What Military Target Was in My Brother’s House

On March 26, 2015, a coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia, with United States participation, began a military campaign in Yemen that has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 2,500 civilians, mostly by coalition airstrikes. This report documents 10 coalition airstrikes from April through August that appear to have violated international humanitarian law, the laws of war.

The laws of war are intended to minimize harm to civilians and other non-combatants during armed conflict. While not all civilian casualties indicate laws-of-war violations, attacks that deliberately target civilians, that do not discriminate between civilians and combatants, or that cause disproportionate loss of civilian life or property, are all unlawful. Individuals who commit such violations with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes.

In the cases discussed in this report, which caused at least 309 civilian deaths and wounded at least 414 civilians, Human Rights Watch found either no evident military target or that the attack failed to distinguish civilians from military objectives. Under international law, states have an obligation to investigate alleged violations of the laws of war, and appropriately punish those individuals responsible for war crimes. Human Rights Watch is unaware of any investigations by Saudi Arabia or other coalition members in these or other reported cases.

In September 2014, Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), commonly known as the Houthis, a Zaidi Shia group from northern Yemen, took control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. In January 2015, they effectively ousted Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and his cabinet members, who subsequently relocated to Saudi Arabia. The Houthis, along with elements of the armed forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, then swept south, threatening to take the port city of Aden.

On March 26, 2015, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition—consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan—launched an aerial campaign against Houthi and allied forces. The United States is also a party to the conflict by playing a direct role in coordinating military operations. According to >Lt. Gen. Charles Brown, commander of the US Air Force Central Command, the US military has detached personnel to the Saudi Arabian center planning airstrikes to help coordinate activities. US participation in specific military operations, such as bombing raids, may make US forces jointly responsible for laws-of-war violations by coalition forces. As a party to the conflict, the US is obligated to investigate allegedly unlawful attacks in which it took part.

The United Kingdom and France, while not members of the coalition, have supported the coalition by making arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other members.

The 10 attacks detailed in this report occurred in the Houthi-controlled governorates of Sanaa, Amran, Hajja, Hodeida, and Ibb. Airstrikes hit residential houses, market places, a factory, and a civilian prison.

Human Rights Watch investigated each of these incidents by interviewing victims and witnesses to the attack, searching for possible military targets in the vicinity, and speaking to medical staff who treated the injured. On the basis of information from relatives, witnesses, medical staff, and local Houthi authorities, Human Rights Watch compiled the names of 309 individuals—199 men, 43 women, and 69 children—killed in the 10 attacks. We found no evidence that any of those killed in these attacks were combatants. The full casualty list from the attacks is included as an appendix to the report.