Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 29 august 2018
UN experts: Possible war crimes by all parties in Yemen

By JAMEY KEATEN hundreds of detainees had
Associated Press been subjected to sexual
GENEVA (AP) — U.N. hu- abuse and torture.
man rights experts said The Shiite rebels control
Tuesday the governments some of Yemen's most
of Yemen, the United Arab populated western and
Emirates and Saudi Arabia northern areas, and hu-
may have been respon- man rights advocates have
sible for war crimes since faulted them for planting
Yemen's conflict intensi- land mines and targeting
fied 3½ years ago, includ- religious minorities and im-
ing rape, torture, arbitrary prisoned opponents.
detention and use of child Abdulaziz al-Alwasil, the
soldiers. Saudi ambassador to the
Their report — the first since U.N. in Geneva, told the
being mandated to inves- AP that the report was "not
tigate by the U.N.-backed accurate" and overlooked
Human Rights Council the bigger picture of an
nearly a year ago — is in- armed Houthi militia illegal-
creasing international pres- ly seizing territory from an
sure on the Saudis' West- internationally recognized
ern-backed coalition that government and at times
already has been widely Kamel Jendoubi, is flanked by Charles Garraway and Alessandra Vellucci, as they inform on the firing missiles in Saudi Ara-
condemned for devastat- publication of report on the establishment of facts and circumstances surrounding alleged viola- bia.
ing airstrikes on civilians as tions and abuses committed by all parties to the conflict in Yemen. "It (the report) is surprising
well as combatants. