لماذا لا تُرى التبعات الاقتصادية للإخفاء القسري والاعتقال التعسّفي في اليمن؟

نُشر هذا <a href="https://daraj.media/%D8%A3%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%8A%D8%AE%D8%AA%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%81%D8%B8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%B4%D9%81/">المقال</a> للأرشيف اليمني على منصة "درج".في اليمن، لم تعد الحرب حدثاً استثنائياً أو طارئاً، بل امتداداً يعقّد الماضي ويبتلع تفاصيل حياة الناس اليومية: البيت، المدرسة، العمل، التنقل، الخدمات الأساسية، الأمان. ومع كل موجة عنف جديدة، يعود السؤال نفسه إلى الواجهة: أين يختفي صوت اليمنيين واليمنيات؟ من يحاول طمسه والاستحواذ عليه؟ ومن يساهم، بصمته أو انحيازه، في ذلك؟&nbsp;لسنوات طويلة، اختُزل الصوت اليمني في أصوات القوى المتنازعة والوسطاء الدوليين، وانكمشت البلاد في ملفات الحسابات الإقليمية،. أما المدنيون، وهم من أثقلت الحرب كاهلهم، فيظهرون غالبًا كأرقام في بيانات إخبارية، لا كأصحاب حق في الحياة، لهم ما لكل شعوب العالم من حقّ في تقرير مصيرهم.في نيسان/ أبريل 2023، برزت آمال بخروج اليمن من دوامة الحرب المفتوحة مع تقدّم محادثات السلام اليمنية – الإقليمية -الأممية، أي ما سُمّي بـ”خارطة الطريق”. على الرغم من الحذر الذي تملّك الكثير من اليمنيين، بدت هذه اللحظة مفصلية في تخيّل مستقبل مغاير. إلّا أن هذه التخيّلات بقيت ضيقة، تتكئ على توازنات لا يملك اليمنيون العاديون قرارها. ثم عادت الطائرات الحربية لتؤكد هشاشة أي مسار سلام لا يضع المدنيين في صميمه. ومع <a href="https://www.mmy.ye/302315/?playlist=62606">انخراط</a> جماعة أنصار الله (الحوثيين) في المعركة الإقليمية في 31 تشرين الأول/ أكتوبر 2023 ردّاً على الحملة العسكرية الانتقامية الإسرائيلية واسعة النطاق على غزة في أعقاب هجمات 7 أكتوبر 2023، أعادت الضربات الإسرائيلية ـ الأميركية على اليمن فرض البلاد كورقة تفاوض وممر استراتيجي، لا بوصفها مجتمعًا أتعبه التهميش. في حين تصدرت المسيرات الحوثية والأف-35 الأميركية – الإسرائيلية عناوين الأخبار ومنابر الإعلاميين والمؤثرين، غابت أصوات المدنيين ومعاناتهم، ولم يحظوا حتى ببيان اعتراف أو استنكار.&nbsp;&nbsp;ما تكشفه تحقيقات الأرشيف اليمني هو أن إهمال حياة المدنيين ليس تفصيلًا عارضاً، بل نمط متكرّر ومتجذّر من الاستهداف. فالأرشفة في هذا السياق ليست مجرد جمع للصور ومقاطع الفيديو أو المنشورات على منصات التواصل؛ إنها محاولة لخلق ذاكرة حقيقية وبديلة، تمنع تشويه الماضي وتحافظ على الذاكرة الجمعية للأذى الذي يتكبده الناس. بهذه المساعي، يستقرئ الأرشيف اليمني: ماذا تعني الحرب حين تُقرأ من روايات الناس، لا من بيانات أطراف النزاع بأطيافها كافة؟بهذا المعنى، لا يقتصر الهدف من التحقيقات على إثبات أن حادثة ما وقعت في مكان وزمان محددين، بل يتجاوز ذلك إلى كشف ما تسعى لغة الأطراف المتنازعة إلى إخفائه: أن ما يُستهدف ليس “منشأة” فقط، بل حياة كاملة مرتبطة بها. فالميناء ليس مجرد مرفق اقتصادي، بل هو طريق لوصول الغذاء والدواء والوقود؛ ومحطة الكهرباء ليست مبنى عادياً، بل النور في بيت، وقدرة مستشفى على استقبال المرضى. وباستعادة هذا المعنى، يُعاد تموضع اليمني: لا كمحارب، ولا كضحية مجردة، ولا كمنتفع من برامج إغاثة، بل كإنسان له ذاكرة، وأحلام مؤجلة، وحياة عاديّة تنتزع منه عنوةً لا يبحث فيها عن حروب جديدة بل عن السلام الذي يضمن له قوت يومه وحقوقه العادلة.في هذا السياق، وثّق الأرشيف اليمني 834 غارة أميركية في اليمن، أفادت البيانات المتاحة بأن ما لا يقل عن 123 منها استهدفت أعيانًا مدنية، من 16&nbsp; آذار/ مارس وحتى 16 أيار/ مايو من عام 2025؛ إضافة إلى 40 ضربة منسوبة إلى الجيش الإسرائيلي بين عامي 2024 و2025. وقد استهدفت هذه الضربات موانئ ومطارات ومحطات كهرباء وبنى تحتية أساسية ومنازل سكنية. وبناءً على هذه البيانات، عمل الأرشيف اليمني على تحقيقات معمّقة، من بينها <a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/ar/investigations/the-u-s-airstrike-on-ras-isa-oil-port/">تحقيق</a> حول الضربات الأميركية على ميناء رأس عيسى النفطي، حيث قُتل ما لا يقل عن 74 شخصًا، وأُصيب ما لا يقل عن 150 آخرين، من بينهم مدنيون وعناصر من فرق الإنقاذ. كما <a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/ar/investigations/airstrikes-on-al-hudaydah-port-yemen/">تحقق</a> الأرشيف اليمني من غارات جوية إسرائيلية على ميناء الحديدة، وهو أحد أهم المراكز الحيوية لإيصال المساعدات الإنسانية والسلع الضرورية، بما يجعل أي ضرر يلحق به ضررًا مباشرًا بحق الناس في الغذاء والدواء والاستقرار الاقتصادي.أما <a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/ar/investigations/airstrike-residential-homes-qahzah/">الغارات</a> الجوية الأميركية على منازل سكنية في قحزة، فقد كشفت الوجه الأكثر فجاجة لاختفاء المدنيين من حسابات الحرب، إذ أودت الضربات بحياة 13 شخصًا من عائلة واحدة، من بينهم أطفال ونساء، وإصابة ما لا يقل عن ستة آخرين، من بينهم أطفال.لا تقف دلالة هذه التحقيقات عند حدود الوقائع التي توثقها، بل تمتد إلى ما تكشفه من نمط أوسع: مدنيون يدفعون ثمن قرارات عسكرية وسياسية لا يستطيعون التأثير عليها. اليوم وفي ظل تجدد المخاوف من انزلاق اليمن إلى جولة جديدة من الحرب مع تصاعد التوترات الإقليمية،لا يكمن الخطر فقط في حجم التصعيد، بل أيضًا في غياب أي تفويض شعبي حقيقي لهذا الانخراط. فاليمنيون لم يُستشاروا عبر مجلس نواب فاعل، ولا عبر آليات ديمقراطية، ولا عبر أي مساحة سياسية تسمح لهم بمساءلة القرارات التي تؤثر على حياتهم. من يسأل الناس عن مطالبهم؟ من يسأل العامل الذي يقلقه مصدر رزقه، أو الأم التي تخاف على أولادها، أو النازح الذي يعيش بعيداً عن بيته؟لذلك، يعود السؤال “أين يختفي صوت اليمنيين” الى النتيجة التي تكشفها هذه التحقيقات. يختفي صوت المدنيين حين يتعامل العالم مع اليمن كملف أمني أو سياسي لا كقضية عدالة. ويختفي حين تُختزل مطالب اليمنيين في وقف إطلاق نار هش، من دون الاعتراف بحقهم في الحقيقة والكرامة والمشاركة في تقرير مستقبلهم.&nbsp;وتفتح هذه التحقيقات الباب أمام المساءلة: فهي لا تتعامل مع الانتهاكات كأحداث منفصلة تنحصر على طرف واحد من أطراف النزاع،&nbsp; بل كجزء من سياق طويل من الإفلات من العقاب. ففي اليمن، تعاقبت أطراف متعددة على انتهاك حقوق المدنيين: الحوثيون، والمجلس الانتقالي الجنوبي المدعوم إماراتيًا، والتحالف بقيادة السعودية، والحكومة المعترف بها دوليًا، وغيرها من الأطراف الخارجية. ولذلك، فإن التوثيق المستقل لا يخدم سردية طرف ضد آخر، بل يواجه منطق الحرب نفسه، أيًا كان المنتهك.استعادة الصوت اليمني تبدأ من التوثيق. كل أرشيف يحفظ أثر الانتهاك، وكل شهادة تُصان من المحو، هي خطوة في مواجهة الإفلات من العقاب. ولو كان الصوت خافتاً إلا أن على المجتمع الدولي والإقليمي الإنصات جيداً لما يقوله اليمنيين، لمعاناتهم التي تستوجب وقفة جادة لمساءلة المنتهكين جميعهم.

