that government forces “could be the culprits” and called for a thorough investigation.[12]

Over the course of the week-long intersessional meetings, 15 states as well as Matjaz Kovacic, the Slovenian Ambassador to the UN in Geneva (in his role as the President of the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties) called for an investigation that would report back to States Parties; they also expressed concern at the casualties and urged rapid mine clearance.[13]

On the final day of the intersessional meetings, Yemen’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ali Mohamed Saeed Majawar, responded to the allegations, stating, “We have contacted the relevant government bodies and Yemen Mission in Geneva. It was agreed that an official investigation will be conducted on the use of AP mines in the mentioned area, by whom and the guilty will be punished. YEMAC [the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center] will implement a level one survey to locate the mines and clear them to stop any further casualties.”[14]

Since that time, the Yemeni government has not provided any information on the status of any investigation.

In September 2013, a government official informed the Monitor that the engineering corps of the Ministry of Defense—as opposed to YEMAC—will clear the minefield due to the location’s proximity to the capital. The representative acknowledged that the affected area at Bani Jamooz has not been cleared and said that the clearance effort “stops and starts…depending on the security situation.”[15]

In a meeting with YEMAC in September 2013, the head of the organization told HRW that because the government is not ensuring the security of a demining assessment team to Bani Jarmooz, no steps have been taken to start the clearing process.[16]

Sana’a

At some point since May 2011, antipersonnel mines were laid inside the building compound of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Jomhorriya Street in the Hassaba neighborhood of Sana’a. This situation came to public attention after a child was injured by an antipersonnel mine at the site in March 2012.[17] Deminers from the Army Engineering Corps were seen in a video recording obtained by HRW removing at least 25 antipersonnel mines from the compound on 7 March 2012, including one mine type not encountered before in Yemen, either in stock or laid.[18]

Armed clashes, the so-called “Hassaba war,” between members of the al-Ahmar tribal militia and government forces began in the area in May 2011.

Guards from the government’s Central Security forces who were present at the site in March 2012 stated that men who identified themselves as members of the Republican Guard claimed responsibility for laying mines inside the compound (although the date was unspecified) during the process of transferring control of the compound to the Central Security forces. HRW does not have any further information to corroborate this latter claim. It cannot be conclusively determined which forces used the mines at the compound.[19]

At the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties in December 2012, Yemen denied that its army was using antipersonnel landmines and instead blamed NSAGs. Germany stated that it had raised the issue of reported landmine use in Sana’a in 2012 with the general staff of Yemen’s armed forces, who informed Germany that the area was being demined.

At the intersessional meetings in May 2013, Yemen stated that it had investigated the incident in Sana’a but did not find any landmines. It said that assistance has been provided to the child victim.[20]

Use by non-state armed groups

In 2012, there were credible reports of use of antipersonnel mines by NSAGs in Sa’ada governorate and Abyan governorate. It is unclear if antipersonnel mines were still being used in 2013. In its 2013 Article 7 Report, Yemen stated that YEMAC could fulfill its mine action plans in Sa’ada and Abyan in 2012 because “the security situation became much better than 2011.”

Sa’ada

Yemen’s 2013 Article 7 report states that “YEMAC face new challenge in Sada’a governorate after insurgences [sic] war. New kinds of mines made manually by insurgences [sic] and planted in Sada’a, some of them demined by the insurgences [sic] and they missed others. …lot of mine accidents happened and many of people killed and injured.”[21]

Since June 2004, the government of Yemen has been fighting rebel forces led by Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi in the mountainous northern Sada’a governorate, which has seen occasional reports and allegations of the use of antipersonnel mines by both sides.[22] After a 2010 ceasefire opened access to the region, it became apparent that the Houthi rebel forces had used mostly, if not exclusively, so-called home-made antipersonnel mines, otherwise known as victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs).[23]

Haijjah governorate, which borders Sa’ada governorate and where Houthi rebels have been fighting local Sunni tribes backed by the government, has also suffered casualties from landmines.[24] In March 2012, a local representative said that Houthi rebels had planted approximately 3,000 landmines in Kushar and Ahim in Hajjah governorate.[25] In February 2013, a local involved in mine clearance efforts reportedly said, “The way in which the land mines were placed in Ahim is one of the biggest inhibiting factors to their cleanup. Because the weapons were placed unsystematically, they have even killed those accused of planting them.”[26]

In September 2013, a representative of the district of Al-Asha bordering Sa’ada governorate told media that Houthi rebels were planting landmines “in the mountainous areas under their control.”[27]

Abyan

In its 2012 Article 7 report, Yemen listed Abyan governorate in the south of the country as newly mine-affected “because of the war that started between the Yemeni army and Al Qaeda groups.”[28]

According to media reports in June 2012, the governor's office in Zinjibar (the capital of Abyan governorate) said that engineering teams have removed some landmines from around the city and the nearby city of Jaar. Government forces regained control of both cities in May 2012, a year after they were occupied by Ansar al-Sharia, an armed organization linked to al Qaeda.[29] Photographs of weapons recovered by deminers from Ansar al-Sharia positions after the withdrawal, which HRW examined in October 2012, included antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines, explosive booby-traps, and IEDs.[30]

 



[1] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form A, 30 March 2007. On 16 December 2004, the Yemeni parliament endorsed national implementation legislation; on 20 April 2005, Presidential Law No. 25 was issued to bring the legislation into force. The implementing legislation has not been listed in recent Article 7 reports. Instead, under national measures, Yemen has listed its ratification legislation, stating that, “The Parliament of Yemen issued, and the President signed law on 8\98 in June 1998. The law states that the Government of Yemen will enforce the ban from the day the law was issued.” Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form A.

[2] In its Article 7 reports submitted in 2001 and 2002, Yemen reported a stockpile of 78,000 mines, including 4,000 to be retained for training. Its reporting on the destruction of the mines has contained discrepancies, but appeared to total about 74,000. Yet its Article 7 reports have usually cited the figure of 78,000 destroyed. See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 522, and subsequent editions of Landmine Monitor.

[3] On 16 December 2007, Yemen destroyed an additional 30,000 POMZ-2 antipersonnel mines that were found in November 2006 in an old military warehouse undergoing transformation into a tourist site. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form G, 31 March 2008; and Form B, 30 March 2007.

