Thread by @AnnelleSheline

@HouseForeign Affairs committee is devoting its 1st hearing of this Congress to the crisis in Yemen

Part 1 focusing on the humanitarian crisis

@RepTedDeutch introducing the panelists & providing context for situation in Yemen

LIVE (10am EST) 👇
foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearings?ID=A9…

@RepTedDeutch

"I strongly condemn Houthi actions in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia... Their trampling of human rights... Their assault on Marib is pouring fuel on the conflict...
The Houthis must commit to a ceasefire"

@RepTedDeutch introduces the witnesses, two of whom are calling from Yemen:

@RAlmutawakel of @MwatanaEn
Abdulwasea Mohammed of @Oxfam
and
@CatanzanoAmanda of @RESCUEorg

@RAlmutawakel:
Human rights & humanitarian groups recommend the following:
- Open Sanaa airport & ports
- Pay public sector salaries
- Release those detained
- Allow inspections of FSO Safer [oil tanker]

The US should support a new UN Sec Council Resolution to replace 2216.

@RepJoeWilson, ranking GOP member, criticizes @POTUS for lifting the foreign terrorist organization (FTO) designation of the Houthis without any change in their behavior

[Note that he did not acknowledge the humanitarian consequences of the FTO, which affected 80% of Yemenis]

Abdulwasea Mohammed, policy advisor for @Oxfam:

It is important for the US follow through, to suspend support that could help fuel the conflict..

We hope you continue to support peace & pressure [relevant actors] to commit to a nationwide ceasefire.

Yemen cannot wait.

@CatanzanoAmanda of @RESCUEorg
Airstrikes up by 80% last year
Yemenis more likely to be killed in their homes than anywhere else
3 in 4 Yemenis cannot afford basic items, so are resorting to child labor & child marriages
Worst year yet
Half of all Yemenis already going hungry

@CatanzanoAmanda of @RESCUEorg

The US should
- Lift USAID suspension of assistance in the north
- Ease bureaucratic obstacles in north & south
- Throw diplomatic weight behind Griffiths to create ceasefire
- Press for reopening air and seaports

@GerryConnolly
Under Trump, only 6 Yemeni refugees were admitted to the US in the 4 years of his admin

125,000 refugees admitted in 2016 in Obama's last yr in office
vs 15,000 in 2020 in Trump's last yr

America must live up to the aspirations carved into the Statue of Liberty

@RepScottPerry "Rep Connolly seems to want all Yemenis to come to the US & for Yemen to become a client state of Iran"
@RAlmutawakel pushes back, emphasizing necessity of aid
@RepScottPerry asks how to avoid aid going to the Houthis
@RAlmutawakel pressure has worked in the past

@GerryConnolly "I take issue w/ what Mr Perry just did
I said 6 refugees is too few, I never said all refugees should be allowed in the US
That Mr. Perry would not allow me a moment to clarify puts salt in the wound
We should be careful about characterizing each other’s comments"

[Apologies, I had a mtg... missed 25 mins]

@USRepKeating reports of Houthi human rights violations?

@RAlmutawakel "I can give you 600 pages...
Don't search for the good guy or bad guy.
All parties are committing war crimes bc they don't think they'll be held accountable"

Rep @BradSherman how many ppl have died in Yemen, as a result of kinetic action vs famine & disease?

@CatanzanoAmanda UN estimates 233,000 people as of 2019
Projected that there could be half a million deaths, many of which due to structural factors rather than direct violence.

@RepSchneider: What immediate steps can the US take to improve conditions & signal accountability?

@RAlmutawakel:
Push to open Sanaa airport & sea ports
Salaries would make a huge difference: Many Yemenis dying behind closed doors, they won’t ask for aid, they were professionals

@CatanzanoAmanda
Start w/ ceasefire, build on that to support a UN led inclusive peace process..
The existing [UN] framework involves only 2 parties, but it needs to be inclusive, bring in women & youth & reflect realities on the ground of how many actors are engaged in conflict

@RepSchneider
I just want to say that refugees drive our economy, they strengthen our communities
We need to be a light to other nations, a place that others look to [on supporting refugees]
As our witnesses said, when the US doesn’t lead, other countries don’t pick up the slack

@IlhanMN "Thank you to my colleague from Illinois for the remark on refugees...

Ms. @RAlmutawakel, it's nice to see you again.

