[03/10/2026 02:40]

GENEVA-SABA

Yemen took part today in the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where Minister of Human Rights Mashdal Omar presented Yemen’s statement on the country’s worsening humanitarian and human rights situation amid the latest Houthi militia escalation.

The minister said the latest escalation had, according to preliminary figures through September 30, killed more than 250 civilians and injured more than 360 others, while displacing around 200,000 people. He held the Houthi militia responsible for the continued deterioration of the humanitarian and human rights situation and grave violations against civilians, particularly children.

Omar said the ministry had documented 50 people killed or injured in the shelling of displacement convoys fleeing Hays for Khokha, as well as the deaths of three children in a Houthi attack on Al-Tarira village in Taiz on September 17. One of the victims was a girl aged less than 18 months. He added that around 3,000 people had reached Djibouti as the escalation continued.

The minister described child recruitment and the use of children in armed conflict as among the most serious violations committed by the Houthi militia, saying schools and summer centers had been used for mobilization, indoctrination and recruitment.

He said Houthi attacks had also disrupted healthcare services in Taiz, Hudaydah, Marib and the western coast, affecting 26 UNICEF-supported health facilities and limiting access to care for civilians, displaced people and the wounded.

Since September 3, he said, 243 schools had been closed or suspended classes, affecting more than 140,000 students. Classes had also stopped at 29 schools in Jabal Habashi district of Taiz amid fighting and insecurity.

Omar warned that attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab posed a direct threat to freedom of navigation, international trade, maritime safety and global supply chains. He said such attacks were also increasing transport and insurance costs and disrupting the flow of goods and humanitarian aid.

He also addressed the continued detention of UN staff and humanitarian workers, noting that the UN had confirmed in June that 73 of its employees remained detained by the Houthi militia, one of whom had died in custody.

Omar called for support for a draft resolution on technical assistance and capacity-building for Yemen under Item 10, including technical support for the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations of Human Rights.

He reaffirmed Yemen’s commitment to cooperation with the Human Rights Council and the UN Human Rights Office, and to protecting civilians, safeguarding the rights of children and migrants, strengthening accountability, and pursuing peace based on the rule of law and respect for human rights.

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