U.S. Economic War against Yemen Detailed in Georgetown Strategy Group Report

YemenExtra

M.A.

Saudi Arabia is only holding the economic card because it has sought to use the policy of systematic starvation and the creation of famine as a weapon of war.

In particular these illegal coercive economic measures, taken by the Saudi-led coalition, which were illegally imposed on the entire population, has destructive effects to vulnerable civilians, including women, children, the elderly, the sick, the wounded and those with special needs. As one of the economic means in the war, Saudi Arabia resorted to imposing a comprehensive air, land and sea blockade. By continuing in its suffocating blockade against Yemen, the aggression hoped to get the situation to reach the extent of complete collapse and Yemen in some aspect is going through it now. This terrible blockade, permitted by the Saudi-controlled international forces, which no one speaks of, and other economic measures are the sole cause of the country’s total collapse.

The US-Saudi Aggression Coalition expects predicted that this collapse will happen quickly, with the aim of weakening the de facto authority in Sana’a, indifferent to the consequences of this siege on the vast majority of the Yemeni people who fall below the poverty line and who are the only victims of this barbaric siege. They Believe that the world will forgive them and will absolve Saudi Arabia of human responsibility, but history will not relieve anyone of its curse. The collapse of the economic situation in Yemen will be recorded without debate as the worst crime of collective punishment against an entire country committed by one party that everyone knows. And it’s happening under the nose of United Nations, Member States, all monetary and financial institutions and human rights organizations worldwide.

With this blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia, which involves gross violations of the most basic norms of human rights law, as well as the law of armed conflict, and although there is no possible military advantage that could justify such continued suffering to millions of Yemenis. The international community has failed to prevent it as required under international law, as this dossier was presented at the Stockholm consultation when the delegates of the internationally recognized Hadi government did not discuss and did not try to resolve issues related to the economic dossier, especially the payment of salaries and to cancel the ban on flights to Sana’a airport and lift Siege.

Hidden goals revealed by a report published on the site of the “Washington Institute,” interested in studying the Middle East, in a report issued by the “Georgetown Strategic Group,” the report dealt with the reasons of the economic crisis in Yemen. The report exposes an other plot to target the sovereignty of the nation under the titles of humanity and emergency steps to save the economy. The recommendations are covered with mercy but in reality the pose serious violation of the sovereignty and independence of Yemen. In addition, the report showed that this economic war on Yemen is solely run by the U.S. especially after the U.S Deputy Secretary of Defense came out to call for the implementation of these recommendations. The plot was revealed in the report under the economic road-map for humanitarian relief in Yemen – where the report suggested that the dollar should be used in the Yemeni economy by “the central bank converting the US dollar.

The strategic study conducted in line with the military objectives against Yemen. By looking at the timing of the last step taken by the Coalition detaining vessels loaded with oil derivatives, Coincided with the failure of the UN envoy to pressure the national forces with regard to the Hodeidah agreement, which was overturned by the government of Hadi in the so-called Stockholm negotiations.

The Saudi riyal and dollar are suggested to replace the legal currencies and in the meantime, the bank must be a close partner with the International Monetary Fund to complete the process of personal assessment and to fully return the country to the international banking system. From this, it is obvious to those who had any doubt the extent of the involvement of the United States of America through its instruments from the coalition countries, the systematic targeting of the Yemeni economy under deceptive humanitarian covers. Thus revealing the cover of the reality of the American aggression against Yemen. In addition to Trump’s to veto of the draft resolution to stop supporting coalition forces in their operations in Yemen.

The air raids of the Saudi-led coalition along with the blockade imposed coercive measures to starve civilians through the systematic shelling of factories and food trucks, as well as the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the obstruction of imports of food commodities, which account for 90% of the food supply, medical supplies and fuel. The move of the Central Bank of Yemen to Aden under the control of the Hadi-in-exile has led to the non-payment of monthly salaries to 1.5 million public sector employees since September 2016, despite the assurances given by the Hadi government in exile to the international community that it will assume all the obligations of the Central Bank of Yemen.

Given that every public sector employee has an average of five dependents, the failure to pay their monthly salaries for more than two years directly destroys 7.5 million people. The decline in purchasing power due to non-payment of salaries has had an indirect negative impact on economic activity in general, leading to further impoverishment of staff and the middle class of traders, their employees and their families. Devaluation of the local currency, the government’s failure to deposit Oil and Gas revenues into the central bank accounts, withdrawing hard currency from the market, and printing the local currency without cover to lower the local value of the riyal, all of these factors have combined to weaken the economy.

Coalition air strikes on the food sector infrastructure, along with the blockade on food and fuel imports, violate Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living for food and health.” The systematic targeting of the food sector by air strikes and a total blockade is a deliberate attempt to starve an entire nation of people into submission or death in violation of article 6 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which states that “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.”

The use of starvation as a means of warfare also violates article 54 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and on the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), which states: “It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable for survival The civilian population, such as food and agricultural areas, for the production of food crops, livestock, drinking water installations, supplies and irrigation, for the specific purpose of depriving them of the value of their livelihood to the civilian population or the counter party, whatever the motivation to starve civilians to move them.

This post originally ran on Almasirah English