JEDDAH: Children recruited as fighters by Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen are beaten into submission and face psychological abuse, as well as the risk of death, injury and disability, a former child soldier said on Friday.
Those who try to flee are recaptured and forced to continue fighting, he told the Yemeni Coalition to Monitor Human Rights Violations (YCMHRV).
The child’s testimony is part of a documentary about the recruitment of children in Yemen, which was broadcast during the 38th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Legal expert Lisa Al-Badawi highlighted efforts to rehabilitate former child soldiers and children affected by the war in Yemen.
She said children make up a third of fighters in the Houthi militias, according to a field study by the Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation.
The study showed that 80 percent of child soldiers in Yemen begin fighting to earn much-needed money amid deteriorating economic conditions, while just 10 percent join Houthi ranks for “ideological reasons.”
Al-Badawi revealed numerous human rights violations faced by the recruits, including the risk of death and injury, deprivation of education, and exposure to sexual and psychological abuse.
She also discussed the methods used to treat and rehabilitate these children, emphasizing the importance of promoting awareness among parents.
She presented statistics on the areas covered by the rehabilitation process, which is carried out with support from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief).
Dr. Hamdan Al-Shehri, a Saudi political analyst and international relations scholar, said he is not surprised by the Houthis’ large-scale recruitment of children.
“By devious design, they push children onto the frontlines so that when the children become victims, the Houthis can cry foul and blame the legitimate Yemeni government for killing children,” he told Arab News.
“These are terrorist militias, and like all terrorists, they have no qualms about playing with the lives of children.”
It is easy for the militias to brainwash children, Al-Shehri said. “Grown people are difficult to convince, but children become easy prey,” he added.
“In most cases, the Houthis don’t even tell children that they’re going to the frontlines. They lure them by saying they’ll be helping their men.”
Now that the Houthis have been cornered in Hodeidah, they will use children and the civilian population as human shields, Al-Shehri said, asking: “What can we expect from such terrorists?”
Meanwhile, the Houthis have indicated they would be willing to hand over management of Hodeidah port to the UN, according to sources quoted by Reuters. The port is a principal entry point for relief supplies for Yemen.
This week, UN envoy Martin Griffiths has been in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital Sanaa and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to try to negotiate a solution.
The source, quoted by Reuters, said the Houthis indicated that they would accept overall UN management and inspections of the port.
A Western diplomat said the UN would oversee income from the port and make sure it gets to Yemen’s central bank. The understanding is that Yemeni state employees will work alongside the UN.
Griffiths on Thursday said he was “encouraged by the constructive engagement” of the Houthis, and will be holding meetings with Yemen’s internationally backed President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Speaking earlier at the UN, Saudi Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi reiterated the Saudi-led coalition’s demand that the Houthis quit the city of Hodeidah entirely.
“What we are offering is for the Houthis to hand over their weapons to the government of Yemen and to leave, to leave peacefully, and to provide information about the locations of mines and improvised explosive devices,” he said.
Ex-child soldier presents damning testimony of Houthi recruitment in Yemen
Ex-child soldier presents damning testimony of Houthi recruitment in Yemen
- Children who try to flee are recaptured and forced to continue fighting
- The study shows 80 percent of child soldiers in Yemen begin fighting to earn much-needed money
Five takeaways from Mojtaba Khamenei’s defiant first message
- Khamenei’s father Ali Khamenei, supreme leader since 1989, wife, sister, child and brother-in-law were all killed on February 28 at the start of the US-Israeli war
- The message was not accompanied by video or audio of the new leader giving the remarks, or even a new still image
PARIS: Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday issued his first message since his elevation to the post, threatening revenge for his father’s killing, though he did not deliver the declaration in person.
Khamenei’s father Ali Khamenei, supreme leader since 1989, was killed on February 28 at the start of the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic in an air strike that also claimed the lives of other top security officials and family members.
Mojtaba Khamenei was himself wounded, according to statements by some Iranian officials and state television, but there remains uncertainty over his whereabouts and physical condition.
Here are five takeaways from his first statement as supreme leader.
- Uncertainty over condition -
“The first message of the supreme leader of the Islamic revolution, his excellency Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hossein Khamenei!” an Iranian TV anchor declared before reading out the lengthy statement.
There was, however, no attempt to end the speculation over Khamenei’s condition, and the statement was not accompanied by video or audio of the new leader giving the remarks, or even a new still image.
Instead, the statement was read against the backdrop of an archive photo of Khamanei and a computer-generated flag of the Islamic republic.
- Call for revenge -
In the statement, Khamenei offered no hint that he was seeking to make peace with Iran’s enemies, and instead emphasized his desire for revenge in a war that has claimed the life of his father and his wife.
“A limited amount of this revenge has so far taken concrete form, but until it is fully achieved, this case will remain among our priorities,” Khamenei said.
“We will seek compensation from the enemy, and if they refuse, we will take as much of their property as we determine, and if that is not possible, we will destroy the same amount of his property,” he added.
He singled out a deadly strike on a school in Minab in southern Iran that Iranian authorities have said was carried out by the US and left 150 people dead, describing it as a “crime the enemy deliberately committed.”
A preliminary US military investigation has determined that a missile struck the school because of a targeting mistake, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
- Threats to enemies -
Echoing the language of his late father, Khamanei also emphasized Iran’s potential to cause havoc across the region by squeezing oil supplies and using regional proxies.
He called for using “the lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz” — a strategic waterway through which a fifth of global oil passes.
“The will of the people is for the continuation of an effective and deterrent defense that will make the enemy regret its actions.”
He warned that “studies have also been carried out on opening other fronts in which the enemy has little experience and in which it will be extremely vulnerable,” without giving details.
Those fronts would be “activated” if the war continued, he said.
- Warning to region -
Khamenei noted that Iran shared land or sea borders with some 15 countries and “we have always desired warm and constructive relations” with these neighbors.
But Khamenei called for the closure of US bases in nearby countries, saying “the claim of establishing security and peace by America was nothing more than a lie.”
“These countries must determine their stance regarding those who have invaded our dear homeland and killed our people.”
- Grieving son and husband -
He lauded his father as a “shining treasure and distinguished figure in history,” and said he had seen the late ayatollah’s corpse after his “martyrdom.”
Khamenei described the body as “a mountain of steadfastness” with the fist of his father’s one functioning hand — his other arm was paralyzed after a bomb attack in the 1980s — clenched in a sign of defiance.
Khamenei emphasized that as well as his father, he had also lost in the attack “my dear and loyal wife,” his sister, her child and his brother-in-law.
He did not mention his mother, who previous reports said had also been killed. The Fars news agency said Thursday those reports were inaccurate and she was still alive.
Khamenei said that he had learned of his appointment by the Assembly of Experts clerical body “at the same time as you” on television through the state broadcaster.
