Michigan - The American Center for Justice (ACJ) said that the Houthi group bore full responsibility for the continued death of civilians as a result of the explosion of mines that it planted in the areas it controlled or fought battles in. The Center stressed that the group's continued refusal to hand over the minefields maps would mean more innocent victims, especially children.

Information obtained by the ACJ confirmed the death of the 14-year-old child, Omar Ali Shu’i, yesterday, Saturday, after being hospitalized for two days as a result of his injury from the explosion of a mine while he was tending his sheep west of the village of Bani Al-Mish, Bani Hassan district, northwest of Hajjah Governorate. The medical report showed that all of the child’s limbs were amputated at different distances, in addition to the rest of his body being exposed to various fragments due to the force of the mine that exploded before his health condition deteriorated. Then he died inside the hospital.

It must be emphasized that this case is not the first of its kind. The American Center for Justice (ACJ) continuously monitors similar incidents of injuries and killings of civilians, most of whom are children, as a result of mines planted by the group in areas it has controlled or witnessed military battles in the previous months and years. The Center warned of the danger of neglecting this important file. 

The ACJ adds that the Houthi group's continued stubbornness in handing over maps of the mines it planted would mean the continued danger facing civilians in many areas that the group previously controlled or where it fought battles with other parties.

It also stressed that the danger of these mines lies in their effectiveness, which may last for about 90 years. Therefore, failure to hand over maps of these mines puts civilians, especially children, at risk of losing their lives and limbs.

In this context, the American Center for Justice notes that it had previously issued a report entitled “Blind Killer." The report highlighted cases of killing, injury, and destruction of private property due to mines, which are execlusively planted by the Ansar Allah Houthi group in (17) Yemeni governments from June 2014 to February 2022. 

The report showed that mines caused the death of (2526) civilians, including (429) children and (217) women, and injured (3286) others, including (723) children and (220) women, in (17) Yemeni governorates, and that 75 % of those injured by mines were permanently disabled or disfigured. 

Those who wrote the report issued by the ACJ said that the Houthi group committed these practices systematically in all the military sites it controls, and in the areas and roads from which it withdrew. Additionally, the group worked on manufacturing individual mines with local expertise in factories it established using army equipment in the areas it controlled. It distributed and stored these mines in all areas in violation of international agreements ratified by Yemen. The report also mentioned that the mines were planted randomly and in most cases without military necessity.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) renews its call to the international community for the need to open an independent investigation into the Houthi group’s excessive and indiscriminate use of mines without military necessity in most cases and in flagrant violation of the provisions of the 1997 Ottawa Convention, and to bring all those involved in planting mines to a fair trial.

It also calls for providing support to the legitimate government to help victims of landmines to alleviate their suffering, to save the lives of those with permanent disabilities and injuries, to pressure the Houthi group to immediately stop using mines, and to provide maps of the minefields.