Guards walk on the wreckage of a building destroyed by air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen June 6, 2018.
Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's war have caused heavy civilian casualties at marketplaces, weddings and on fishing boats, some of which may amount to war crimes, United Nations human rights experts said on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia is leading a Western-backed alliance of Arab states trying to restore the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, ousted from the capital Sanaa by the Iran-aligned Houthis in 2015.
Fighters of the Houthi movement have fired missiles into Saudi Arabia, blocked delivery of supplies to Taiz and shelled the strategic city from the highlands, the panel said. They have also committed torture, a war crime, it said.
Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's war have caused heavy civilian casualties at marketplaces, weddings and on fishing boats, some of which may amount to war crimes, United Nations human rights experts said.
Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen may amount to war crimes: UN
Saudi air defenses on Thursday intercepted a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebel group into the kingdomn, according to a Saudi media reports.The missile was fired toward Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jizan province, the Saudi television news channel Al-Ekhbariya reported.The broadcaster did not provide further details.It was the second Houthi missile to be intercepted over the last week.Yemen has been wracked by conflict since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country.The conflict escalated one year later when Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a wide-ranging military campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen.Riyadh accuses the rebel group of serving as a proxy force for Shia Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch-foe in the region.Qatar accuses Saudis of barring hajj pilgrims, Riyadh says untrueYemeni government, Houthi movement invited to Sept 6 peace talks
Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missile from Yemen
Coalition forces have imposed severe restrictions on Red Sea ports and Sanaa airport, depriving Yemenis of vital supplies which may also constitute international crimes, the independent experts said in their first report to the Human Rights Council.
The coalition's additional inspection procedures at Hodeidah port have had a "chilling effect on commercial shipping", although no U.N. or coalition searches had discovered weapons being smuggled into Yemen where 8.4 million people are on the brink of famine, it said.
"Coalition air strikes have caused most of the documented civilian casualties. In the past three years, such air strikes have hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities," the panel said.
The Saudi-led coalition said Tuesday it will respond to a UN report that suggested war crimes may have been committed in war-torn Yemen.The coalition “will take an appropriate stance on the report after a legal review of it,” the coalition said in a statement.UN experts earlier Tuesday said that individuals in the Yemeni government and coalition forces conducted attacks in Yemen that may amount to war crimes.Saudi Arabia says ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthis intercepted“The Group of Experts have reasonable grounds to believe that individuals in the Government of Yemen and the coalition may have conducted attacks in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution that may amount to war crimes,” said the 41-page report issued by the UN experts, which was mandated by UN Human Rights Council.Yemen has been wracked by conflict since 2014 when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country.The conflict escalated one year later when Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a wide-ranging military campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen.Riyadh accuses the rebel group of serving as a proxy force for Shia Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch-foe in the region.Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen may amount to war crimes: UNThe coalition airstrikes, according to the report, caused “most direct civilian casualties after hitting residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats, and medical facilities.”Some 6,660 civilians were killed and 10,563 injured in the Yemeni conflict since March 2015, the UN Human Rights Office said and warned that the real figures are likely to be “significantly higher."The report also highlighted the crimes of Houthi forces, including killing of civilians and child recruitment.
Saudi-led coalition to respond to UN Yemen report
Its investigation of 11 incidents raised "serious concerns about the targeting process applied by the coalition". Strikes that fail to spare people or structures protected by international humanitarian law would be unlawful violations.
"Individuals in the (Yemeni) government and the coalition, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, may have conducted attacks in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution that may amount to war crimes," the experts said, adding that they had compiled a confidential list of suspects.
There was no immediate reaction from those governments, which received an advance copy of the report from the United Nations.
The United Nations has invited the Yemeni government and the Houthi movement that controls most of the north to peace talks in Geneva on Sept. 6, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Friday.U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths is trying to negotiate an end to the three-year conflict, which has killed more than 10,000 people and pushed Yemen to the verge of starvation."I can confirm the office of Special Envoy has sent invitations to the government of Yemen and to Ansarullah," U.N. spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci told a Geneva news briefing.Yemen army establishes foothold in Houthi strongholdYemeni president leaves Egypt for Saudi capitalThousands mourn Yemeni children killed by coalition air strikeYemen army establishes foothold in Houthi stronghold
Yemeni government, Houthi movement invited to Sept 6 peace talks
All sides have conscripted children between 11 and 17 years and used them to participate in the hostilities, also war crimes, the 41-page report said.
It was released ahead of U.N. peace talks between the government and Houthis on Sept. 6 in Geneva.
The panel, headed by Tunisian expert Kamel Jendoubi, neither specifically referred to the United States and Britain, which provide arms and intelligence to the Saudi-led alliance, nor did it point a finger at Iranian support to the Houthis.
The Yemeni army has captured the Baqem Directorate in the northwestern Saada province from Houthi rebels, a military source said Thursday.If confirmed, Baqem would be the first directorate of Saada -- a traditional Houthi stronghold -- to fall to the army.Brigadier-General Yasser al-Harthi, commander of the army’s 102nd Brigade, said that “dozens” of Houthi fighters had been killed or captured in the fighting.Yemeni president leaves Egypt for Saudi capitalAnadolu Agency, however, has yet to independently verify al-Harthi’s assertions.Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.The conflict escalated the following year when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.Thousands of Daesh fighters remain in Syria, Iraq: UN
Yemen army establishes foothold in Houthi stronghold
Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi left the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Wednesday for Saudi Arabia after a three-day visit.“President Hadi left Cairo for Riyadh after a 3-day business visit,” his office director Abdullah al-Alimi said on Twitter.He described Hadi’s talks in Cairo with President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi as "successful".Al-Alimi said the Yemeni leader has obtained “serious pledges” from Egyptian authorities about facilitating the living of Yemenis in Egypt.Hadi has been living in Riyadh since he fled Yemen in 2015 after the Shia Houthi group overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa one year earlier.The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains and shoring up the country’s pro-Saudi government.
Yemeni president leaves Egypt for Saudi capital