[4] Yemen declared the following mines: 940 PPMISR-2, 940 PMD-6, 940 POMZ-2, and 940 PMN. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form D. It declared the same number (3,760) of retained mines in its Article 7 reports provided in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012. Yemen’s 2011 report declared a total of 4,000 antipersonnel mines retained for training and research purposes, including 240 additional mines (60 more of each type): 1,000 PPMISR-2, 1,000 PMD-6, 1,000 POMZ-2, and 1,000 PMN. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 30 March 2010 to 30 March 2011), Form D. Yemen has not provided any explanation for the increased number listed in the 2011 report.

[5] The retained mines were transferred from centralized military storage facilities in Sana’a and Aden to the Military Engineering Department Training Facility and Mine Detection Dogs Unit. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 30 March 2011 to 30 March 2012), Form D.

[6] Joe Sheffer, “Revenge Landmines of the Arab Spring,” Foreign Policy, 24 May 2013; and HRW press release, “Yemen: Investigate, Respond to Landmine Use Reports,” 27 May 2013; and Yemen Rights Foundation, “A report issued by the Yemen Rights Foundation about landmines that were previously used by members of the Republican Guard stationed in the military bases al-Sama and al-Fareeja in the valleys and mountains of Bani Jarmouz, Sana’a province, in 2011,” 10 April 2013, www.al-tagheer.com/editor_images/تقرير صادر عن مؤسسة يمن حقوق.pdf. Unless stated otherwise, all information in the Bani Jamooz section comes from these sources.

[7] According to 21-year-old Brahim Abdallah Hussain Hotrom from Milhin district in Sana’a, three people were walking near the camp when one was shot. The other two men called the local medical team to help and tried to take the injured man to a safe place. Those two men stepped on landmines. The medical team went in and all except one of the four medics stepped on landmines and were wounded. Hotrom said the mined area was about 1,200 meters from a Republican Guard checkpoint and about 800 meters from the 63rd Brigade.

[8] The victim was tending his family’s sheep on 12 April 2013 when one sheep ran into a mined area that he knew to be unsafe. He sought to retrieve the sheep but stepped on a mine, which exploded, threw him to the ground, and severed his left leg. His family said that some soldiers nearby witnessed the explosion but were apparently too fearful to enter the area to rescue the boy, and a local villager extricated him and took him to the nearest medical services for treatment.

[9] During a visit to Bani Jormooz in April 2013, an international journalist said “residents produced bags of mines recovered from the ground using rudimentary methods. They included four different types of anti-personnel mines, including large numbers of Hungarian manufactured GYATA-64 type mines, known to be among the most powerful anti-personnel devices ever manufactured. Locals also produced plastic East German PPM2 mines and two variations of Soviet wooden PMD-5 [sic] landmines — all were manufactured before the end of the Cold War.” Joe Sheffer, Revenge Landmines of the Arab Spring,” Foreign Policy, 24 May 2013. GYATA-64 and PPM-2 mines were not previously stockpiled by Yemen, or currently retained for training purposes.

[10] No response to the letter had been received as of September 2013. Letter from HRW to Maj. Gen. Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, Minster of Defense of Yemen, 21 May 2013, www.hrw.org/node/115876.

[11] ICBL letter to Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Abdallah al-Qirbi, 23 May 2013.

[12] Statement of the ICBL, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 7 December 2013.

[13] Afghanistan, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Ireland, Jordan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

[14] Statement of Yemen, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 30 May 2013.

[15] Monitor meeting with Ahmed Ali Saeed An-Ansi, Ministry of Defense of Yemen, in Lusaka, 11 September 2013.

[16] HRW meeting with Ali al-Kadri, Director YEMAC, Sana’a, 8 September 2013.

[17] A 10-year-old boy named Osama was seriously injured when he stepped on an antipersonnel mine in a courtyard inside the compound on 4 March 2012. The boy’s right leg was amputated below the knee and he received injuries to his left leg and abdomen. The medical report obtained by HRW said the cause “had to be something that exploded from the bottom” and also identified the cause of the injuries as a “mine.”

[18] HRW obtained video footage of a demining operation conducted at the site on 7 March 2012, showing the removal of two types of antipersonnel mines, including East German PPM-2 blast mines. The PPM-2 mine is not reported to have been stockpiled by Yemen.

[19] Before the conflict, government employees used the ministry building daily. On 23 May 2011, al-Ahmar tribal militia entered the building around midday, causing employees working there to flee, according to local shopkeepers and residents. Al-Ahmar fighters occupied the building for approximately 10 days during fighting with government forces, several residents and merchants told HRW. Cadets of the Supreme Military College subsequently occupied the premises. Around 16 October 2011, neighborhood residents said, troops from the Republican Guard assumed control of the recaptured building. In January 2012, Central Security officers began guarding the building compound, they told HRW. HRW interviews with six uniformed guards from the Central Security forces at the Ministry of Industry and Trade compound and interviews with local shop owners and residents, Jomhorriya Street, Hassaba neighborhood, Sana’a, 24–25 March 2012.

[20] Statement of Yemen, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 27 May 2013.

[21] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form I.

[23] In a February 2010 United States (US) diplomatic cable made public in August 2011, a senior Yemeni government representative expressed concern that the Houthi rebels were retaining mines after they were cleared, rather than turning the devices over to the army for destruction. “Yemen: Ceasefire Implementation Creeps in Sa’ada,” US Department of State cable 10SANAA382 dated 23 February 2010, released by Wikileaks on 30 August 2011.

[24]Landmines kill 10 in northern Yemen battle zone,” Reuters (Sana’a), 23 March 2012.

[25] A representative of the Houthi rebels told media that landmines were used by the Houthi, but described the number of mines reported as “exaggerated.” Hadi Wardan, a member of the local authority for Sharis in Hajjah, cited in: “Landmines threaten lives of citizens in Hajja,” Yemen Times, 26 March 2012.

[26] Rammah Al-Jubari, “Wanting to go home but threatened by landmines, Ahim area IDPs caught in limbo,” Yemen Times, 7 February 2013.

[27] Nasser Al-Sakkaf, “10 killed by landmine,” Yemen Times, September 2013.

