Local and international reactions continue to denounce what the armed formations of the Transitional Council carried out forcibly displacing more than 200 families from the Jabal al-Faras neighborhood in Crater city, in the interim capital, Aden, and burning their homes, last Sunday.
Anas Jerjawi, Director of Operations at the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, said that the displacement of the local population and the displaced in Aden is a dangerous practice that may amount to a war crime, an act prohibited by international humanitarian law and human rights law.
He added that targeting the displaced by displacement leads to aggravating their suffering and deepening their humanitarian crisis, as most of those who were ordered to evacuate their homes suffer from extreme poverty and vulnerability, but they are now facing a new challenge of finding shelters or housing to live after being displaced from their homes.
In a statement, the Euro-Mediterranean Monitor affirmed that the practices of forced displacement fall within the framework of crimes against humanity under international humanitarian law, as it was stated in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court that “the deportation or forcible transfer of populations, when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any group of the civilian population constitutes a crime against humanity.” Also, Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 prohibits the individual or mass forcible transfer of persons, or their deportation from their areas of residence to other lands.
The Southern Transitional Council called for an immediate halt to forced displacement, respect for the supposed protection of civilians in the rules of international humanitarian law, and an end to all practices that may contribute to complicating the humanitarian situation in the areas it controls.
Calling on the United Nations to put pressure on the parties and countries with influence with the Transitional Council to lift the political cover for its arbitrary practices, push for its obligation to respect the rights of Yemenis, and hold all those responsible for the complex violations witnessed in the areas controlled by the Transitional Council in the south of the country accountable.
For his part, Abdul Karim Al-Saadi, head of the Southern Civil Forces Assembly, said that the burning of citizens’ homes in Crater and the expulsion of its residents shows the extent of the catastrophic situation in Aden at the hands of regional extremists.
And he added in his Facebook post that this crime confirms that Aden is under the grip of criminal terrorist militias and regional gangs.
He pointed out that the state has its own ways and means to stop the random tampering that harms the planning of cities and the building law in them, and it is certain that burning and expelling people without finding alternatives is not one of these means.
Al-Saadi demanded a speedy halt to the attempts to change the demographics of Aden, erase its identity, exile its sons, practice terrorism against them and violate their rights.
He explained that correcting the imbalanced conditions in Aden in all respects and avoiding targeting citizens just for their demonstrations to demand their legitimate rights.
The head of the Defense Organization for Rights and Freedoms, lawyer Huda Al-Sarari, held the governor of Aden, Ahmed Lamlas, and the Transitional Council responsible for the systematic displacement of more than (200) families from the Jabal Al-Faras neighborhood in Crater city, the temporary capital of Aden, and burned their homes.
She stressed that the systematic displacement of displaced families and marginalized families living in Aden by the security belts and militias affiliated with the Transitional Council is a flagrant violation of their right to citizenship and their right to move and live in dignity, security and peace.
Al-Sarari explained in an intervention on Al-Mahraba channel yesterday, Sunday, that most of those displaced are marginalized residents of Aden, who usually live in these remote and marginalized areas, in addition to a number of displaced people who fled the scourge of war in Houthi-controlled areas and took the city of Aden as their shelter.
Lawyer Heba Aidarous, head of the Sawasya Organization for Rights and Freedoms, said that what the STC militia carried out by displacing the population and burning their homes are ill-considered actions that indicate a failure in the administration of the local authority, calling on Facebook to take responsibility for the financial and moral consequences of these violations.
For her part, activist Lolla Saleh, a member of the Executive Committee of the Yemeni Organization for Democratic Rights and Freedoms, described what the STC militia had carried out, displacing the population and burning their homes, as a Houthi culture.
Lula Saleh said on Facebook: It is unfortunate that the culture of Al-Houta has been brought back to the south in this barbaric and hateful manner, noting that it was necessary for the forces’ behavior to be security and professional, repeating the method of militias and mafia gangs.
She regretted the silence of the local authority and security leaders in Aden, as if they were encouraging these behaviors that deviated from the legal framework and were taken after settling personal accounts.
The head of the Monitor for Human Rights, Anis Al-Sharek, had revealed the burning of houses in other neighborhoods in Crater city by the Transitional militia, and the families and children were expelled in the street on charges of belonging to the Nubian imam.
Anis Al-Shareq said on Facebook: Burning houses is an alien culture in Aden and a dangerous gesture, warning of the occurrence of war crimes by the STC militia against the residents of Crater if the tampering and violations taking place are not stopped.
The partner held the governor of Aden and the presidency of the Transitional Council responsible for the displacement and grave violations suffered by the residents of Crater.
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