Washington working to hold Houthis accountable for their crimes in Yemen

Noura Bendari                    

The world marked Human Rights Day on December 13.

The day has come to bring to light the violations the Iran-backed Houthi militia keeps committing against the Yemeni people in the areas it controls in Yemen.

These violations include killing, stealing, torture and repression.

Washington was quick to support possible resolutions by the United Nations Security Council to hold the Houthis accountable for the crimes they commit against the Yemeni people.

These crimes have been committed in the span of the seven years in which the Yemeni crisis has been raging on.

American invitation

US Special Envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, said the US administration would support any project by the UN to hold the Houthis accountable for their crimes in Yemen.

Yemeni families, he added, deserve to have a better future, one that does not have wars.

Washington has, meanwhile, called for establishing a new mandate for the UN to enhance accountability in Yemen and punish parties that commit abuses against Yemeni civilians.

Washington and the Houthis locked horns in late November this year after the Iran-backed militia raided the US embassy in Yemeni capital, Sana’a, looted its contents and took some of the embassy’s workers hostage.

This caused the American administration to intensify its calls for the militia to urgently release these embassy employees.

However, the Houthis countered by acting in their customary intransigence, promoting the US to enlist help from some regional players to convince the Houthis to let the employees go.

This is not the first time the US and the UN back a project to punish the Houthis for their crimes in Yemen.