أين يختفي صوت اليمنيين: حين تحفظ الأرشفة ما تحاول الحرب إسكاته 

في اليمن، لا تبدأ الحرب أو تنتهي بمجرد التصعيد العسكري، بل تتكشف في دورات تستخدم فيها المعلومات كسلاح. يتلاعب المرتكبون بالروايات، ويشوهون الحقائق، وينشرون المعلومات المضللة والخاطئة لتبرير العنف واستدامته.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/the-yemen-war-media-and-propaganda/">يدير</a> كل طرف في النزاع منصاته الإعلامية الخاصة، ويؤلفون وينشرون روايات تتوافق بدقة مع أجنداتهم السياسية. ما يحدث هو حرب روايات، حيث تختلط الأدوار بين الضحايا والمرتكبين، وغالبا ما يتبادلون الأدوار اعتمادا على أي نسخة من الأحداث تُروى. رغم أن تحيز وسائل الإعلام واستخدام المعلومات كسلاح ليسا فريدين في السياق اليمني، إلا أن هذه الديناميكيات شكلت الصراع في البلاد بعمق، وحجبت المساءلة، وقوضت الجهود الرامية إلى توثيق انتهاكات حقوق الإنسان.تقول صفا، باحثة في الأرشيف اليمني عملت في مناطق نزاع متعددة، بما في ذلك سوريا وليبيا:في اليمن، أصبح التحقق من الأدلة كمطاردة الدخان، غالبا ما نصادف مقاطع فيديو أو صورا أُعيد استخدامها من أحداث أو مواقع مختلفة تماما. رأيت مقاطع يُزعم أنها تُظهر موقع غارة في الحديدة، بينما تبين أنها في الواقع لقطات من غارة سابقة في المنطقة نفسها. نحن باستمرار نستبعد المعلومات الخاطئة، ونتحقق من الطوابع الزمنية، وتطابق المصادر، ونستخدم الأدلة البصرية فقط لتأكيد الأساسيات. مقارنة بالسياقات الأخرى التي عملت فيها، يظل اليمن أحد أكثرها تحدياً.<h3>سياسة التضليل الإعلامي والمعلومات الخاطئة&nbsp;</h3>منذ أكثر من عشر سنوات، يعاني الشعب اليمني من حرب دمرت سبل عيشهم، وأضعفت أيضا قدرتهم على تخيل ما قد يبدو عليه مستقبل "ما بعد الحرب". في هذا السياق، كان للمعلومات الخاطئة (نشر معلومات خاطئة دون نية الإضرار) والتضليل الإعلامي (المشاركة المتعمدة لمعلومات مضللة) عواقب ملموسة على تشكيل مسار النزاع وفهمه.لا يمكن إنكار أن دور المعلومات مؤثر جداً، خاصة في وقت الحرب، حيث تُشكل التصورات العامة، وتُقمع المعارضة، ويتم إضفاء الشرعية على العنف السياسي. بهذا المعنى، المعلومات ليست محايدة، بل هي في الواقع استراتيجية. في اليمن، استخدم أطراف النزاع وسائل الإعلام كسلاح بنشاط للتحضير للانتهاكات أو تبريرها بعد حدوثها. سواء كان ذلك من خلال النشر الاستراتيجي للصور، أو السرد الانتقائي للقصص، أو التلفيق/التشويه الصريح للأحداث، أصبح التلاعب بالمعلومات عنصراً رئيسياً في آلة الحرب.مثلاً، في لحظة محورية في الصراع اليمني، بدأ قادة حركة الحوثي (أنصار الله) بالترويج بقوة لمفهوم "<a href="https://www.aljazeera.net/blogs/2023/8/29/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B6%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%81-%D9%84%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%87">الحرب الناعمة</a>". يشير هذا عادةً إلى استخدام أدوات غير عسكرية مثل وسائل الإعلام والتعليم والثقافة لتشكيل التصور العام، والتأثير على المجتمع بما يتماشى مع الأجندات السياسية أو الأيديولوجية. كانت أهداف حربهم الناعمة (ولا تزال) بالأساس النساء ومنظمات المجتمع المدني.أطلقوا حملة منهجية لتشويه سمعة المنظمات التي تركز على السلام، واصفين إياها بمصادر إلهاء تهدف إلى إضعاف المقاومة الوطنية. بالمثل، جرى تصوير الجماعات العاملة في الصحة الإنجابية كجزء من "مؤامرة أخلاقية" تهدف إلى إفساد الشباب اليمني. بنشر مثل هذه الروايات، بدأت هذه الجماعة في إعادة تشكيل الوعي العام عن طريق تحريف الحقائق، وتشويه النوايا، وتحويل الجهود المدنية إلى اتهامات، والنشطاء إلى مشتبه بهم.في&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mmy.ye/54082/">المحاضرة الرابعة عشرة</a> لعبد الملك الحوثي، ضمن سلسلة محاضراته الرمضانية عام 2018، خصص جزءً من خطابه لـ "المنظمات الأجنبية" والدور الذي تلعبه في ترسيخ "ثقافة التدجين". يشرح قائلاً إن "هذه المنظمات جذورها ومنابعها أتت من عند تلك القوى الدولية التي بذلت أقصى جهد لتكون هي الأقوى في العالم" وأنهم "يتجهون إلى تمييع الناس التمييع الثقافي التمييع السلوكي حتى إلى نشر الفساد الأخلاقي" ويقول إنها تولي اهتماما لقضايا مثل حملات منع الحمل التي يصفها بأنها ليست من الاهتمامات الرئيسية للبلاد.تُترك هذه الروايات، المليئة بالمعلومات المضللة، دون فحص أو مساءلة أو تحدي جاد. يمكن لأي مراقب لهذا المشهد أن يرى كيف تمزق حملات الدعاية هذه المجتمع اليمني، وتغذي الكراهية، وتستقطب الناس.تستخدم أطراف النزاع الأخرى هذه التكتيكات أيضاً، مع الاستخدام المتعمد للمعلومات الخاطئة والمضللة كأداة لتأكيد السلطة وقمع المعارضة. في حزيران/يونيو 2024،&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/article/yemen-stc-military-takes-over-control-of-saba-news-agency">سيطر</a> "المجلس الانتقالي الجنوبي" بالقوة على وكالة الأنباء اليمنية (سبأ)، وبعد ذلك بوقت قصير، احتل مكاتب صحيفة الثورة في عدن. جاء هذا بعد استيلائهم عام 2019 على صحيفة 14 أكتوبر، مما يعكس محاولة أوسع للسيطرة على المشهد الإعلامي في عدن، العاصمة المؤقتة لليمن.