Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 4 september 2019
Rights experts flag violations of rape, sex abuse in Yemen

By JAMEY KEATEN er cities and towns in the
Associated Press south, clashing with forces
GENEVA (AP) — Experts loyal to Hadi.
backed by the U.N.’s top The fighting has exposed
human rights body on Tues- deep rifts among ostensible
day flagged allegations of allies in the war — the UAE,
rape, sexual assault and the separatist militia and
gender-based violence the Yemeni government,
committed by all sides in all fighting the Houthis.
Yemen’s civil war, now in its While the U.N. expert’s re-
fifth year. port reiterated findings
The offenses also include about torture and arbi-
those by militias backed trary killings, the allegations
by the United Arab Emir- of sexual violence were
ates. The militiamen have among the newer revela-
expanded their footprint in tions by the three-person
the south, seizing territory panel.
from forces loyal to the in- The report said the experts
ternationally recognized had verified 12 cases of
government, including the sexual violence on five
southern city of Aden. women, six men and a
The allegations are among 17-year-old boy. Forces
key findings in the experts’ backed by the UAE and
latest report about an ar- A Yemeni southern separatist fighter inspects the wreckage of government forces vehicles the government forces
ray of rights violations dur- destroyed by UAE airstrikes near Aden, Yemen, Friday, Aug. 30, 2019. both “continued to commit
ing the conflict in the Arab Associated Press sexual violence,” it said.
world’s most impoverished tionally recognized govern- poor human rights record There were around 170 de- The report cited accounts
country. ment of President Mansour of the UAE-backed militias tainees at the facility when of “punching, kicking,
The experts commissioned Abed Rabbo Hadi to pow- in southern Yemen, the the airstrikes hit on Sunday. beating with metal bars,
by the Human Rights Coun- er. U.N. experts’ report also The International Commit- sticks and guns, whipping
cil also denounced allega- The UAE is part of that coali- repeated concerns about tee for the Red Cross said with electric cables and
tions of hostage-taking of tion but it never fully threw airstrikes conducted by the 40 wounded were being electric shock, hanging
women and girls, and said its support behind Hadi, Saudi-led coalition. treated for injuries while the from the ceiling for hours,
the Shiite Houthi rebels, whose government and The report, released in Ge- rest were presumed dead. and nail removal” in deten-
who hold northern Yemen, officials mostly relocated neva, comes just two days By midday Tuesday, a to- tion facilities.
have kidnapped and de- to Aden and also to Saudi after a coalition airstrike hit tal of 122 bodies had been The experts examined cas-
tained women over the last Arabia following the Houthi a rebel-run detention cen- pulled from the ruins of the es of at least 90 people
two years to blackmail their onslaught, choosing in- ter in Yemen, killing scores building used as deten- reportedly assassinated
relatives. stead to train and support in one of the deadliest at- tion center in southwestern over more than 3-1/2 years.
Yemen’s civil war started the separatist militias. tacks of the war. The coali- Dhamar province, Franz They allege possible war
in 2014 when the Houthis The conflict has claimed tion, of which the UAE is also Rauchenstein, head of the crimes committed through
overran the capital, Sanaa, tens of thousands of lives, a member, has faced in- ICRC in Yemen, told The As- airstrikes, indiscriminate
and much of the country’s thrust millions to the brink of ternational criticism for air- sociated Press. shelling, snipers, use of land
north. A Saudi-led coali- famine and spawned the strikes that have hit schools, In recent weeks, the mili- mines, as well as arbitrary
tion of mostly Arab states world’s worst humanitarian hospitals and wedding par- tias trained and armed by killings and detention, and
intervened a year later to crisis. ties, killing thousands of ci- the UAE in southern Yemen, blocking of humanitarian
try and restore the interna- Along with exposing the vilians. took Aden and several oth- aid deliveries.q

Polish opposition names surprise candidate for prime minster

By VANESSA GERA tyna himself would be the force, but trails far behind,
Associated Press opposition coalition’s pick and was even just under 20
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A for prime minister. But as the percent in one recent opin-
pro-European opposition centrist bloc trails far be- ion poll. Jacek Kucharczyk,
coalition in Poland an- hind the nationalist conser- the head of the Institute of
nounced unexpectedly on vative ruling Law and Jus- Public Affairs, a Warsaw-
Tuesday that its candidate tice party, it appears to be based think tank, called
for prime minister as the an acknowledgement that tapping Kidawa-Blonska a
country heads toward an Schetyna’s lack of popular- “smart move” and said it
October election will be ity is hurting its chances. reminded him of when Law
a deputy parliamentary “I don’t know how we and Justice ahead of the
speaker, rather than the didn’t come up with this 2015 election tapped Bea-
main opposition leader. sooner,” he told party ta Szydlo as its prime minis-
The candidacy of Mal- members to laughter. He terial candidate. That was
gorzata Kidawa-Blonska described Kidawa-Blonska, also an acknowledgement
was announced by Grze- a former parliament speak- that party leader Jaroslaw
gorz Schetyna, the leader er, as someone who “al- Kaczynski, though he had a
of Civic Platform, which is ways worked for the good devoted core of followers,
In this Thursday, June 25, 2015 file photo, Malgorzata Kidawa- the dominant party in the of Poland.” The European was unpopular with many
Blonska opens a session of the Polish parliament after she was
chosen for the post of parliament speaker. European Coalition. Coalition is the country’s and hurting the party’s
Associated Press It was long assumed Sche- second largest political overall chances. q