“Drones add another violation to the Houthi’s record” A new study by Maat monitoring the repercussions of using drones on civilians and neighboring countries
Okeil: We must work to issue an international instrument regulating the import of drones and preventing their access to extremist groups
Sherif Abdul-Hamid: More than three thousand civilians are victims of the Houthis' use of drones
Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights has issued a new study entitled “Unchecked Violations: Repercussions of the Houthi’s Use of Drones against Civilians in Yemen and Neighboring Countries,” which highlights the Houthis’ acquisition of drones and their ongoing violation of the right to life, especially its threat against civilians and neighboring countries. The study also drew attention to the technology of these planes and the way they work, as well as the Houthis’ arsenal of these planes and their manufacture locally, in addition to countries’ smuggling of the components of these planes to the Houthis in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions. The effects of the attacks launched by this dangerous weapon on civilians, the reasons behind the Houthis’ escalation of neighboring countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and the latter’s threat to expand the use of drones against them during the coming period.
The study showed the growing acquisition of drones, aka unmanned aircraft, by rebel groups, armed groups, and non-state actors, mainly due to their low cost, which is estimated at 3000 dollars, in addition to the ease of obtaining them, as they are commercially available and anyone can purchase their components through digital marketing platforms. These aircraft also reduce the risk and sacrifice of the human element, as they do not require a crew onboard to carry out the operation.
The study warned of the Houthis recent expansion in obtaining and using the technology of these aircraft, despite the ban imposed on the export of weapons to the Houthis under Security Council Resolution No. 2216, by smuggling their components through some neighboring countries, according to the Security Council's group of experts. Exporting drone technology, in general, contradicts Security Council Resolution 1540, which prohibits the delivery of armed aircraft technology to terrorist groups. The ban was also stipulated in the Berlin Memorandum of the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum, which included working to prevent the arrival of drones to armed groups as a threat to national armies.
The study revealed that the Houthi militia carried out more than 260 terrorist attacks (the single attack may consist of more than 20 drones) on civilian and military targets using unmanned aerial vehicles from 2019 to the end of January 2022. More than 35% of these attacks were directed towards civilian targets and objects, whether in Yemen, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates. 2021 recorded the largest number of attacks with 122 attacks, while 2019 recorded the second largest number of attacks with 119 operations by drones, and 62 operations that hit civilian targets. 2020 was the last year in this regard, as Maat monitored only 11 drone attacks. This drop in the number of attacks may be attributed to the emergence of the Coronavirus pandemic. The report noted that eight terrorist operations were carried out by the Houthis in 2022, including three attacks directed at civilian targets and vital installations in the United Arab Emirates. According to the Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, 851 drones were shot down in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since launching Operation Decisive Storm in March 2015 until the end of 2021, and 59 civilians were killed in these attacks.
In this context, Ayman Okeil, the human right expert and the president of Maat, said that the Houthi militia’s use of these remotely piloted aircraft has several negative effects on basic human rights, including the right to life, which is guaranteed by all international conventions and agreements, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Drone attacks targeting civilians or groups protected under international humanitarian law may amount to extrajudicial killings, Okeil added.
Okeil, therefore, called for the necessity of complying with Security Council resolutions, especially Resolution 1540, which bans the delivery of armed aircraft technology to terrorist groups, as well as working to issue an international instrument regulating the import of drones and prevent their access to extremist groups, and the need for the United States to reclassify the Houthis as a terrorist group and to hold individuals and companies involved in manufacturing drones accountable.
For his part, Sherif Abdul-Hamid, director of the Research and Studies Unit at Maat, said that the number of civilian casualties as a result of the Houthi’s use of drones is estimated at about three thousand civilians, dead and wounded, most of them in Yemen, not to mention the damage to civilian objects and facilities such as homes, hospitals, and schools, which contradicts the four treaties of the Geneva Convention, in particular Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions, which guarantees protection for civilians and individuals not participating in hostilities in non-international armed conflicts. Abdul-Hamid added that the Houthi attacks using drones, whether inside Yemen or attacks against neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia and recently the escalation against the UAE, are inconsistent with the provisions of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
Abdul-Hamid believes that states’ provision of drones to militias and armed groups exacerbates the already miserable conditions of civilians in areas of armed conflict and that the human rights legal framework is in dire need of an international instrument that prevents the components of drones from reaching non-state actors and armed groups.
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