&nbsp;<a href="https://mail.sabanew.net/story/en/76249">أدان</a> "الاتحاد الدولي للصحفيين" هذه التطورات، مشيرا إلى مخاوف "نقابة الصحفيين اليمنيين" بشأن حملة المجلس الانتقالي الجنوبي "للسيطرة على المؤسسات الإعلامية الرسمية وتشغيلها لصالحه". يؤكد الاحتكار النشط لوسائل الإعلام عبر مناطق السيطرة المختلفة كيف أصبحت مساحات المعلومات ساحات معارك رئيسية، ليست فقط مواقع لتأليف الروايات، بل للقمع أيضا. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، كشف&nbsp;<a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/ar/investigations/the-storming-of-the-yemeni-womens-union-headquarters-in-aden">تحقيق</a> أجراه الأرشيف اليمني في اقتحام مقر "<a href="https://yemenwu.org/about/1">اتحاد نساء اليمن</a>" في عدن من قبل "الاتحاد العام لنساء الجنوب" المدعوم من المجلس الانتقالي الجنوبي، عن أعمال ترهيب وتخريب واحتلال جزئي للمبنى في تجلٍّ واضح للحرب الممنهجة على المجتمع المدني ودوره في تحدي الوضع الراهن.<h3>ضد الكذب والتشويه والإفلات من العقاب</h3>رغم أنها نقطة بداية أساسية، تتجاوز مكافحة المعلومات الخاطئة والمضللة مجرد فحص ساعات من اللقطات، والصور المنسوبة بشكل خاطئ، والمنشورات المعاد مشاركتها، ومقارنة مقاطع الفيديو، وتحديد المواقع الجغرافية لمشاهد العنف. فهي تدخل تقني وسياسي يسعى لضمان أن الحقيقة مبنية على الأدلة، والذاكرة مبنية على الحقيقة. في طليعة هذا العمل يأتي الأرشيف اليمني ومنصات التوثيق الأخرى، المخصصة للتحقق من الأدلة الرقمية لانتهاكات حقوق الإنسان وتوثيقها وحفظها. يتبع الأرشيف اليمني&nbsp;<a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/ar/about/methods-tools">منهجية</a> صارمة للبحث مفتوح المصدر لاختراق ضباب المعلومات الخاطئة والمضللة، وكذلك رقابة وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي، ويواصل بناء أرشيف متزايد من المواد الموثقة التي يمكن أن تدعم جهود المناصرة والمساءلة القانونية والذكرى.مثلاً، في&nbsp;<a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/ar/investigations/bombing-civilian-houses-in-radaa">تحقيقه</a> مفتوح المصدر في قصف منازل المدنيين في حي الحفرة برداع في آذار/مارس 2024، تحقق الأرشيف اليمني من أكثر من 80 مصدراً، بما فيها مقاطع الفيديو والصور ومنشورات وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي، لتحديد ما حدث بالفعل. صورت بعض الروايات في الإنترنت الحدث على أنه عملية أمنية مبررة، لكن الأرشيف اليمني قارن صور الأقمار الصناعية، وحلل الظلال، وحدد الموقع الجغرافي لتأكيد أن قوات الأمن التابعة للحوثيين قصفت منطقة سكنية، مما أدى إلى تدمير 8 منازل، وإلحاق أضرار بـ 17 منزلاً آخراً، ومقتل 9 مدنيين، بينهم نساء وأطفال. رغم محاولات التغاضي عن القصف باعتباره خطأً فردياً، أظهر توثيق الأرشيف اليمني نمطاً متكرراً لقصف المنازل في محافظة البيضاء.<h3>شهود العالم الرقمي: كيف تخدم وسائل التواصل العدالة</h3>وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي، كمساحة رقمية لتداول المعلومات، بغض النظر عن سلامتها، هي جزء لا يتجزأ من هذه المساحة. غيرت هذه المنصات، رغم أنها لا تزال غير متاحة للكثيرين وتحكمها أنظمة معيبة لتعديل المحتوى، معايير مشاركة المعلومات بشكل جذري. ألغت هذه المنصات مركزية سلطة تداول المعلومات وبناء الروايات، مما يسهل على الأفراد والجهات المنظمة نشر المحتوى.في حلقة بودكاست حديثة بعنوان "منشورات السوشيال ميديا كأداة للعدالة"، يأخذ فريق الأرشيف اليمني المستمعين في جولة عبر عملية التحقيقات مفتوحة المصدر في السياق اليمني. تُبرز الحلقة الدور الحيوي الذي يلعبه مستخدمو وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي العاديون في دعم توثيق حقوق الإنسان. رغم أن المعلومات الخاطئة والمضللة لا تزال منتشرة على نطاق واسع، إلا أن هذا لا ينبغي أن يثبط من مشاركة محتوى حقوق الإنسان عبر الإنترنت. بل على العكس، يؤكد على الحاجة إلى مسؤولية مشتركة: التعامل النقدي مع ما نراه، والإبلاغ عن المواد الضارة أو الكاذبة، والمساعدة في تداول المعلومات الموثوقة والمتحقق منها. استجابةً لهذه الحاجة الملحة، ظهرت عديد من منصات التحقق بشأن اليمن، مثل "<a href="https://sidqyem.com/about/">صدق</a>" وغيرها، والتي تسعى إلى فضح الأخبار الكاذبة ومنع الضرر اللاحق.<h3>ترسيخ الحقيقة سعياً للعدالة</h3>في السياق اليمني، حيث لغة القانون والحقوق غير سهلة الوصول، أو تُطبق بشكل غير متسق، تبدأ مواجهة أضرار المعلومات الخاطئة والمضللة بجعل مخاطرها مفهومة على نطاق واسع وتوفير حماية فعالة ضدها. سواء كانت متعمدة أو عرضية، يمكن للمعلومات غير المتحقق منها أن تصوغ الحقائق على الأرض، وتؤثر على القرارات العسكرية، وفي كثير من الحالات، تزهق الأرواح. يجب ألا تُستخدم حقيقة مظالم الشعب اليمني، كما عايشوها ورووها وتذكروها، للتلاعب السياسي. تتطلب التحقيقات حقائق وسجلات موثقة، ولكن الذاكرة الجماعية التصالحية تتطلب أيضاً أن نواجه الحقائق غير المريحة. لضمان إمكانية تحقيق أي من أشكال العدالة، ولضمان أن مستقبل اليمن يُكرم ضحاياه، يجب أن تكون استعادة الرواية من قبل الشعب اليمني أولوية قصوى.

