The Houthi armed group that controls part of Yemen has targeted several commercial ships carrying civilian crews in the Red Sea over the last few weeks, Human Rights Watch said.
The attacks constitute targeting of civilians and civilian objects, which, if carried out deliberately or recklessly, would be a war crime, it said.
The five ships are not military objects; all five are commercial vessels with civilian crews. The Houthis have not presented any evidence to demonstrate that anything on board of the ships could have constituted military objects.
“The Houthis are claiming that they’re carrying out attacks on behalf of Palestinians, when the reality is that they’re attacking, arbitrarily detaining, and endangering civilians on ship crews who have zero connection to any known military target,” said Michael Page, Middle East and North Africa deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
“The Houthis should immediately release the hostages and end their attacks on civilians caught in the crosshairs of their declared war on Israel.”
The 25-person crew of Galaxy Leader has still not been released. Human Rights Watch spoke to sources who said it is unclear whether the crew is being held hostage or is being arbitrarily detained, as the Houthis have not made clear why they continue to hold the men.
Taking hostages is prohibited under international humanitarian law, including under Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and is a war crime. Hostage-taking is detaining a person while threatening to kill, injure, or continuing to detain the person to compel a third party to do or abstain from any act as a condition for the hostage’s release or safety.
A Houthi spokesperson, Mohammed Abdulsalam, stated on X that Houthis’ seizure of the vessel was “only the beginning” of its fighters waging “battle at sea.”
Though the Houthis have said that the ship is Israeli, the ship is British-owned and Japanese-operated and was bound for India when it was captured. The Houthis have presented no evidence of military targets on board.
The parent company of the UK company that owns the ship is owned by an Israeli businessman, but this does not make the ship a legitimate military target.
All three vessels are commercial ships and were carrying civilian crews from several countries. None of the ships were bound for Israel.
The Houthis claimed that the ship was carrying oil to Israel. However, the owner of the company said that the ship was carrying palm oil to Italy.
Evidence reviewed by Human Rights Watch, including Houthi statements, indicates that the Houthis knew or should have known that the four ships they attacked were commercial vessels carrying civilians and that they were not in any way a military target.
Under international humanitarian law, it is forbidden in any circumstance to carry out direct attacks against civilians.
Warring parties are obligated to take all feasible precautions to avoid harm to civilians. They must take all necessary action to verify that targets are military objectives.
A person who commits serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent—that is, intentionally or recklessly—may be prosecuted for war crimes. Individuals may also be held criminally liable for assisting in, facilitating, aiding, or abetting a war crime.
On December 9, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi stated that “Israel will act” if the international community does not respond to the Houthis’ attacks in the Red Sea.
The United States and the United Kingdom have accused Iran of having been involved in the attacks.
The spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, has stated that the Houthis, as well as “resistance groups in the region,” are not attacking Israel based on orders from Iran.
The UN Panel of Experts on Yemen previously found that Iran has “failed to take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer” of arms.
Since the Houthis took over Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014, they have carried out widespread violations of international humanitarian law and civilian harm, including likely war crimes, indiscriminately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure, forcibly disappearing civilians, and laying an abusive siege to Taiz city in the southwest of Yemen.
“The Houthis still have not taken responsibility for the civilian harm that they have caused to those living in Yemen,” Page said. “Rather than carrying out new war crimes, they should focus on achieving a durable peace in their country.”
