UN Warns about Saudi-Led Coalition’s Violation of Human Rights in Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A UN report on human rights abuses in Yemen warned about continuation of Saudi war and violation of human rights by the Saudi-led coalition in the war-torn country.
The United Nations panel examined 10 air strikes in 2017 that killed 157 people, and found that the targets included a migrant boat, a night market, five residential buildings, a motel, a vehicle and government forces.
The panel said it requested information from the Saudi-led coalition for the rationale behind such strikes, but did not receive a response. The strikes were carried out by precision-guided munitions, so it is likely these were the intended targets, the report pointed out.
"Even if in some cases, the Saudi-led coalition had targeted legitimate military objectives, the panel finds it highly unlikely that the IHL (International Humanitarian Law) principles of proportionality, and precautions in attack were met," the report stated.
It also cited a "widespread and systematic" pattern of "arbitrary arrests, deprivation of liberty and enforced disappearances". It was particularly scathing about UAE camps, where it says torture has been taking place.
The panel, which investigated the cases of 12 inmates, referenced beatings, electrocution, constrained suspension, use of "the cage" - confinement in a cage in the sunlight - and denial of medical treatment, according to a copy of the report shown to Doha-based Al Jazeera news network.
Also, mercenaries funded and armed by the Saudi-led coalition "pose a threat to peace, security and stability of Yemen", the panel said, and "will do more to further the fragility of Yemen than they will do to hold the state together".
The report added that southern secession in Yemen has become a genuine possibility, due in part to the length of the war, the lack of military progress and divisions that have emerged in the country.
Yemen’s defenseless people have been under massive attacks by the coalition for almost three years but Riyadh has reached none of its objectives in Yemen so far.
Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
Over 14,000 Yemenis, including thousands of women and children, have lost their lives in the deadly military campaign.