حرب الروايات: كيف يهدد التضليل الإعلامي والمعلومات الخاطئة الأرواح، ويحرف الذاكرة، ويؤخر العدالة في اليمن

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In Yemen, war does not merely begin or end with military escalation. Instead, it unfolds in cycles, where information becomes a weapon. Perpetrators manipulate narratives, distort facts, and spread mis- and disinformation to justify and sustain violence. Naturally, each party to the conflict&nbsp;<a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/the-yemen-war-media-and-propaganda/">operates</a> their own media platform(s), creating and disseminating narratives that meticulously align with their political agendas. What transpires is a war of narratives, where victims and perpetrators become ambiguous, often becoming interchangeable depending on which version of events is being told. While neither media bias, nor the weaponization of information are unique to the Yemeni context, these dynamics have deeply shaped the country’s conflict, obscured accountability, and undermined efforts to document human rights abuses. “In Yemen, verifying evidence can feel like chasing smoke,”&nbsp;says Safa, Yemeni Archive researcher who has worked across multiple conflict zones, including Syria and Libya. “We often come across videos or images that have been repurposed from entirely different events or locations. I’ve seen clips reportedly showing a strike site in Hudaydah, when in fact it turned out to be footage from a previous strike in the same area. You're constantly weeding through misinformation, checking timestamps, cross-referencing sources, and mapping visual clues just to confirm the basics. Compared to other contexts I’ve worked in, Yemen remains one of the most challenging.”<h3 style="text-align:justify;">The Politics of Mis- and Disinformation</h3>For over a decade, Yemeni people have grappled with a war that has not only tore through their livelihoods, but also eroded their capacity to imagine what a “post-war” future might look like. In this context,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/journalism-facts/misinformation-disinformation">misinformation</a>, the spreading of false information without intent to harm; and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/journalism-facts/misinformation-disinformation">disinformation</a>, the deliberate sharing of misleading information, has had tangible consequences on shaping the course and perception of the conflict.&nbsp;It is undeniable that information is greatly powerful, particularly in times of war, as it is how public perceptions are formed, dissent is suppressed, and acts of political violence are legitimized. In this sense, information is far from neutral, in fact it is a strategy. In Yemen, parties to the conflict have actively weaponized the media to prepare for violations or justify them in the aftermath. Whether through the strategic release of images, selective storytelling, or the outright fabrication/misrepresentation of events, the manipulation of information has become a key element of the war machine.For instance, and at a pivotal moment in Yemen’s conflict, the leaders of the Houthi movement (Ansar Allah) began heavily promoting the concept of the so-called “<a href="https://www.aljazeera.net/blogs/2023/8/29/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B6%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%81-%D9%84%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%87">soft war</a>”. This typically refers to the use of non-military tools like media, education, and culture to shape public perception and influence society in line with political or ideological agendas. The targets of their soft war were (and continue to be) primarily&nbsp;women and civil society organizations. They launched a systematic campaign to smear peace-focused organizations, dismissing them as distractions designed to weaken national resistance. Similarly, groups working on reproductive health were framed as part of a “moral conspiracy” aimed at corrupting Yemeni youth. Through propagating such narratives, the group began to reshape public consciousness by twisting facts, distorting intentions, and recasting civil efforts into accusations, and activists into suspects.In AbdulMalik Al-Houthi’s<a href="https://www.mmy.ye/54082/"> fourteenth lecture</a> as part of his Ramadan series in 2018, he dedicated a part of his speech towards “Foreign organizations and the role they play in entrenching a culture of subjugation”. He explains, ”the origins and agendas of many of these foreign organizations are deeply rooted in the very global powers that have relentlessly pursued dominance over the world…they promote a kind of cultural and behavioral dilution; undermining people’s will, stripping them of resistance, and even normalizing moral decay…”. He continues to describe how there is “disproportionate attention being given to these issues, such as campaigns around contraception, as if they were the central concerns of our societies”.These narratives which are rigged with disinformation are left unexamined, unquestioned, and dangerously unchallenged. Anyone observing this spectacle can see how these propaganda campaigns are tearing at Yemeni society, fueling hatred, and polarizing people.&nbsp;These tactics are similarly deployed by other parties to the conflict, whereby mis- and disinformation are instrumantalized to assert power and suppress dissent. In June 2024, the Southern Transitional Council (STC)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/article/yemen-stc-military-takes-over-control-of-saba-news-agency">forcibly took over the Saba News Agency</a> and, shortly after, occupied the offices of Al Thawra Newspaper in Aden. This followed their 2019 seizure of 14 October Newspaper, reflecting a broader attempt to dominate the media landscape in Aden, Yemen’s interim capital. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)&nbsp;<a href="https://mail.sabanew.net/story/en/76249">condemned</a> these developments, citing the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate’s (YJS) worries over the STC’s campaign “to control the official media institutions and operate them in its favor.” The active monopolization of media across different areas of control underscores how information spaces have become key battlegrounds; sites not only of narrative shaping but of repression. Further to this, an&nbsp;<a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/en/investigations/the-storming-of-the-yemeni-womens-union-headquarters-in-aden">investigation</a> by Yemeni Archive into the storming of&nbsp;<a href="https://yemenwu.org/en/about/1">Yemeni Women's Union</a> in Aden by the General Union of Southern Women backed by the STC, exposed acts of intimidation, vandalism, and partial occupation of the premises in a clear manifestation of the systematized war on civil society and their role in challenging the status-quo.&nbsp;<h3 style="text-align:justify;">Against Falsehood, Distortion, and Impunity&nbsp;</h3>Combating mis- and disinformation goes beyond sifting through hours of footage, misattributed images, and recycled posts, cross-referencing videos, and geolocating scenes of violence; albeit it is a critical point of departure. It is a technical and political intervention that seeks to ensure the truth is grounded in evidence, and memory in truth. At the forefront of this work is Yemeni Archive and other documentation platforms, dedicated to verifying, documenting, and preserving digital evidence of human rights violations. Yemeni Archive follows a rigorous&nbsp;<a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/en/about/methods-tools">methodology</a> of open source research to cut through the fog of mis- and disinformation, as well as social media censorship, and continues to build a growing repository of verified material that can support advocacy, legal accountability efforts, and memorialization.&nbsp;For example, in its open-source&nbsp;<a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/en/investigations/bombing-civilian-houses-in-radaa">investigation</a> into the March 2024 bombing of civilian homes in Al-Hafrah neighborhood in Radaa, Yemeni Archive verified over 80 sources, including videos, images, and social media reports, to determine what had actually occurred. While some online narratives framed the event as a justified security operation, YA cross-referenced satellite imagery, shadow analysis, and geolocation to confirm that Houthi-affiliated security forces bombed a residential area, destroying 8 homes, damaging 17 others, and killing 9 civilians, including women and children. Despite attempts to dismiss the bombing as an individual mistake, YA’s documentation demonstrated a recurring pattern of house bombings in Al-Bayda governorate.