[28] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 30 March 2011 to 30 March 2012), Form I.

[29]Yemen says 73 killed by al-Qaida land mines,” Associated Press, 26 June 2012.

[30] The Monitor identified Soviet-made POMZ-2 and PMN antipersonnel mines among unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance recovered in Abyan in an Agence France-Presse photograph taken in Abyan in June 2012. See, “Mines and weapons are laid on the ground as a de-mining operation gets underway in the southern province of Abyan,” Agence France-Presse, 20 June 2012. PMN antipersonnel mines were also identified in a Yemeni Ministry of Defense photograph published by Reuters showing explosive weapons seized “from positions of Al-Qaeda militants in Abyan” in June 2012. See, “Yemen says Islamists retreat from southern town,” Reuters, 17 June 2012. In a personal blog entry on mine clearance in Abyan, a Yemen Observer journalist reported in July 2012 that YEMAC had found and destroyed 12 antipersonnel mines, as well as 22 antivehicle mines, and 347 booby-traps. See, Majid al-Kibsi, “Landmines threaten IDPs return to Abyan,” 27 July 2012.


Last Updated: 26 August 2013

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

The Republic of Yemen has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Yemen has not made a public statement explaining its position on joining the convention.

Yemen participated in two meetings of the Oslo Process that produced the convention (Lima in May 2007 and Belgrade in October 2007) and stated its support for work to prohibit cluster munitions.[1] It did not attend the negotiations of the convention in Dublin in May 2008 or the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008.[2]

In September 2011, Yemen participated in its first meeting of the convention when it attended the Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut as an observer, but it did not make any statements. Yemen did not attend the convention’s Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo in September 2012. Yemen was present at the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2013 but did not make any statements.

Yemen is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Yemen is not known to have used, produced, or exported cluster munitions.[3]

It appears that Yemen stockpiles cluster munitions. Jane’s Information Group reports that KMG-U dispensers that deploy submunitions are in service with the country’s air force.[4] Moldova exported 13 220mm Uragan multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to Yemen in 1994, and Yemen possesses Grad 122mm surface-to-surface rocket launchers, but it is not known if the ammunition for these weapons includes versions with submunition payloads.[5]

In June 2010, Amnesty International (AI) reported that it appears the United States (US) used at least one ship- or submarine-launched TLAM-D cruise missile, which contains 166 BLU-97 submunitions, to attack a “training camp” in al-Majalah in the al-Mahfad district of Abyan governorate of Yemen on 17 December 2009. It said the attack killed 55 people, including 14 alleged members of the targeted “terrorist group,” as well as 14 women and 21 children.[6] Neither the US nor the Yemeni government has publicly responded to AI’s allegations. In December 2010, Wikileaks released a US Department of State cable dated 21 December 2009 that acknowledged the US had a role in the 17 December strike; the cable said that Yemeni government officials:

…continue to publicly maintain that the operation was conducted entirely by its forces, acknowledging U.S. support strictly in terms of intelligence sharing. Deputy Prime Minister Rashad al-Alimi told the Ambassador on December 20 that any evidence of greater U.S. involvement such as fragments of U.S. munitions found at the sites - could be explained away as equipment purchased from the U.S.[7]

The US has never exported the TLAM-D cruise missile.[8] The extent of any residual contamination from this reported cluster munition use is not known.

In July 2013, mine clearance operators in Yemen shared photographic evidence with the Monitor of cluster munition contamination in Sadaa governorate in northwestern Yemen near the border with Saudi Arabia. The contamination apparently dates from conflict in 2009–2010 between the government of Yemen and rebel forces led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.[9] Human Rights Watch has identified the remnants as unexploded BLU-97 bomblets, BLU-61 submunitions, and dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions of an unknown origin.[10] Because the circumstances of the cluster munition use are not clear, it is not possible to determine definitively the actor responsible for the use.[11]

 



[1] Statement of Yemen, Lima Conference on Cluster Munitions, Session on Victim Assistance, 23 May 2008. Notes by Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

[2] For details on Yemen’s cluster munition policy and practice up to early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 262.

[3] There are unconfirmed reports that cluster munitions may have been used in the 1994 civil war.

[4] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 848.

[5] Submission of the Republic of Moldova, UN Register of Conventional Arms, Report for Calendar Year 1994, 28 April 1995; International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2011, (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 335; and Colin King, ed., Jane’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2008, CD-edition (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2008).

[6] AI published a series of photographs showing the remnants of the cruise missile, including the propulsion system, a BLU-97 submunition, and the payload ejection system, the latter of which is unique to the TLAM-D cruise missile. See also, “U.S. missiles killed civilians in Yemen, rights group says,” CNN, 7 June 2010, edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/07/yemen.missiles/index.html.

[7] “ROYG [Republic of Yemen Government] looks ahead following CT operations, but perhaps not far enough,” US Department of State cable SANAA 02230 dated 21 December 2009, released by Wikileaks on 4 December 2010, wikileaks.org/cable/2009/12/09SANAA2251.html.

[8] The TLAM-C cruise missile, which has a unitary warhead, has been bought by one country: the United Kingdom. There have been no other sales of this system by the US to foreign militaries. US Navy Fact File, “Tomahawk Cruise Missile,” www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2200&tid=1300&ct=2.

[9] Interview with Abdul Raqeeb Fare, Deputy Director, Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC), Sanaa, 7 March 2013. Interview with Ali al-Kadri, Director YEMAC, in Geneva, 28 May 2013. Email from John Dingley, UNDP Yemen, 9 July 2013.

[10] The DPICM submunitions look like an M42 submunition, but the delivery method (surface-fired or air-launched) is unclear.

[11] Yemen is not known to possess these types of submunitions, but it has provided no information on its stockpiled cluster munitions. Saudi Arabia has supported Yemeni forces and is known to stockpile these weapons, so it could be responsible for the use. The US is another possibility. It is not conceivable that the rebels possess these weapons.


Last Updated: 26 November 2013

Mine Action

Contamination and Impact

The Republic of Yemen is contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) from a series of conflicts (1962–1969, 1970–1983, and in 1994), but escalating instability and conflict in the last two years has added significant new ERW contamination.

