HUMAN RIGHTS “NO SAFE PLACES” Yemen’s Crackdown on Protests in Taizz WATCH “No Safe Places” Yemen’s Crackdown on Protests in Taizz Copyright © 2012 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-860-0 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org FEBRUARY 2012 ISBN: 1-56432-860-0 “No Safe Places” Yemen’s Crackdown on Protests in Taizz Summary ......................................................................................................................... 1 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 7 Methodology .................................................................................................................. 11 I. Background ................................................................................................................ 13 II. Attacks on Protesters ................................................................................................. 18 Attacks by Armed Gangs ........................................................................................... 20 Government Denies Unlawful Use of Force ................................................................ 21 International Legal Standards on Freedom of Assembly and Use of Force ................... 22 Yemeni Legal Standards Regarding the Right to Peaceful Assembly and Use of Force 24 Case Studies ............................................................................................................ 25 Marches on the Governor’s Office, April 3-4 ......................................................... 26 Marches on Education Ministry Offices, May 7-12 ................................................ 27 Razing of Freedom Square and Follow-up Attacks, May 29-June 3 ......................... 30 Assault at the General Security Building .............................................................. 31 Attacks along Wadi al-Qadhi Street, May 31 ......................................................... 34 Attacks on Protesters Condemning Deaths in Sanaa, September 19 ..................... 35 III. Killings of Civilians during Attacks on Opposition Fighters ....................................... 37 Government Denies Laws-of-War Violations .............................................................. 40 Applicable International Humanitarian Law ............................................................... 41 Indiscriminate Attacks .............................................................................................. 43 Al-Masbah .......................................................................................................... 44 Al-Rawdha .......................................................................................................... 46 Kumb al-Rus ....................................................................................................... 50 Lower Tahrir Sreet ............................................................................................... 51 Citywide Assault ................................................................................................. 52 Freedom Square ................................................................................................. 53 Al-Taqwa Mosque ............................................................................................... 55 Al-Manakh .......................................................................................................... 55 Deployment by Both Sides in Civilian Areas .............................................................. 56 Occupation of Health Science Institute ..................................................................... 59 Republican Guard Killings at Checkpoints and Markets ............................................. 61 Al-Buraihi Checkpoint ......................................................................................... 61 Al-Hayat Hospital ................................................................................................ 62 Hawdh al-Ashraf Checkpoint ............................................................................... 63 Al-Thakra Market ................................................................................................ 64 Deluxe Roundabout ............................................................................................ 65 IV. Denial of Medical Care ............................................................................................. 68 International Law on Hospitals and Access to Medical Care ....................................... 68 Blocking Offsite Medical Care ................................................................................... 70 Arbitrary Detention of Wounded Protesters................................................................ 71 Denying Patients Medical Care .................................................................................. 72 Occupation of al-Thawra Hospital ............................................................................. 75 Shelling of al-Rawdha Hospital ................................................................................. 77 V. State Forces and Non-State Armed Groups in Taizz ..................................................... 79 Government Security Forces...................................................................................... 79 Armed Gangs (“Baltajiyya”) ...................................................................................... 82 Opposition Forces .................................................................................................... 82 VI. Lack of Accountability ............................................................................................... 84 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... 90 Summary On May 29, 2011, as night fell on the Yemeni city of Taizz, state security forces and armed gangs converged on Freedom Square, a dusty encampment that had become a center of protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The attackers shot protesters with assault rifles. They set fire to protesters’ tents. They stormed nearby hospitals and a medical tent filled with wounded protesters. Then they bulldozed the camp to the ground. By dawn, the forces had killed 15 protesters and wounded more than 260 others. ‘Arif Abd al-Salam, 32, a history teacher and protester, described the bloodbath: They had tanks and bulldozers. They were throwing petrol bombs into the tents and firing from many directions. I saw with my own eyes a man with a loudspeaker calling on the security forces to stop attacking and killing their brothers. He was shot dead with a bullet. On November 11, in a daylong military operation, government troops killed 14 civilians in apparently indiscriminate shelling and gunfire. The victims included four-year-old Amal Abd al-Basit al-Taj, who was struck by shell fragments inside her home. Amal’s grandmother recalled the strike: The explosion shook the house, and glass, shrapnel, and dust flew through the air. Screaming … filled the house. I ran into the room. It was a terrible scene. The remains of Amal's head and her blood were spread across the room. The attacks of May 29 and November 11 are just two prominent examples of the relentless assault on civilians in Taizz during 2011—part of President Saleh’s nationwide crackdown on protests against his 33-year rule. The impact was devastating. As Amal’s grandmother put it: “It seems there are no places left in Taizz that are safe from … death.” Even before 2011, opposition to President Saleh ran strong in Taizz, a highland city and former capital of Yemen 250 kilometers to the south of the present capital, Sanaa. Taizz’s 800,000 people are widely considered to be among the country’s most educated. Until the 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2012 uprising, the city also had been relatively impervious to Yemen’s persistent tribal conflicts. When Yemenis inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt took to the streets in January 2011 to demand Saleh’s exit, Taizz quickly became a flashpoint of resistance—and the scene of some of the worst human rights violations in the country. This report, the result of Human Rights Watch’s research on abuses in Taizz conducted from February through December 2011, tells the story of the Yemeni security forces’ repeated use of excessive and lethal force against largely peaceful protesters, and their apparently indiscriminate shelling of populated areas during attacks on opposition fighters. At