&nbsp;<h3 style="text-align:justify;">Digital Witnessing: Social Media as a tool for Justice</h3>Social media as a digital space for the circulation of information, regardless of its integrity, is integral to this conversation. Social media platforms, while still inaccessible to many and governed by flawed content moderation systems, have radically shifted the parameters of information-sharing. These platforms have decentralized the power to circulate information and build narratives, making it easier for both individuals and organized actors to disseminate content.In a recent podcast, titled “<a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/ar/blog/social-media-posts-as-a-tool-for-justice">Social Media Posts as a Tool for Justice</a>” (currently available in Arabic), Yemeni Archive team walks listeners through the process of open-source investigations in the Yemeni context, highlighting the crucial role that everyday social media users play in supporting human rights documentation. While mis- and disinformation remain widespread, this should not discourage the sharing of human rights content online. Rather, it highlights the need for a shared responsibility: to engage critically with what we see, flag harmful or false material, and help amplify verified, credible information. In response to this critical need, several Yemeni fact-checking platforms have emerged, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://sidqyem.com/about/">Sidq</a> and others, which seek to expose false news and prevent thereafter harm.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3 style="text-align:justify;">Centering the Truth in Pursuit of Justice</h3>In a context like Yemen, where the language of law and rights is often inaccessible or inconsistently applied, confronting the harms of mis- and disinformation begins with making their dangers more widely understood and actively protected against. Whether deliberate or accidental, unverified information can shape the realities on the ground, influence military decisions, and, in many cases, cost lives. The truth about the grievances of the Yemeni people, as experienced, narrated, and remembered by them, must not be manipulated for political maneuver. Investigations demand verified facts and records, but also a reconciliatory collective memory demands that we confront uncomfortable truths. To ensure that any semblance of justice is possible, to ensure the future of Yemen honours its victims, the reclamation of the narrative by the people of Yemen must be a priority.&nbsp;

A War of Narratives: How mis- and disinformation endangers lives, distorts memory, and delays justice in Yemen

مع تقدم العالم الرقمي وتطور أدوات البحث المفتوحة المصادر (المتاحة على الإنترنت)، أصبح من الممكن لكل منشور، تغريدة، أو صورة يتم نشرها على السوشيال ميديا ان تكون مفتاحًا لكشف الحقائق حول انتهاكات حقوق الإنسان. &nbsp;نحكي في هذا البودكاست عن مفهوم صحافة المواطن، وكيف أصبحت منصات التواصل الاجتماعي أرشيفات "عفوية" توثق الأحداث الجارية. سنناقش سؤالًا محوريًا: كيف يمكنكم/ن استخدام منصاتكم/ن الرقمية لدعم قضايا حقوق الإنسان؟ &nbsp;&nbsp;انضمت لهذا الحوار اربع نساء من فريق الأرشيف اليمني، شاركن تجاربهن في إجراء التحقيقات المفتوحة المصدر التي تعتمد على هذه المشاركات والأهداف التي يأملن تحقيقها من خلال هذه الجهود.هذا البودكاست من كتابة وإعداد وتقديم رنا شعيتو، بمشاركة من الأرشيف اليمني، واشراف سليم سلامه.أُنجز هذا البودكاست في إطار برنامج تدريب من تنظيم "أوان" وبدعم من منظمة "دعم الإعلام الدولي International Media Support". &nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><a href="https://cms.yemeniarchive.org/uploads/Yemeni_Archive_Podcast_april_2025_965d31c42d.mp3" target="_blank">استمع إلى البودكاست</a></div>&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><audio controls="">
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 منشورات السوشيال ميديا كأداة للعدالة

الإخفاء القسري في اليمن: استراتيجية ترهيب تتفاقم بلا رادع

&nbsp;&nbsp;Author: Mansour al-Omari*&nbsp;“I even searched for my son in the morgues. I had to see the faces of the dead in order to know his fate.”- A mother whose son was forcibly disappeared in Yemen in 2016. (1)&nbsp;The warring parties in Yemen, including Houthi forces, the Yemeni government, the UAE,(2) &nbsp;Saudi Arabia,(3) &nbsp;and several Yemeni armed groups supported by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have committed enforced disappearances.(4) &nbsp;Estimates from various local and international human rights groups of the number of victims of enforced disappearances in Yemen since the outbreak of the conflict in 2014 range from hundreds to thousands. In 2024, Yemeni organization "Mwatana for Human Rights" reported that it had documented 1806 cases of enforced disappearance since the outbreak of the conflict in Yemen until the end of July 2024. A year earlier, in a statement issued by local and international human rights groups in 2023,(5) &nbsp;Mwatana reported that since 2015, Houthi forces had been responsible for 596 cases, Yemeni government forces for 223 cases, Saudi-led coalition forces for 38 cases, Transitional Council forces for 349 cases, Hadrami Elite forces for 28 cases, Joint Forces in the Western coast for 15 cases, and the Giants Forces and Shabwa Defense Forces for 9 cases, and that there are likely to be cases that Mwatana was unable to document.Bonyan Jamal, director of Yemeni Archive, an organization specialized in open-source investigations, says: "Over the past six months, there have been two violent campaigns of disappearances, one targeting civil society and workers in organizations, and the other targeting young people, activists, and female activists who are still missing to this day. There have also been cases of disappearance in Al-Falj in Marib, such as the case of Dr. Mustafa al-Mutawakkil, and cases of disappearance in Aden and Abyan. These cases have shocked Yemeni society and eroded trust in the state. Even many Yemeni migrants are afraid to return to visit their families for fear of being subjected to enforced disappearance."In its 2020 report, the "Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen" found "reasonable grounds to believe that parties to the conflict continue to be involved in cases of enforced disappearance...Such acts may also constitute war crimes."(6)&nbsp;The parties to the conflict in Yemen systematically use the crime of enforced disappearance against individuals and segments of society, such as the Houthi's disappearance of Baha'is.(7)&nbsp;&nbsp; Yemenis are subjected to arbitrary arrest or kidnapping and then enforced disappearance because of their political opinions or religious affiliations, or the nature of their work(8)&nbsp; &nbsp;such as journalists, human rights defenders, and aid workers,(9)&nbsp;&nbsp; including civil society and international organization staff.(10)&nbsp;The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted in 23 December 2010,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-protection-all-persons-enforced">defines</a> enforced disappearance as: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law.&nbsp;The Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, proclaimed by the General Assembly in its Resolution 47/133 of 18 December 1992,also describes enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity, contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and a grave violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirmed and elaborated upon in the international instruments concerned.Yemen is not a party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and although Yemeni law does not explicitly criminalize enforced disappearance, Article 6 of the Yemeni Constitution "affirms adherence to the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the generally recognized principles of international law." The Yemeni Constitution also guarantees in Articles 48 and 49 fundamental rights for individuals that conflict with the practices and elements of enforced disappearance. Article 48 (d) of the Yemeni Constitution stipulates that "when any person is arrested for any reason, he/she must be immediately notified of the person chosen by the arrested person, as must be done when any judicial order is issued to continue detention. If the arrested person is unable to choose, his relatives or those concerned must be notified." Article 49 also stipulates that "the right to defense in person or by proxy is guaranteed at all stages of the investigation and proceedings and before all courts in accordance with the provisions of the law, and the state guarantees legal aid to the indigent in accordance with the law."The practice of enforced disappearance violates a range of rights enshrined in international treaties and instruments to which Yemen is a party, such as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. All parties to the conflict, including states and groups, are also obliged to respect international human rights law.The crime of enforced disappearance is not limited to imposing anonymity on the victim's location and deprivation of the right to communicate with family and lawyers, but rather violates a range of human rights and rights enshrined in UN instruments concerned,(11)&nbsp;&nbsp; including:<ul><li>The right of the individual to recognition as a person before the law (Article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights),</li><li>The right of everyone to liberty and security of person (Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights),</li><li>The right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment),&nbsp;</li><li>The right to life (Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights),</li><li>The right to identity (several international covenants and declarations).