Mines

Mines were laid in border areas between North and South Yemen before they unified in 1990, again in the 1994 internal conflict,[1] and most recently in the political turmoil and tribal conflicts of the last two years.[2]

Yemen’s Article 5 deadline Extension Request in 2008 reported that it had 457 mined areas to be “addressed,” covering a total of 213km².[3] Its latest Article 7 report stated that 20 of Yemen’s 21 governorates had suspected contamination affecting 757 communities and covered a total area of 1,157.55km².[4] Yemen Mine Action Center (YEMAC), however, has reported there are 1,328 mined areas covering 1,064 km².[5]

The Article 5 deadline extension request noted that a Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) completed in July 2000 identified mine and ERW suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) covering an estimated 922km2 and affecting 592 mine villages across 18 of Yemen’s 21 governorates. Subsequent demining identified a further 10 mined areas estimated to cover a total of some 605,000m2, bringing the estimate of total contamination to 923km². The extension request reported that 710km² of affected land had been released, leaving 457 areas covering 213km² still to be released.[6]

However, new contamination, some of it on previously cleared land, resulted from the 2010 insurgency in northern Sa’ada governorate led by Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the 2011 insurgency around southern Abyan by militants identified as belonging to Ansar al-Sharia which is linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as conflict in Amran and Hajjah.[7] YEMAC said non-technical survey (NTS) conducted in 2012 in two districts of Abyan, Zinjibar and Khanfar had increased estimates of their contamination from 35.48km² to 126.8km².[8]

A media report in 2013 alleged that two of the government’s Republican Guard units had emplaced around 8,000 mines in the mountainous Bani Jormooz area north of the capital, Sanaa, in 2011. The report said local inhabitants had collected four types of antipersonnel mines.[9]

Cluster munition remnants

Yemen is affected by cluster munition remnants but the extent of contamination is not known. YEMAC has confirmed the presence, but not the origin, of cluster munition remnants in four districts on the border between Sa’ada governorate and Saudi Arabia.[10] These consisted mainly of BLU-97s, dual purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICMs), and BLU-61s.[11]

Amnesty International reported the presence of unexploded BLU-97 submunitions in June 2010, which it alleged originated from a United States (US) cruise missile attack on 17 December 2009 on the community of al-Ma’jalah in the Abyan area in south Yemen.[12] YEMAC said it has not been able to access the area to confirm the presence of submunitions.[13]

Other explosive remnants of war

Contamination identified by the LIS (see above) included unexploded ordnance (UXO) as well as mines, but the full extent of UXO contamination following recent conflict is not known. An August 2012 funding appeal by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted the presence in Abyan of “new threats from unexploded ordnance, mines and the new and more unpredictable security environment.”[14] In addition to reports of booby-traps and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) around Abyan and its main town, Zinjibar, recaptured by government forces in June 2012, media photos also suggested the presence of artillery shells among other items of UXO.[15]

Mine action program

Key institutions and operators

Body

Situation on 1 January 2012

National Mine Action Authority

National Mine Action Committee (NMAC)

Mine action center

YEMAC

International demining operators

None

National demining operators

YEMAC

International risk education (RE) operators

Danish Demining Group, UNICEF

National RE operators

YEMAC

Yemen established a National Mine Action Committee (NMAC) in June 1998 by prime ministerial decree to formulate policy, allocate resources, and develop a national mine action strategy.[16] NMAC, chaired by the Minister of State (a member of the cabinet), brings together representatives of seven concerned ministries.

YEMAC was established in Sana’a in January 1999 as NMAC’s implementing body with responsibility for coordinating all mine action in the country.[17] It is supported by a Regional Executive Mine Action Branch (REMAB) and a National Training Center in Aden, also set up in 1999, and another REMAB in al-Mukalla (Hadramout governorate) that was added in March 2004. REMABs are responsible for field implementation of the national mine action plan.

YEMAC operated in 2012 with six demining units, one small unit or platoon, 12 survey teams, eight BAC/EOD (battle area clearance/explosive ordnance disposal teams, and 12 mine detection dog teams of which three were operational.[18] Yemen’s Article 7 report stated that it had 777 trained deminers and five quality insurance teams.[19]

UNDP started a program of support to YEMAC in 1999 but provided no international technical advisor between 2005 and 2013. Phase III of the program was due to end in 2009, but was extended as a result of political turmoil and conflict in 2010−2012. In March 2013, UNDP embarked on a new US$10.1 million four-year program of support, returning to a ‘direct implementation methodology’ and providing an international technical advisor to work with NMAC and YEMAC in developing a national strategy, priorities, and standards. The program for 2013 included drafting and disseminating a new National Mine Action Strategy; conducting NTS of 17,818km² in Amran, Hajjah, and Sa’ada as well as 2,830km² in Abyan; and reorganizing military EOD/demining capacity under a single, integrated command within the Ministry of Defense.[20]

Land Release

YEMAC reported release of a total of 3.13km² through clearance in 2012.[21] Although YEMAC conducted demining in 2010 and 2011, it did not report any clearance in those years. Yemen’s Article 7 report for 2012−2013 says it has cleared 815 minefields, 37 more than the report for the previous year, but it gave no detail of the amount of land cleared.[22]

Five-year summary of clearance

Year

Mined area cleared (km2)

Battle area cleared (km2)

2012

2.1

1.03

2011

N/R

N/R

2010

N/R

N/R

2009

3.20

0

2008

3.61

0

Total

8.91

1.03

N/R = not reported

Survey in 2012

YEMAC reported that it conducted an emergency survey in Abyan after government forces regained control of the area, identifying 22 SHAs covering 19.32km² affected by antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, ERW, and booby-traps.[23] Survey initially focused on Zinjibar city, but from September onwards teams undertook non-technical survey in Zinjibar district and Khanfar district.

