Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday accused the Houthis of obstructing aid work and exacerbating a deadly cholera outbreak across Yemen, and called on authorities in various regions to strengthen preventative measures against the epidemic.
The organization said the Yemeni government has quickly responded to the news of the outbreak in October 2023 by working with humanitarian agencies to set up clinics and procure necessary medicines.
“The cholera outbreak will continue to take lives so long as Yemeni authorities obstruct aid and authorities and the international community fail to adequately invest in prevention and mitigation measures,” the non-governmental organization said in a statement.
HRW called on Yemeni authorities to remove obstacles to aid delivery, including to public health information.
It again asked the Houthis to halt arbitrary detentions and release UN and civil society staff and aid workers.
The NGO said Houthis failed to take measures to prevent future cholera outbreaks and they also detained and threatened civil society staff, including humanitarian aid workers, in their recent arrest campaign.
Data collected by aid agencies indicate that between January 1 and July 19 there have been about 95,000 suspected cholera cases, resulting in at least 258 deaths, it showed.
“The obstructions to aid work by Yemen’s authorities, in particular the Houthis, are contributing to the spread of cholera,” said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch. “More than 200 people have already died from this preventable disease, and the Houthis’ detention of aid workers poses a serious threat to further limit the presence of lifesaving aid.”
Houthis Refuse to Announce Cholera Outbreak
The Yemeni government met with HRW and explained that many of their constraints in addressing the cholera outbreak were linked with a lack of funding, HRW said.
Government officials also provided information demonstrating the actions they had taken to inform the Yemeni public about the outbreak.
The organization said that several sources affirm that Yemen’s severely damaged healthcare infrastructure, the lack of safe drinking water, high malnutrition rates, and growing levels of vaccine denial and hesitancy from Houthi vaccine falsehoods have facilitated the spread and impact of cholera in Yemen.
According to a doctor working with a humanitarian aid organization in Houthi-controlled areas, though patients began showing signs of cholera starting in November 2023, Houthi authorities refused to acknowledge the crisis to humanitarian agencies until March 18, 2024, when there were already thousands of cases.
In March, the Houthis finally began providing information about cholera cases in Houthi-controlled territory, but they still have not announced the outbreak publicly, the doctor said.
Houthi authorities have also detained at least a dozen UN and civil society staff since May 31, with informed sources telling HRW that the number of those detained continues to grow.
The arrests have left many agencies questioning whether or how to continue safely providing humanitarian aid in Houthi-controlled territories, which has the potential to further exacerbate the current cholera outbreak, it said.
Government Responds to Outbreak
HRW affirmed that the Yemeni government quickly responded to the news of the outbreak in October 2023 by working with humanitarian agencies to set up clinics and procure necessary medicines.
Though they have continued to share information with humanitarian agencies since the start of the outbreak, an informed source told HRW that they have instructed aid groups not to use the word “cholera” in public statements, particularly in Arabic. This hinders people’s ability to take measures to prevent further spread of the disease.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), during the last cholera outbreak in Yemen from 2016 to 2022, Yemen had 2.5 million suspected cases, constituting “the largest ever reported cholera outbreak in recent history,” with over 4,000 deaths.
Despite that immense toll, HRW said the authorities failed to take measures to prevent future outbreaks.
The New-York based organization said the Houthis and the Yemeni government are obligated to protect everyone’s human rights in territory they control, including the rights to life, to health, and to an adequate standard of living, including food and water.
Their aid obstructions violate these obligations, it added.
Although limited resources and capacity may mean that economic and social rights can only be fully realized over time, the authorities are still obliged to ensure minimum essential levels of health care, including essential primary health care, HRW said.