</li><li>The right to a fair trial and to judicial guarantees (Article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights),</li><li>The right to an effective remedy, including restitution and compensation,</li><li>The right to know the truth about the circumstances of the disappearance, and</li><li>The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Article 5/7).</li></ul>Enforced disappearance also violates the economic, social and cultural rights of victims and their families alike, including the right to the protection and assistance of the family, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to health, and the right to education. &nbsp;&nbsp;Despite repeated calls by Yemeni civil society organizations and local and international civil society groups for justice for victims of enforced disappearance, and their affirmation that "enforced disappearance in Yemen is a direct result of impunity,"(12) &nbsp;there is still no domestic or international accountability for perpetrators or redress for victims and their families.The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance stipulates that no one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance, and that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of enforced disappearance. Nor may any order or instruction from any public authority, military or civilian, be invoked as a justification of enforced disappearance, and it shall be the duty of any person who receives such an order or instruction not to obey it. &nbsp;&nbsp;Under the principle of command responsibility, a superior or commander may be criminally responsible if he knew or ought to have known that one of his subordinates acting under his effective command and control was committing or was about to commit a crime of enforced disappearance and did not take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent such a crime or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.Those responsible for enforced disappearances in Yemen must be held accountable, and victims of enforced disappearance and their families must be compensated and have the right to adequate reparation, including measures aimed at their full rehabilitation. In the event of the death of a person as a result of enforced disappearance, his or her family shall also be entitled to compensation.Yemeni civil society organizations and international organizations are calling for the inclusion of the issue of the disappeared in the priorities of negotiations to end the crisis, and that any transitional process include the formation of a national committee to search for them and address their situation and the situation of their families, and that until that happens, the United Nations Human Rights Council should establish an international commission of inquiry to ensure that evidence is not lost and that cases are preserved for use in future justice opportunities.(13)&nbsp;On 15 January 2025, the first&nbsp;<a href="https://www.edworldcongress.org/">World Congress on Enforced Disappearance</a> will be held in Geneva to enhance global efforts to combat enforced disappearances by bringing key actors together and aims to foster collective action. The conference, held nearly 20 years after the adoption of the Convention, aims to create an opportunity for concrete and ambitious commitments to eradicate enforced disappearance everywhere in the world, putting the voices of the victims at the core of the strategy.The World Congress is co-organized by CEDI, the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED), the United Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).The participation of Yemeni civil society in this and future Congresses will be positive and significant contribution to global efforts to combat enforced disappearances and promote accountability for perpetrators. It also aligns with the Congress’s goals of putting the voices of the victims at the core of the strategy and advocating for Yemen to sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. In parallel, there should be efforts to encourage Yemen to sign all international conventions that protect the Yemeni people from the grave crimes they face at the hands of their governments or other parties to the conflict.&nbsp;*&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/MansourOmari">Mansour al-Omari:</a> A human rights defender and legal researcher. He holds a master's degree in law, specializing in transitional justice and conflict. Al-Omari works with international and Syrian human rights organizations to hold perpetrators of international crimes in Syria accountable. In 2012, al-Omari was arrested and tortured by the Syrian government for 356 days for documenting their atrocities while working with the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression as the supervisor of the detainees' documentation office.<ul><li>1&nbsp;&nbsp;Crimes of Enforced Disappearance, Mwatana for Human Rights, 30 August 2024,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mwatana.org/reports-en/crimes-of-enforced-disappearance">https://www.mwatana.org/reports-en/crimes-of-enforced-disappearance</a> (accessed 29 October 2024).&nbsp;</li><li>2&nbsp;&nbsp;Yemen: ‘God only knows If he’s alive’: Enforced disappearance and detention violations in southern Yemen, Amnesty International 11 July 2018,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde31/8682/2018/en/">https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde31/8682/2018/en/</a> (accessed 29 October 2024).</li><li>3&nbsp;&nbsp;Yemen: Saudi Forces Torture, ‘Disappear’ Yemenis, Human Rights Watch 25 March 2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/25/yemen-saudi-forces-torture-disappear-yemenis">https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/25/yemen-saudi-forces-torture-disappear-yemenis</a> (accessed 29 October 2024).</li><li>4&nbsp;&nbsp;Disappearances in Yemen, Human Rights Watch (nd),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/tag/disappearances-yemen">https://www.hrw.org/tag/disappearances-yemen</a> (accessed 29 October 2024).</li><li>5&nbsp;&nbsp;Yemen: Parties to the Conflict Should Immediately Release All Those Arbitrarily Detained and Reveal the Fate of Those Forcibly Disappeared Since the Beginning of the Armed Conflict in Yemen in 2014, Amnesty International 17 April 2023,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde31/6691/2023/en/">https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde31/6691/2023/en/</a> (accessed 29 October 2024).</li><li>6&nbsp;&nbsp;Situation of human rights in Yemen, including violations and abuses since September 2014, Report of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen, A/HRC/45/6.</li><li>7&nbsp;&nbsp;Yemen: Houthis Forcibly Disappear Baha’is, Human Rights Watch 30 May 2023,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/30/yemen-houthis-forcibly-disappear-bahais">https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/30/yemen-houthis-forcibly-disappear-bahais</a> (accessed 29 October 2024).</li><li>8&nbsp;&nbsp;Yemen: Released and exiled: Torture, unfair trials and Forcible exile of Yemenis under Huthi Rule, Amnesty International 27 May 2021,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde31/3907/2021/en/">https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde31/3907/2021/en/</a> (accessed 29 October 2024).</li><li>9&nbsp;&nbsp;Joint statement – Detention of United Nations and Non-Governmental Organization Personnel in Yemen, UNDP in the Arab States 14 June 2024,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.undp.org/arab-states/speeches/joint-statement-detention-united-nations-and-non-governmental-organization-personnel-yemen">https://www.undp.org/arab-states/speeches/joint-statement-detention-united-nations-and-non-governmental-organization-personnel-yemen</a> (accessed 29 October 2024).</li><li>10&nbsp;&nbsp;Yemen’s Houthis Still Detaining UN, Civil Society Staff, Human Rights Watch 6 December 2024,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/06/yemens-houthis-still-detaining-un-civil-society-staff">https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/06/yemens-houthis-still-detaining-un-civil-society-staff</a> (accessed 29 October 2024).