YEMAC started survey in Sa’ada governorate in November 2012 with three NTS teams, one technical survey team, one demining unit, and six BAC/EOD teams. By April 2013, YEMAC said they had identified suspected mined areas amounting to 107.4km² in three districts and confirmed hazards amounting to 9.82km².[24]

In 2013, YEMAC said it planned to conduct NTS in four more districts of Abyan governorate (Alwadee, Ahwar, Sarar Modia, and Almahfed) and in the western districts of Sa’ada (Haidan, Al Daher, Saqain, and Shatha). It expected to complete NTS in Sa’ada and Hajjah in about six months (October) and in Abyan by the end of the year.[25]

Mine and battle area clearance in 2012

YEMAC cleared a total of 2.1km² in 2012 in the governorates of Sa’ada, Abyan, Amran, Hadramaut, Ebb, and Al Dhala and expected to continue demining in these areas in 2013, operating with the same capacity as in 2012.[26] Yemen reported that demining operations were conducted in 23 districts of these governorates and was continuing in 61 minefields.[27]

YEMAC had halted demining operations in Sa’ada in 2011 because of insecurity but resumed working there in November 2012. By the end of the year, YEMAC reported that it had found and destroyed a total of 440 cluster munition remnants but did not identify the types or origin of these munitions.[28]

Mined area clearance: 2012[29]

Name of operator

No. of mined areas released

Total mined area released by clearance (m2)

No. of antipersonnel mines destroyed

No. of antivehicle mines destroyed

No. of U-SUBs destroyed

No. of UXO destroyed

YEMAC

42

2,092,228

90

42

440

4,598

U-SUB = unexploded submunition; UXO = unexploded ordnance other than unexploded submunition

Abyan became the focus of emergency survey and clearance operations after government forces regained control of most of the governorate from insurgents in June 2012. YEMAC and army engineers deployed to clear large numbers of mines, booby-traps, IEDs, and other ERW in Zinjibar, Lawdar, and other parts of Abyan. The contamination reportedly inflicted heavy civilian casualties and posed a major obstacle to the return of populations displaced by the conflict. YEMAC reported in July 2012 that 95 people had died in mine and ERW incidents in Abyan, including five of its own personnel. It said engineers had cleared 1,537 mines in Abyan since the government takeover. In September 2012, YEMAC reported to donors that its inquiries had revealed only 16 casualties resulted from mines or UXO; it also reported that it had cleared 72 antipersonnel mines, 35 antivehicle mines, 2,505 items of ERW, and 1,681 booby-traps since June 2012.[30]

Battle area clearance: 2012[31]

Name of operator

No. of battle areas released

Total battle area released by clearance (m2)

No. of UXO destroyed

No. of U-SUBs destroyed

No. of antipersonnel mines destroyed

No. of antivehicle mines destroyed

YEMAC

5,020,500

1,028,229

242

0

20

1

U-SUB = unexploded submunition; UXO = unexploded ordnance other than unexploded submunition

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the five-year extension granted in 2008), Yemen is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2015.

Contamination added by conflicts in 2010−2012 (not yet fully assessed) prevents any determination of the extent of Yemen’s contamination; however, even before these conflicts more than 200km² of SHAs identified by survey had not been cleared and therefore it looked certain that Yemen would need to apply for an extension to its Article 5 clearance deadline.

Quality management

YEMAC reports that it operates with five quality assurance teams.[32]

Safety of demining personnel

YEMAC reported that four deminers were killed and nine injured in 2012 in the course of clearance operations. Another four deminers were killed and one injured in the same year as a result of security incidents.[33]

 



[1] Email from Mansour al-Azi, Director, Yemen Mine Action Center (YEMAC), 28 August 2011.

[2] See Joe Sheffer, “Revenge landmines of the Arab Spring,” Foreign Policy, 24 May 2013, and “Tens Killed, Injured in Houthi Landmines in Northern Yemen, Foundation,” Yemen Post, 12 March 2013.

[4] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form I.

[5] Interview with Abdul Raqeeb Fare, Deputy Director, YEMAC, Sanaa, 7 February 2013.

[7] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form I; “Yemen: Landmines stall IDP returns in the south,” IRIN, 28 June 2012; and UNDP, Project Document: “Support to eliminate the impact from mines and ERW − Phase IV,” undated but 2013, p. 2.

[8] Information from YEMAC forwarded by email from Rosemary Willey-Al’Sanah, 27 April 2013.

[9] Joe Sheffer, “Revenge landmines of the Arab Spring,” Foreign Policy, 24 May 2013. From descriptions and drawings by local residents, Human Rights Watch identified PMN antipersonnel mines used at Bani Jamooz, while photographs taken by a journalist indicate that other types of mines have also been found in the area, including a PMD-6 antipersonnel mine.

[10] Interview with Abdul Raqeeb Fare, YEMAC, Sanaa, 7 March 2013.

[11] Email from John Dingley, Chief Technical Advisor, YEMAC, 9 July 2013.

[13] Information from YEMAC forwarded by email from Rosemary Willey-Al’Sanah, UNDP, 27 April 2013.

[14]Mid-year Review of the Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen,” UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 17 August 2012.

[16] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form I.

[18] Interview with Abdul Raqeeb Fare, YEMAC, Sanaa, 7 February 2013; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form F.

[19] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form I.

[20] UNDP, Project Document: “Support to eliminate the impact from mines and ERW − Phase IV,” undated but 2013.

[21] Interview with Abdul Raqeeb Fare, YEMAC, Sanaa, 7 February 2013.

[22] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form F.

[23] Presentation to donors by Mansour al-Azi, YEMAC, Sana’a, 19 September 2012.

[24] Interview with Abdul Raqeeb Fare, YEMAC, Sanaa, 7 February 2013; and information from YEMAC forwarded by email from Rosemary Willey-Al’Sanah, UNDP, 27 April 2013.

[25] Interview with Abdul Raqeeb Fare, YEMAC, Sanaa, 7 February 2013.

[26] Ibid.

[27] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form F.

[28] Information from YEMAC forwarded by email from Rosemary Willey-Al’Sanah, UNDP, 27 April 2013.

[29] Ibid.; and email from Ahmed Alawi, Information Management System for Mine Action Director, YEMAC, 11 March 2013..

[30] Presentations to donors by Mansour al-Azi, YEMAC, Sana’a, 16 July and 19 September 2012.

[31] Email from Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, 11 March 2013.

[32] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form F.

[33] Information from YEMAC forwarded by email from Rosemary Willey-Al’Sanah, UNDP, 27 April 2013.


