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Teaching Terrorists: How United States Counterterrorism Law Violates International Humanitarian Law
Graber, Scott
Graber, Scott
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YJIL 48_4.pdf
Adobe PDF, 1.78 MB
Abstract
In 2021, Yemen was the site of one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Since war broke out in 2014, war crimes by the multiple state and non-state parties involved have inflicted immeasurable harm on civilians. Geneva Call, a Swiss non-governmental organization (NGO), has worked in Yemen for years to strengthen respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) by non-state armed groups (NSAGs). One such group is Ansarallah, an NSAG also referred to as the Houthis, which controls large swathes of northern Yemen. Geneva Call teaches IHL to NSAGs like the Houthis as part of efforts to protect civilians from the worst abuses committed during armed conflict. Yet the United States made Geneva Call’s educational work illegal for thirty-three days in 2021.
What happened? In order to increase civilian protections, Geneva Call in 2020 initiated educational programs to teach IHL to Houthi leaders and transmitted radio programs throughout Houthi-controlled territory to inform affected communities about IHL. But on January 10, 2021, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), a designation that was made effective immediately. Among other things, the designation meant that anyone who taught international law to the Houthis, anywhere in the world, could be subject to prosecution for violating U.S. federal law. Humanitarian organizations worldwide expressed concern about how this designation would impact civilians in Yemen, and the United Nations Secretary-General joined them in calling for the United States to revoke the designation. The Biden Administration did so just three weeks after taking office.