</li><li>11&nbsp;&nbsp;Enforced disappearance is a strategy of intimidation that violates 12 human rights, Enab Baladi, 1 September 2019,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.enabbaladi.net/324755/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%AE%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B3%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%A8-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%87/">https://www.enabbaladi.net/324755/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%AE%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B3%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%A8-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%87/</a> (accessed 29 October 2024).</li><li>12&nbsp;&nbsp;Enforced disappearances in Yemen as a direct result of impunity, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies 30 August 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://cihrs.org/enforced-disappearances-in-yemen-as-a-direct-result-of-impunity/?lang=en">https://cihrs.org/enforced-disappearances-in-yemen-as-a-direct-result-of-impunity/?lang=en</a> (accessed 3 November 2024).</li><li>13&nbsp;&nbsp;Invisible and Unheard: The Escalating Tragedy of Enforced Disappearances in Yemen, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies 30 August 2024,&nbsp;<a href="https://cihrs.org/invisible-and-unheard-the-escalating-tragedy-of-enforced-disappearances-in-yemen/?lang=en">https://cihrs.org/invisible-and-unheard-the-escalating-tragedy-of-enforced-disappearances-in-yemen/?lang=en</a> (accessed 3 November 2024).</li></ul>&nbsp;

Enforced Disappearances in Yemen: An Escalating, Unchecked Strategy of Intimidation

شركات التواصل الاجتماعي تقوض العدالة في اليمن

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<h1>Social Media Companies Undermine Justice in Yemen</h1>The Impact of Deleting Content Related to Human Rights Violations on Transitional Justice PillarsBy Mansour Al-Omari *&nbsp;There seems to be a lack of comprehensive research on the role and impact of social media companies in transitional justice processes, especially in United Nations literature. There is perhaps even less research on the impact of deleting content related to human rights violations on the pillars of transitional justice, including criminal justice, which is an indispensable pillar in stopping perpetrators and deterring potential perpetrators.Research is the best way to increase knowledge about a specific problem or issue. It involves collecting, organizing, and analysing evidence to gain a deeper understanding, find solutions, and discover more information. In an era where social media platforms have become a primary vehicle for communication, discussion, expression, organization, mobilization, photography, and blogging, it has become clear that there is a need to enhance and accelerate scientific research to study this global phenomenon, keep pace with its rapid development, and understand its inherent role and enormous impact on all aspects of human life.In this article, I attempt to explore some of this role and impact in relation to Yemen, relying primarily on the work of&nbsp;<a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/en/about">Yemeni Archive</a> project launched by Mnemonic Organization, and its conclusions regarding the deletion of content on major social media platforms: YouTube, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter).<a href="https://mnemonic.org/en/about/index.html">Mnemonic</a> is a non-governmental organization that works in archiving and verifying open-source information related to human rights violations and international crimes. Mnemonic conducts research, monitors content moderation on social media platforms, and develops tools to support justice and advocacy for accountability. Mnemonic has created four independent archives that store open-source information that is at risk of being lost from Syria, Sudan, Yemen, and Ukraine.Yemeni Archive team began its work in 2019 and started collecting open-source content related to human rights violations in Yemen, published primarily on social media platforms, to preserve, document, and investigate this content, and to build a database to support human rights reports and assist in building legal cases, in addition to creating a digital memory.For example, through its years of work, Yemeni Archive found that YouTube disabled a large number of channels that publish content related to the war in Yemen, which included tens of thousands of videos. According to&nbsp;<a href="https://yemeniarchive.org/en/data-archive">Yemeni Archive data</a>, about 30% of the channels that Yemeni Archive monitored and stored in its database are no longer available online, either due to deletion or for other reasons.<img src="https://cms.yemeniarchive.org/uploads/BLOG_1a_af0199a684.jpg" alt="BLOG1a.jpg" srcset="https://cms.yemeniarchive.org/uploads/thumbnail_BLOG_1a_af0199a684.jpg 156w,https://cms.yemeniarchive.org/uploads/small_BLOG_1a_af0199a684.jpg 500w,https://cms.yemeniarchive.org/uploads/medium_BLOG_1a_af0199a684.jpg 750w,https://cms.yemeniarchive.org/uploads/large_BLOG_1a_af0199a684.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="1080" height="1080">&nbsp;<h3>The impact of deleting content related to human rights violations and war crimes on transitional justice</h3>Content published on social media platforms is increasingly used worldwide as a source of evidence and information to be used in trials, to provide justice for victims, to investigate allegations, to document history, and to preserve memory. These objectives constitute essential elements in transitional justice processes in their various forms.The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/transitional-justice/about-transitional-justice-and-human-rights">says</a> that transitional justice processes include:&nbsp;truth-seeking, prosecution initiatives, various types of reparation, and a wide array of measures to prevent the recurrence of new violations, including constitutional, legal, and institutional reform, the strengthening of civil society, memorialization efforts, cultural initiatives, the preservation of archives and the reform of history education – as required and appropriate in the specific context. (1)&nbsp;Social media platforms are a new carrier of information and evidence about crimes, victims, and perpetrators. The role of open-source information is not limited to proving the occurrence of crimes, but also extends to helping identify victims and perpetrators. Content on these platforms plays an increasingly important role and is sometimes the only evidence of the occurrence of a crime, or proof of the identity of the victim or perpetrator. This evidence or proof may also be used in national or international courts, including the International Criminal Court. It also plays an important role in achieving the objectives of the Geneva Conventions and universal jurisdiction in accountability and combating impunity.<h3>Social media content in courts</h3>There are increasing examples of the use of open-source content published on social media platforms in arrest warrants and courts proceedings as circumstantial evidence and even direct or conclusive evidence, in relation to international crimes.In 2015, the first trial in Sweden for a war crime in Syria was based on a video (2) posted on Facebook. On February 26, 2015, a Swedish court sentenced Syrian citizen Mouhannad Droubi to eight years in prison for committing a war crime, after Swedish police discovered a video of him violently assaulting a man who appeared to be a captured fighter.In 2018, the International Criminal Court (3) relied heavily in its proceedings on content published on social media platforms to issue an arrest warrant for a Libyan leader on charges of committing war crimes in Libya.In the arrest warrant in 2017, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court concluded that the Libyan military leader Mahmoud al-Werfalli is " appears to be directly responsible for the killing of, in total, 33 persons… The executions took place in the course of seven incidents."The court described the seven incidents by watching videos posted on social media, for example in the first incident the court said that Mr. Werfalli appears in a video recording wearing spotted pants and carrying a weapon... and Mr. Werfalli's voice can be heard saying "Put your hands up!" After that, he shoots a person with his left hand a number of times and the person falls on the ground, and that the video depicting this incident was posted on Facebook on 3 June 2016 (4).