Last Updated: 25 November 2013

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Summary findings

·         Implementation of the national victim assistance plan was included in the Republic of Yemen’s 2013 budget for the first time on the orders of the office of the Prime Minister

·         Survivors were not included in the coordination or monitoring of victim assistance in 2012

·         Government assistance remained limited to medical care and physical rehabilitation rather than addressing all victim’s needs through economic and psychosocial inclusion

Victim assistance commitments

Yemen is responsible for a significant number of landmine survivors and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. Yemen has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties Overview

All known casualties by end 2012

5,785

Casualties in 2012

263 (2011: 19)

2012 casualties by outcome

87 killed; 176 injured (2011: 10 killed; 9 injured)

2012 casualties by device type

50 antipersonnel mines; 1 antivehicle mine; 3 victim-activated IEDs; 22 undefined mine types; 108 ERW; 79 unknown devices

In 2012, the Monitor identified 263 casualties from mines and ERW from Yemen Mine Action Center (YEMAC) casualty data and other sources.[1] As in previous years, YEMAC only had access to casualty data from government-controlled parts of the country.[2] Casualty data from other parts of the country was collected through media reports and NGOs.[3]

The vast majority of casualties, 92% (242) were civilians.[4] There were 19 casualties among deminers; 10 of these occurred between January and July 2012 as deminers cleared areas where there had been recent fighting in Abyan. Following these casualties, YEMAC ceased clearance in this area until deminers received further training. Another five deminer casualties occurred in a single accident in October when an item of ERW that had been removed for disposal exploded while being transported.[5]

There were 104 child casualties, representing 50% of the total civilian casualties for which the age was known.[6] At least 77 of these were boys; there were 10 casualties among girls.[7] While men made up the majority of adult casualties, at least three casualties were women. Three Ethiopian nationals were injured in a single incident in Hajjah governorate while attempting to cross the border with Saudi Arabia.[8]

The number of casualties recorded in 2012 was the highest annual number recorded by the Monitor for Yemen since research began in 1999. It was many times higher than the 19 recorded in 2011 or the 52 identified in 2010.[9] This significant increase was due to the increased population movement immediately after fighting subsided in early 2012.[10]

It was also, at least in part, attributed to suspected new use of mines in the governorates of Sana’a, Sa’daa, Hajjah and Abyan in 2011–2012. The Monitor was able to confirm casualties in at least three of these areas of suspected new use. A 10-year-old boy was injured by an antipersonnel landmine at the Ministry of Industry building in the Hassaba neighborhood in Sana’a on 4 March 2012, an area of suspected new landmine use.[11] Another 16 mine/ERW casualties were confirmed by YEMAC in Abyan in a period of just three weeks in June and July, in an area where suspected mine use by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) was reported.[12] In 2012, 124 casualties were reported in Hajjah , most of which were recorded through field interviews by the Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation, a national human rights organization.[13]

Through the end of 2012, there were at least 5,785 mine/ERW casualties identified in Yemen.[14] A Landmine Impact Survey had identified 4,904 casualties through July 2000, of which 2,560 people were killed and 2,344 were injured.[15] In 2010, it was reported in the media that there were 35,000 mine/ERW casualties in Yemen since 1995.[16]

Cluster munition casualties

A cluster munition strike in Yemen in December 2009 was reported to have killed 55 people, including 14 women and 21 children.[17] No confirmed cluster munition remnants casualties have been reported.[18]

Victim Assistance

There were at least 2,789 survivors registered in Yemen as of end of 2012.[19]

Victim assistance in 2012

In 2012, YEMAC gradually resumed the implementation of its victim assistance plan following the suspension of almost all activities in 2011 as a result of increased armed violence in several regions of the country. However, the persistent insecurity continued to prevent many mine/ERW survivors from accessing services while many service providers, such as the ICRC and the Aden Rehabilitation Center, maintained reduced coverage and the suspension of outreach services that had begun in 2011.

Assessing victim assistance needs

In line with its annual victim assistance plan, in 2012 YEMAC carried out a medical survey in eight districts, reaching 295 survivors—including 96 children. YEMAC was able to reach more women and children in 2012 than in previous years.[20] The medical survey was designed to assess medical and physical rehabilitation needs of survivors.[21]

YEMAC continued to regularly update casualty information when it recorded information about new mine/ERW incidents, including information about victim assistance services received. However, as in previous years, security concerns prevented YEMAC from collecting data in areas of the country where the greatest number of mine/ERW casualties occur.[22]

Victim assistance coordination[23]

Government coordinating body/focal point

YEMAC

Coordinating mechanism

YEMAC with ministries of health and labor and social affairs

Victim Assistance Advisory Committee (inactive)

Plan

National Victim Assistance Strategic Plan 2010–2014

No multi-stakeholder victim assistance coordination meetings were held in 2012; the Victim Assistance Advisory Committee remained inactive. Yemen’s National Victim Assistance Strategic Plan 2010–2014 was approved by the Office of the Prime Minister and sent to the Ministry of Planning to be included in Yemen’s 2013 budget.[24]

Yemen provided an update on victim assistance at the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2013 and on details of its victim assistance program in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2012.[25] It did not provide any update at the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2012.

Survivor Inclusion

Survivors and their representative organizations were not included in victim assistance coordination or the monitoring of the victim assistance plan in 2012.[26] There was some limited coordination between YEMAC and Yemen Association for Landmine Survivors (YALS) in the implementation of victim assistance.[27] YALS worked with the Disability Fund and with various hospitals to refer mine/ERW survivors.[28]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[29]

Name of organization

Type of organization

Type of activity

Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2012

YEMAC

Government

Data collection, referrals, and support for medical attention and physical rehabilitation; support for accommodation and transportation

Increased number of beneficiaries as compared with 2011

Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs

Government

Social Fund for Development and the Fund for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled assisted disability organizations

Fund for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled resumed operations; Special Fund for Development increased number of beneficiaries

Aden Rehabilitation Center/Aden Association of People with Special Needs

National NGO

Physical rehabilitation, inclusive education, and advocacy on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD); outreach services; all services gender and age appropriate

Fewer mine/ERW survivors reached due to inaccessibility because of insecurity; outreach services suspended

YALS

National NGO

Peer support, economic inclusion program and advocacy

Activities resumed, increased inclusion of women and girls

Arab Human Rights Foundation (AHRF)

Regional NGO

Psychosocial support

Ongoing

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF)

