The war raging in Yemen since 2015 has caused the death of hundreds, and the disability of thousands who lost their organs, as a result of mines, explosions and shells that the parties to the war have used as part of their combat tactics across vast areas of intense confrontations.
Jamila Qassem (45 years old) talks to "Khuyut", about her suffering with disability, saying: "I have repeatedly wished to die, I feel that I am dead though I am breathing, unable to move, I depend entirely on my husband and children!"
Jamila woke up one day, five years ago, on half a body, after falling into a coma for several days, to discover that she had lost both of her legs due to a landmine that her feet had trampled on in (a highland) next to her house in the Al-Habil area of the Mudhaffar district (west of Taiz city).
The tragic accident happened when Jamila was tending sheep (cattle) and walking behind them, but she did not know that this would be her last walk on her feet.
Jamila narrates her story to "Khuyut", saying: "The sheep suddenly climbed up to the hill. I ran after them to take them down, but a strong explosion shook me as if I had been separated from my body. I lost consciousness after that, I only woke up in the hospital days after."
“When I woke up, I tried to get off the bed, and I fell to the ground, and only then I realized that I was without feet”; Jamila explained.
Like all rural people, Jamila depends on sheep to support her family. "I was a housewife, I covered a large part of the household expenses through raising and selling sheep, milk and ghee. My family depended greatly on this income, because my husband was a guard at Taiz University and his salary did not meet our requirements." As a result of my injury, my husband sold the sheep; because no one is able to take care of them, but me," Jamila adds.
Mines and projectiles targeted rural Yemeni women's environments, such as grazing areas, farms and woodlands, wells, as well as residential communities and camps
Jamila laments her current situation, after a landmine had disabled her by losing her feet: “"When a person among us is able to walk and move, he can live his life and earn his livelihood, even if he is poor, he is able to manage his life, but for me, I feel like as if I am trapped in a cage, and I wish that I can walk even two steps."
Targeting Women's Environments
The 1997 Ottawa Convention prohibits the planting of mines during wars, and Yemen was among the countries that signed that agreement in September 1998, and in March 1999, the agreement entered into force in Yemen, but despite this, the parties to the conflict used mines without abiding by that covenant or consideration of the lives of people.
In this regard, Judge Ishraq al-Maqtari, a member of the National Committee for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations, told Khuyut: "The planting of mines is prohibited internationally, because it kills innocent people and causes many disabilities and distortions," explaining that the planting of mines has been in Yemen since the beginning of the war. Until today, its responsibility rests with the Ansar Allah group (Houthis), which uses it extensively, as no other party to the conflict has been held responsible.
Al-Maqtari added, "Mines and projectiles targeted Yemeni women's environments, such as grazing places, farms and woodlands, wells, as well as residential gatherings and camps," adding that the reports, whether issued by the National Committee for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations, the sanctions team, or the reports of international organizations, recommend Ansar Allah group (Houthis) to stop planting mines and hand over maps of mined places; because its risk continues for many years, which means more victims.
Additionally, the report "Yemen is Gardens of Death" issued by Rights Radar for Human Rights - based in Amsterdam in the Netherlands - indicated that the number of civilians killed by mines during the period from 2015-2019, reached 609, indicating that the Houthi group is responsible for the deaths of 580 victims, including 104 Children, 60 women and 416 men, who were detonated by mines, followed by other armed groups, including extremist organizations, responsible for killing 105 victims; among them 30 children, 7 women and 68 men.
According to the report, the number of disability cases reached 601; including 428 civilians, including 427 men, 115 children, and 59 women. Taiz governorate ranked first in terms of geographical distribution of disability victims, with 134 victims, followed by Al Hodeida governorate with 88 victims, and then Aden governorate with 75 victims. According to the report, the Houthi group occupies the first place responsible for the largest number of victims of disability and injury, with a number of 457 victims; among them are 288 men, 113 children and 56 women.
Psychological reflexes
With the war continuing and the death toll from mines rising, Al-Maqtari stresses the need to put actual and tangible pressure on the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) to stop planting mines, and condemn them directly for what she described as a "grave crime."
Heartily, Jamila talks about how she was let down by her injury: "When a person is handicapped, no one ever turns to him, no state sponsors him, no society helps him." She explained in conclusion of her statement to Khuyut.
In this regard, Professor of Sociology at Taiz University, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Bakari, believes that the numbers of disabilities increase with the continuation of the war, coinciding with increasing the suffering of citizens with disabilities who lack the most basic elements and possibilities of integration into the surrounding community.
Al-Bakari added to "Khuyut", that disabilities result in psychological, social and health problems that the disabled cannot bear; whether he is a man or a woman, he points to the need for the disabled to obtain social support from the surrounding community, especially the family, parents, relatives, and neighbors, with the importance of constant stimulation so that he/she can integrate with society and stop thinking that he/she has become a dependent on others.
Al-Bakari also notes the necessity of not leaving the disabled person in isolation and confinement to himself; because the psychological impact will be complicated and worse, and therefore he must remain in the incubator of society.
"After my injury, my psychological state worsened and I could not sleep, to the point that I was taking sleeping pills, at the same time I could not stand anyone near me," says Jamila.
In the same context, the psychologist, Reem Al-Absi, confirms, in an interview with "Khuyut", that "psychological disorders are more concentrated among females than males due to disability, because woman’s body and the integrity of her shape is an essential thing for her that makes her self-esteem and enhances her sense of femininity, and therefore, any physical abnormalities may put her in a state of turmoil that lead her to a state of frustration and chronic depression.
Al-Absi points out that the disturbances continue later due to the "feedback", i.e., bringing back memories of the tragic accident that she went through and that caused her disability; This brings him/her back to zero whenever he tries to overcome the trauma, and here the patient must undergo prolonged and regular psychological sessions so that he can completely bypass the condition and reach the stage of satisfaction and acceptance, and adapt to the disability. Al-Absi concluded that when the patient does not undergo psychological support and rehabilitation, he/she may have occupied by dark thoughts, including suicide.