&nbsp;However, content related to human rights and published on social media is subject to intentional deletion and loss, so there has been a need to deal with this issue in a precise and legal manner to preserve the evidentiary and legal value of the content. For example, Syrian Archive, supported several trials of international crimes committed in Syria, based on its work in preserving and archiving open-source content that are at risk of being lost.Social media content is an important source for investigating and uncovering facts, one of the most important pillars of transitional justice, and a platform for oral memory.In 2021, the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations of Human Rights (5)&nbsp;, the Yemeni government body responsible for monitoring and investigating human rights violations in Yemen that have occurred since 2011, stated in its tenth periodic report (6) &nbsp;that it had "reviewed and analysed hundreds of photographs and videos related to violations, which were worked on and preserved within the Commission's database", during the period from 1 June 2021 to 31 June 2022 (7).&nbsp;In 2021, the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen identified in its final report its recommendations to the Security Council, which included exploring accountability mechanisms to ensure justice and redress for victims in Yemen. These recommendations cannot be implemented, and their requirements cannot be fully met without preserving content published on social media, verifying it, and then using it in justice and accountability processes to provide redress for victims and hold the perpetrators accountable.In 2021, local and international human rights organizations &nbsp;called (8) on the UN Security Council in an urgent appeal to "pursue concrete steps to advance a holistic and credible accountability and redress strategy for Yemen".&nbsp;All of these Yemeni and international recommendations and calls call for justice through the accountability of perpetrators and redress for victims. The content published on social media also constitutes a key element in providing information and evidence, and its deletion undermines justice for Yemen and contributes to the cover-up of perpetrators, the exacerbation of impunity, and the continued suffering of victims and their families.It does not appear that all efforts by international human rights organizations and calls by politicians and governments are met with a meaningful response from social media platforms. As these platforms continue to delete (9) content related to crimes and human rights violations committed in various conflicts around the world.To ensure that the rights of victims are respected, and to avoid distorting historical narratives and memory, content related to conflicts must be saved from accidental loss or deliberate deletion, especially that contains evidence. This goal requires work and cooperation between several parties, including the United Nations, international and local organizations, and social media companies. Many countries are enacting laws to regulate the work of social media companies to protect the basic rights of users, and rights and intellectual property related to songs and films, among others. These countries can and should enact laws to protect the rights of individual victims and communities, through justice and accountability, which are fundamental rights, including by forcing social media companies to preserve content related to conflicts.The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights affirms that ensuring the accountability of perpetrators of serious crimes and other gross violations of human rights and providing redress for victims and affected communities are obligations under international law. The continued deletion of content with evidentiary value and evidence of crimes and violations by social media companies seriously undermines justice and may violate international law. Social media companies continue to avoid making meaningful efforts to provide solutions to these problems. Therefore, these companies must be pushed to take serious steps, including through legal means, to fulfil their promises and provide real solutions.To this day, more than a decade after the Yemeni people called for change and justice, and after many years of war that has devastated Yemen and caused great suffering for Yemenis, there is no clear and effective path or mechanism for achieving justice in Yemen. Social media platforms should not exacerbate this tragic deficiency against Yemen and its people by deleting information and evidence that is needed in any process aimed at achieving justice as the basis for sustainable peace, through transitional justice processes or any other justice mechanism.&nbsp;* Mansour al-Omari: A human rights defender and legal researcher. He holds a master's degree in law, specializing in transitional justice and conflict. Al-Omari works with international and Syrian human rights organizations to hold perpetrators of international crimes in Syria accountable. In 2012, al-Omari was arrested and tortured by the Syrian government for 356 days for documenting their atrocities while working with the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression as the supervisor of the detainees' documentation office.&nbsp;------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- &nbsp;<ol><li>About transitional justice and human rights, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/transitional-justice/about-transitional-justice-and-human-rights">https://www.ohchr.org/en/transitional-justice/about-transitional-justice-and-human-rights</a> (accessed on 16 October 2024).</li><li>&nbsp;Facebook ‘torture’ video leads to Sweden arrest, The Local, 2 February 2015, available at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thelocal.se/20150202/syria-fighter-charged-in-sweden-over-war-crime/">https://www.thelocal.se/20150202/syria-fighter-charged-in-sweden-over-war-crime/</a> (accessed on 2 October 2024).</li><li>&nbsp;The Prosecutor v. Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf al-Werfalli, Case No. ICC-01/11-01/17, Second Arrest Warrant, 4 July 2018, available at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/CR2018_03708.PDF">https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/CR2018_03708.PDF</a> (accessed on 2 October 2024)</li><li>&nbsp;The Prosecutor v. Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf al-Werfalli, Case No. ICC-01/11-01/17, Public Document, Arrest Warrant, 15 August 2017, available at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/CR2017_05208.PDF">https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/CR2017_05208.PDF</a> (accessed on 2 October 2024).</li><li>&nbsp;The National Commission defines itself on its website as “A national mechanism for monitoring and investigating allegations of human rights violations committed on the territory of the Republic of Yemen by all parties established by the Republican Resolution No. (140) for 2012 and its amendments, based on the texts of the Gulf Initiative and its executive mechanism, and Security Council Resolution No. 2051 of 2012 and Resolution No. “2140” for 2014 and other related Human Rights Council resolutions.” Available at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nciye.org/en/?page_id=105">https://www.nciye.org/en/?page_id=105</a> (accessed on 2 October 2024).</li><li>&nbsp;NCIAVHR Releases the 10th Periodic Report and Announces the Documentation of 3,609 Violations, NCIAVHR, available at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nciye.org/en/?p=1209">https://www.nciye.org/en/?p=1209</a> (accessed on 2 October 2024).</li><li>&nbsp;In its report, Returned to Zero, The Case for Reparations to Civilians in Yemen, Mwatana for Human Rights noted that the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations of Human Rights does not have the power to compel these actors to take up their responsibility nor the mandate to award reparations itself,&nbsp; Yemen and Coalition States have routinely ignored the Commission’s recommendations, and that cases investigated by the Commission are supposed to be referred to the Yemeni judiciary “so that perpetrators of human rights violations are brought to justice and the victims receive reparations.” Returned to Zero, The Case for Reparations to Civilians in Yemen is available at&nbsp;<a href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/621cfefe2b950d85b2a1e2d1/646c4312eaae250ef4991132_Returned-To-Zero-Report-2022-En_3.pdf">https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/621cfefe2b950d85b2a1e2d1/646c4312eaae250ef4991132_Returned-To-Zero-Report-2022-En_3.pdf</a> (accessed on 16 October 2024).</li><li>&nbsp;Ensure Accountability for Yemen at the UN Security Council, 17 February 2021, Mwatana for Human Rights, available at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mwatana.org/posts-en/ensure-accountability-for-yemen-2">https://www.mwatana.org/posts-en/ensure-accountability-for-yemen-2</a> (accessed on 16 October 2024).</li><li>&nbsp;The difficulty of conserving social media evidence of war crimes, Le Monde, 10 April 2022, available at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2022/04/10/the-difficulty-of-conserving-social-media-evidence-of-war-crimes_5980187_13.html">https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2022/04/10/the-difficulty-of-conserving-social-media-evidence-of-war-crimes_5980187_13.html</a>&nbsp;(accessed on 16 October 2024).</li></ol>