International NGO

Emergency and ongoing medical care

Ongoing; geographic coverage limited due to security situation

ICRC

International organization

Emergency relief, support for emergency medical care, and support for materials and technical training for four physical rehabilitation centers

Increased surgical capacity for weapon-wounded; slight expansion of coverage

Emergency and ongoing medical care

Government support for medical care and rehabilitation for mine/ERW survivors resumed in 2012. Close to 350 survivors received medical attention and/or physical rehabilitation, completing 50% of YEMAC’s annual planned activities in this area.[30] International organizations, such as the ICRC and MSF made efforts to sustain increased emergency relief, but planned activities were hampered by unpredictable insecurity that continued to prevent access to certain parts of the country.[31] The ICRC had occasional access to Abyan governorate, which had previously been off limits, and was able to open an office in Taiz, in southern Yemen.[32] At the same time, a security incident in Amran governorate forced MSF to suspend activities in that region.[33]

Physical Rehabilitation

Long distances and inability to afford transportation and accommodation were the main obstacles in accessing physical rehabilitation in 2012, especially for mine/ERW survivors living in rural areas.[34] The rehabilitation center in Aden was unable to resume its outreach service, suspended in 2011, which restricted access to the center just to those mine/ERW survivors living in Aden.[35] Both YEMAC and YALS reported that physical rehabilitation became more expensive in 2012, making it more difficult for survivors to afford services directly and decreasing government capacity to fund services.[36]

The ICRC continued to provide support to four rehabilitation centers throughout the country, but plans to start construction of a new rehabilitation center in Sa’ada remained suspended due to security issues.[37] A lack of female rehabilitation professionals prevented women from accessing needed services; in 2012, the ICRC sponsored formal prosthetics and orthotics training for four women to address this gap in attention.[38]

Economic Inclusion

YALS resumed economic inclusion activities in 2012, providing vocational training, supporting access to education, and initiating livelihood projects for mine/ERW survivors. Participation by women and girls increased. YALS also began supporting beneficiaries by marketing products and services offered by small businesses.[39]

Psychological Support

YALS and a few national NGOs, such as the AHRF, provided psychosocial support to mine survivors.[40] The Aden Rehabilitation Center provided psychological support to people receiving physical rehabilitation.[41]

Laws and Policies

Laws protect the rights of persons with disabilities, but they were poorly enforced and discrimination remained. No national law mandated accessibility of buildings for persons with disabilities.[42] Some schools in urban centers were made accessible through the construction of ramps in 2012.[43]

Yemen ratified the CRPD on 26 March 2009. The Social Fund for Development and the Special Needs Association held workshops to raise awareness about the CRPD and the rights of persons with disabilities, targeting government ministries and NGOs.[44]



[1] Monitor media scanning for calendar year 2012; Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation, “Landmine Victims in Kushar District, Hajja: Death Creeping Towards Innocent People,” 2012; UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), “Yemen Daily Report,” 27 March 2012 and 2 April 2012; email from Henry Thompson, Project Advisor, Danish Demining Group (DDG) Yemen, 15 March 2013; telephone interview with Ahmed Aalawi, Director of Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA), YEMAC, 13 March 2013; UNICEF, “Unexploded ordnance and landmines killing more children in Yemen,” Sanaa, 20 April 2012, www.unicef.org/media/media_62250.html; and Monitor interview with neighbor of victim, 27 March 2012.

[2] In 2012, YEMAC registered 24 casualties compared with four in 2011. Of the 2012 casualties, 80% were registered in the governorates of Abyan and Aden and 75% of the 24 were YEMAC deminers. Just five of the casualties registered by YEMAC were civilians. In May 2013, YEMAC began collecting casualty data from non-government sources and then verifying through staff visits and in cooperation with tribal groups and UNICEF to increase their data collection coverage. Interview with Ali Al-Kadri, Director, YEMAC, in Geneva, 28 May 2013.

[3] There were 150 casualties reported by international and national NGOs, the largest source being the Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation, a Yemeni human rights organization. Wethaq identified 78 casualties in Hajjah governorate. An additional 89 casualties were identified through international and (mostly) national media. The media identified casualties in the governorates of Abyan, Aden, al Bayda, Hajjah, and Sana’a with the largest number (44) in Hajjah.

[4] There were two military casualties identified.

[5] Telephone interview with Ahmed Aalawi, YEMAC, 13 March 2013.

[6] The age of 53 casualties was not known.

[7] The sex of 17 child casualties was not known.

[8] UNDSS, “Yemen Daily Report,” 2 April 2012.

[9] See previous editions of the Monitor’s Yemen profile at: www.the-monitor.org.

[10] Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation, “Landmine Victims in Kushar District, Hajja: Death Creeping Towards Innocent People,” 2012; “Landmine victims in southern Yemen on the rise,” Reliefweb, 13 June 2012, reliefweb.int/report/yemen/landmine-victims-southern-yemen-rise; and “Wanting to go home but threatened by landmines, Ahim area IDPs caught in limbo,” Yemen Times, 7 February 2013, www.yementimes.com/en/1649/report/1982/Wanting-to-go-home-but-threatened-by-landmines-Ahim-area-IDPs-caught-in-limbo.htm.

[11] Letter from the ICBL to Abu Bakr Abdallah al-Qirbi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Yemen, 3 May 2012.

[12] The boy injured in Sana’a as well as the 16 confirmed casualties in Abyan are likely included within the total 162 reported mine/ERW casualties, though a lack of details in the casualties makes it difficult to determine. Presentation to donors by Mansour al Azi, Director, YEMAC, Sana’a, September 2012; “Yemen Says About to Remove All Landmines in Abyan,” Yemen Post, 18 July 2012, www.yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=5727; and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), “Yemen Humanitarian Bulletin: Issue 05 – 12 July,” 13 July 2012.

[13] DDG Yemen, UNDSS, and various media sources also reported casualties in the same areas. Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation, “Landmine Victims in Kushar District, Hajja: Death Creeping Towards Innocent People,” 2012.

