A new truce in Yemen must include civil society، HRW says‏‏

The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) requested on Thursday to involve the civil society in talks for a fresh cease-fire in Yemen and that accountability measures be put in place to safeguard Yemenis' rights.

Instead of the warring parties' leaders، Yemeni civilians should be the true winners of this cease-fire، according to Niku Jafarnia، a researcher for HRW who focuses on Yemen and Bahrain.

The Yemeni people now have no one to represent their interests in the negotiations since Yemeni civil society and activists have essentially been shut out،'' he claimed.

Since civil society "has not been formally included in the truce discussions or in any meaningful way in the broader negotiations led by the UN special envoy،" Jafarnia remarked.

''For a new truce to uphold the rights of people in Yemen، it is critical to meaningfully include Yemeni civil society actors on key issues، including the rights of women and minority groups،'' a statement reads.

HRW، which has welcomed recent prisoner exchanges، has also called for the release of those arbitrarily detained، as well as reports of missing persons، including human rights activists and journalists. A truce should secure their release،" it said.

ACCOUNTABILITY However، the NGO emphasised that the combatants have not been made to answer for their acts، which have resulted in at least 20،000 civilian deaths، 21 million Yemenis in need of humanitarian relief، and 4.5 million people displaced.

The organisation has demanded fair trials، reparations، and rehabilitation to advance society "in a sustainable manner" because the parties to the conflict have not offered effective compensation.According to Jafarnia، "A new truce should close this gap by establishing an international investigation mechanism، which is the first step towards accountability and that impunity for those who carried out or oversaw possible war crimes must be ended.

In addition، they have indicated that in order to carry out the recovery from the conflict، the parties must commit to inspect and clear the country of landmines and explosive remnants of war، as during the truce explosive remnants were the main cause of civilian casualties.