Your organization was quoted in 2020 as saying 'it’s another year of impunity.' So I wish to ask, what is your vision of justice in Yemen?"

@RAlmutawakel
"This is not a civil war: it has local, regional & international dimensions.

We at @MwatanaEn were shocked to find that the whole world is designed to enhance impunity & how difficult it is to find mechanisms for accountability."

@RAlmutawakel:
Internationally we all need to think about mechanisms of accountability, not only for Yemen but for all countries experiencing these violations
The keys are in the hands of the UN Security Council and that becomes politicized
We are searching for accountability.

@IlhanMN impunity exists because of the political realities of those involved in the conflict?

@RAlmutawakel We filed a complaint in Italy because we found evidence of Italian weapons
We want accountability that targets all parties: local & international: universal jurisdiction

@IlhanMN when famine was declared in Somalia, it got attention. Has famine been declared in Yemen?

@CatanzanoAmanda it has not
I am not convinced it would make a difference
The UN & other orgs have been ringing alarm bells that famine is near, yet $2B shortfall in aid last wk

@RepTedDeutch what is the solution to the situation in Marib to help protect humanitarian interests? Also, child soldiers?

@RAlmutawakel There should be a ceasefire
Child soldiers primarily recruited by the Houthis
Children are taken to the frontlines & they are dead in a week

[Backing up to what I missed]

@RepBrianMast which war lord should the US partner with to distribute aid, based on US engagement in Somalia. Who is the least bad?

@RAlmutawakel No one. All parties to the conflict engage in horrible violations. The only partner are the NGOs.

@RepBrianMast What is the scope of people trying to flee the conflict?

[The question seems to demonstrate lack of awareness that Yemen is hemmed in by desert & ocean, nowhere to flee]

Abdulwasea Mohammed: 4M IDPs across the country, many have been displaced more than once.

@RepTedLieu: "It was wrong when the Obama admin supported the Saudi-led coalition & it was wrong when Trump did the same thing...

I was struck by the testimony that 'Yemen isn’t starving it is being starved'

@RAlmutawakel yes, starvation is being used as a weapon of war."

@RepTedLieu Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the 1949 Geneva Convention which forbids destruction of food & agricultural resources. So in addition to war crimes, they are violating the Geneva Convention.
Could Saudi Arabia lift the blockade right now? How can the US help with that?

@CatanzanoAmanda: Re: Hodeidah, there is pressure that should be put on all parties, because all parties are failing the Yemenis.

@RepTedLieu: Yes, but the US clearly took a side. We don't seem like an honest broker here, we need to take actions that don't preference one side.

@CatanzanoAmanda: There is a stalemate between the Houthis & Saudis over revenue sharing from the Hodeidah port. As a result, almost no fuel has gotten into Yemen since Jan 3
So this is not just about lifting the blockade, it requires a process [also get the Houthis to cooperate]

@RepTedLieu: Should the US sanction Saudi or Houthi or Iranian officials who are engaged in war crimes to stop humanitarian aid?

@CatanzanoAmanda sanctions on senior Houthi leaders for years & it doesn’t seem to change the calculus
Fear that importers will stop shipping to Yemen

@RepTimBurchett What was impact of delisting the Houthis? Should the Biden admin have gotten something in exchange for this, like ending advance on Marib?

@RAlmutawakel The Houthis may think that negotiations are close so they push harder.
War is the only thing they understand.

@RAlmutawakel: The thing the US can do now is push for peace & accountability.

We have had 6 years of war that didn’t weaken any party to the conflict, it only weakened us, the people.

We have tried war a lot and it didn’t work.

Abdulwasea Mohammed responding to @RepTimBurchett

The FTO would have had direct disastrous consequences, it would have blocked humanitarian aid, caused obstructions in supplies coming into country, also personnel would have difficulty entering the northern part of the country.

@CatanzanoAmanda responding to @RepTimBurchett

Strategic ends of the designation were minimal & would have had massive humanitarian cost
Just rumor of designation reduced food imports
Only have to look to Somalia to see effects of a terrorism designation in middle of a crisis

@RepTimBurchett Why are Houthis restricting aid access? How to make sure it reaches ppl?

@RAlmutawakel The designation did not weaken the Houthis & lifting it did not make them stronger.

You cannot feed a nation on aid
Yemeni need their salaries & jobs back
Must stop the war.