Yemeni Commission Documents over 3,411 Rights Violations in 2022

A member of a Yemeni mine disposal team works during an awareness campaign against the dangers of landmines and explosives, in the Khokha district of the Hodeidah province of Yemen, on December 21, 2022. (AFP)
A member of a Yemeni mine disposal team works during an awareness campaign against the dangers of landmines and explosives, in the Khokha district of the Hodeidah province of Yemen, on December 21, 2022. (AFP)
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Yemeni Commission Documents over 3,411 Rights Violations in 2022

A member of a Yemeni mine disposal team works during an awareness campaign against the dangers of landmines and explosives, in the Khokha district of the Hodeidah province of Yemen, on December 21, 2022. (AFP)
A member of a Yemeni mine disposal team works during an awareness campaign against the dangers of landmines and explosives, in the Khokha district of the Hodeidah province of Yemen, on December 21, 2022. (AFP)

The National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations to Human Rights (NCIAVHR) said Thursday it has documented and investigated 3,411 human rights violations across Yemen in 2022.

The violations include attacks on civilians, archaeological and religious sites, medical personnel and health facilities the destruction of private and public property, recruitment of minors and casualties from mine explosions.

In a press release, NCIAVHR said the violations affected 3,713 people from both genders and all ages.

It documented 940 attacks against civilians that left 1,412 deaths and injuries. It documented 447 deaths, including 35 women and 82 children. It confirmed 891 injuries, including 84 women and 212 children.

It confirmed 426 victims of mines and explosive devices. Of those victims, 23 were women and 106 were children.

It reported the arrest and disappearance of 968 people, targeted attacks against religious and archeological sites, 14 attacks against medical staff and facilities, and 1,092 attacks on private and public property. It documented 131 cases of child recruitment.

The Commission said it had completed investigations into the bombing of 52 houses, the forced displacement of 144 families and 87 cases of extrajudicial killings.

NCIAVHR added that the commission carried out 11 field visits to the governorates of Aden, Lahj, Taiz, Marib and Shabwa to investigate attacks on neighborhoods, residential areas and camps. They probed attacks on schools, medical facilities and farms. They toured contact lines and inspected the humanitarian situation on the ground.

The commission also carried out field visits to remote mountainous region in the Dhale, al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Hajjah, Saada and Hodeidah. They held direct interviews with victims of torture, lootings, arbitrary sacking and child recruitment in the Dhamar, al-Mahwit, Amran and Sanaa regions.

NCIAVHR called for probes into the human rights violations. It urged all warring parties to respect international humanitarian law. It called an end to arbitrary attacks and a halt to arbitrary arrests, kidnappings and looting. It called against imposing restrictions on women in engaging in social, political and public life.

It urged the international community to condemn the human rights violations committed in Yemen and to identify the parties responsible. It urged it to increase humanitarian aid to the war-torn country and help the legitimate government meet its commitments.



Mother of Missing Journalist Austin Tice Says Trump Team Offered Help in Search 

Debra Tice, mother of journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, meets with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Damascus, Syria, January 19, 2025. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Debra Tice, mother of journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, meets with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Damascus, Syria, January 19, 2025. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
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Mother of Missing Journalist Austin Tice Says Trump Team Offered Help in Search 

Debra Tice, mother of journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, meets with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Damascus, Syria, January 19, 2025. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Debra Tice, mother of journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, meets with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Damascus, Syria, January 19, 2025. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)

The mother of American journalist Austin Tice made her first visit to Syria in almost a decade Monday and said that the administration of President-elect Donald Trump had offered support to help find her son, who disappeared in 2012.

Debra Tice made the remarks at a news conference in Damascus in her first visit to the country since insurgents toppled President Bashar al-Assad last month. She did not present any new findings in the ongoing search.

Austin Tice disappeared near the Syrian capital in 2012, and has not been heard from since other than a video released weeks later that showed him blindfolded and held by armed men. Tens of thousands are believed to have gone missing in Syria since 2011, when countrywide protests against Assad spiraled into a devastating civil war.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House in December that he believes Washington can bring Tice back, while admitting that “we have no direct evidence” of his well-being.

“I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home.” Tice said. “His people have already reached out to me. I haven’t experienced that for the last four years.”

Syria's former government had publicly denied that it was holding him, but Tice hopes she will find him with the help of the new leadership. In December, she said the family had information from an unidentified source that her son was alive and well. She said Monday she still believes he is alive and in good health.

“Austin, if you can somehow hear this, I love you. I know you’re not giving up, and neither am I,” she said.

Tice said she had a productive meeting with Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of Syria’s new administration, who she said was “dedicated and determined” to bring back Austin and the others missing in the country.

She also visited two military intelligence prisons in Syria, known for their mass incarceration and systematic use of torture, which she described as an “unbelievably, horrible nightmare.”

Tice, who is from Houston, has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and other outlets.