Engaging Victims in Peace-Making and Transitional Justice in Yemen

• Strengthen the capacities of the National Commission for the Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights to design and implement approaches that place the needs of victims and survivors at the center of the recommendations in its periodic reports, such as the establishment of specialized courts and prosecution offices for human rights violations. [...] The complexity of the situation has clouded the assessment made by the Security Council and by the Office of the UN Special Envoy with regard to the role of transitional justice in the country’s political transition process. [...] Rather, it is meant to show the discrepancies in methods and approaches adopted by the UN in the respective conflicts, and, more broadly, highlight the fact that the issue of detention and the plight of missing persons in Yemen, has yet to be addressed within the framework of a truce negotiated under the auspices of the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen. [...] Moreover, none of the recommendations called upon or urged the PLC and the government to ensure the participation of victims at any stage of future peace processes in Yemen.[102] Despite the momentum created by the hundreds gathered for the consultations in Riyadh, experts and analysts on Yemen were skeptical about the intentions of the consultations. [...] In the words of one respondent, the “involvement of victims in the political process will enhance the ability of Yemeni society to prevent the parties to the conflict from entering new rounds of war; their involvement is thus important, and essential for reconciliation.”[116] Without the inclusion of victims in the ongoing process, many questioned the designation of the current negotiations as “pe.