UN:
Saudi Strikes on Yemen May Amount to War Crimes
SANAA (Dispatches) – United Nations human rights experts have raised the alarm at the high rate of civilian casualties in aerial assaults by Saudi Arabia and its allies on Yemen, saying the strikes "may amount to war crimes.”
In a 41-page report published on Tuesday, the Group of International and Regional Eminent Experts on Yemen raised "serious concerns about the targeting process applied by the [Saudi-led] coalition.”
"Coalition airstrikes have caused most direct civilian casualties. The airstrikes have hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities,” the report said.
Forces loyal to the former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and the Saudi-led coalition "may have conducted attacks in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution that may amount to war crimes,” it added.
Saudi Arabia and its allies launched the war, code-named Operation Decisive Storm, against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement says Saudi Arabia never wants a strong government to be formed in Yemen and seeks to turn the war-hit country into a client state.
The remarks by Mohammed Abdul-Salam came as the Saudi-led military coalition continues with its ceaseless airstrikes against the impoverished nation.
"The one who has killed the Yemeni people for almost the past four years and allowed Saudi-led mercenaries and foreign forces to enter the country is not representing a true government,” said Abdul-Salam in an interview with the You News outlet.
He apparently referred to the so-called government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen’s former president and a staunch ally of Riyadh, which is only recognized by member states of the Saudi-led military coalition and some Western states.
Yemenis gather next to a destroyed bus at the site of a Saudi-led airstrike that targeted the Dhahyan market the previous day in Sa’ada province, Yemen, on August 10, 2018.
In a 41-page report published on Tuesday, the Group of International and Regional Eminent Experts on Yemen raised "serious concerns about the targeting process applied by the [Saudi-led] coalition.”
"Coalition airstrikes have caused most direct civilian casualties. The airstrikes have hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities,” the report said.
Forces loyal to the former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and the Saudi-led coalition "may have conducted attacks in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution that may amount to war crimes,” it added.
Saudi Arabia and its allies launched the war, code-named Operation Decisive Storm, against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement says Saudi Arabia never wants a strong government to be formed in Yemen and seeks to turn the war-hit country into a client state.
The remarks by Mohammed Abdul-Salam came as the Saudi-led military coalition continues with its ceaseless airstrikes against the impoverished nation.
"The one who has killed the Yemeni people for almost the past four years and allowed Saudi-led mercenaries and foreign forces to enter the country is not representing a true government,” said Abdul-Salam in an interview with the You News outlet.
He apparently referred to the so-called government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen’s former president and a staunch ally of Riyadh, which is only recognized by member states of the Saudi-led military coalition and some Western states.
Yemenis gather next to a destroyed bus at the site of a Saudi-led airstrike that targeted the Dhahyan market the previous day in Sa’ada province, Yemen, on August 10, 2018.