[14] Monitor media scanning for calendar year 2012; Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation, “Landmine Victims in Kushar District, Hajja: Death Creeping Towards Innocent People,” 2012; UNDSS, “Yemen Daily Report,” 27 March 2012 and 2 April 2012; email from Henry Thompson, DDG Yemen, 15 March 2013; telephone interview with Ahmed Aalawi, YEMAC, 13 March 2013; UNICEF, “Unexploded ordnance and landmines killing more children in Yemen,” Sana’a, 20 April 2012, www.unicef.org/media/media_62250.html; Monitor interview with neighbor of victim, 27 March 2012; Monitor media monitoring 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011; and interview with Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, Sana’a, 8 March 2011.

[15] Survey Action Center, “Landmine Impact Survey Republic of Yemen Executive Summary,” July 2000, p. 15.

[16] Shatha Al-Harazi, “Yemen landmines kill 12 children this year,” Yemen Times (Sana’a), 23 December 2010, www.yementimes.com.

[17] There was a credible report of a cluster munition strike in Yemen in December 2009 that killed 55 people, including 14 women and 21 children. Amnesty International, “Wikileaks cable corroborates evidence of US airstrikes in Yemen,” 1 December 2010, www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/wikileaks-cable-corroborates-evidence-us-airstrikes-yemen-2010-12-01.

[18] In addition, cluster munition contamination was confirmed in northwestern Yemen, apparently following use in 2009/2010. In July 2013, mine clearance operators in Yemen shared photographs of unexploded BLU-97 bomblets, BLU-61 submunitions, and DPICM submunitions of an unknown origin with the Monitor showing contamination in Sa’ada governorate in northwestern Yemen near the border with Saudi Arabia. Interviews with Abdul Raqeeb Fare, Deputy Director, YEMAC, Sana’a, 7 March 2013; and with Ali al-Kadri, YEMAC, in Geneva, 28 May 2013; and email from John Dingley, UNDP Yemen, 9 July 2013. There is no specific data available yet on casualties resulting from this contamination.

[19] Email from Ali Al-Kadri, YEMAC, 5 October 2013.

[20] Interview with Teveta Dermendjieva, Victim Assistance Consultant, YEMAC, Sana’a, 7 February 2013.

[21] Interview with Ali Mohamed Alzagir, IMSMA Deputy Director, YEMAC, Sana’a, 7 February 2013.

[22] Interview with Ali Al-Kadri, YEMAC, in Geneva, 28 May 2013.

[23] UN, “2011 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects,” New York, March 2011, p. 337; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 30 March 2010 to 30 March 2011), Form I, www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B8954/(httpAssets)/E0A8AC729EB14B08C12578A40034DB1E/$file/Yemen+2010.pdf.

[24] Interview with Ali Mohamed Alzagir, YEMAC, Sana’a, 7 February 2013.

[25] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for period 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form I, www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B8954/(httpAssets)/1C482A8D8D9ECED8C1257B780029C565/$file/Yemen+2012.pdf; and statement of Yemen, Intersessional Meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 29 May 2013.

[26] Interview with Ali Mohamed Alzagir, YEMAC, Sana’a, 7 February 2013; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Mohamed Alabdali, Deputy Chair, Yemen Association of Landmine Survivors (YALS), 11 February 2013.

[27] Interview with Ali Mohamed Alzagir, YEMAC, Sana’a, 7 February 2013.

[28] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Mohamed Alabdali, YALS, 11 February 2013.

[29] Ibid.; response to Monitor questionnaire by Hilda Abdullah Saad, Head of the Prostheses and Rehabilitation, Aden Rehabilitation Center, Special Needs Association, 11 April 2013; and Kowkab Al Hibshi, Special Needs Sector Office, Social Fund for Development, 3 March 2013; interview with Ali Mohamed Alzagir, YEMAC, Sana’a, 7 February 2013; ICRC, “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, May 2013, p. 448–449; ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Programme (PRP), “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, September 2013, p. 85; and MSF, “Activity Report 2012,” www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/ar/report.cfm?id=6973&cat=activity-report.

[30] Interview with Ali Mohamed Alzagir, YEMAC, Sana’a, 7 February 2013.

[31] ICRC, “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, May 2013, pp. 448–449; and MSF, “Activity Report 2012,” www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/ar/report.cfm?id=6973&cat=activity-report.

[32] ICRC, “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, May 2013, pp. 448–449.

[34] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, September 2013, p. 85; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Mohamed Alabdali, YALS, 11 February 2013.

[35] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Hilda Abdullah Saad, Special Needs Association, 11 April 2013.

[36] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Mohamed Alabdali, YALS, 11 February 2013; and interview with Teveta Dermendjieva, YEMAC, Sana’a, 7 February 2013.

[37] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, September 2013, p. 85.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Mohamed Alabdali, YALS, 11 February 2013.

[40] Ibid.

[41] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Hilda Abdullah Saad, Special Needs Association, 11 April 2013.

[42] United States Department of State, “2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Yemen,” Washington, DC, 17 April 2013.

[43] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Mohamed Alabdali, YALS, 11 February 2013.

[44] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Hilda Abdullah Saad, Special Needs Association, 11 April 2013; and Kowkab Al Hibshi, Social Fund for Development, 3 March 2013.


Last Updated: 22 November 2013

Support for Mine Action

In 2012, the United States (US) and Germany contributed US$3,668,984 to UNDP for mine action in the Republic of Yemen.[1]

Since 2008, the government of Yemen has reported contributing at least $1.5 million per year toward its own mine action program.[2]

International government contributions: 2012[3]

Donor

Sector

Amount (national currency)

Amount ($)

US

Clearance

$3,153,000

3,153,000

Germany

Clearance

€401,263

515,984

Total

 

 

3,668,984

Summary of support: 2008–2012[4]

Year

National ($)

International ($)

Amount ($)

2012

300,000

3,668,984

3,968,984

2011

300,000

1,976,520

2,276,520

2010

300,000

1,546,169

1,846,169

2009

300,000

1,042,102

1,342,102

2008

300,000

1,005,172

1,305,172

Total

1,500,000

9,238,947

10,738,947

 

 



[1] US Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety 2013,” Washington, DC, August 2013; and Germany, Convention on Conventional Weapons, Amended Protocol II, Form B, 22 March 2013.

[3] Average exchange rate for 2012: €1=US$1.2859. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2013.

[4] ICBL-CMC, “Country Profile: Yemen: Support for Mine Action,” 10 September 2012.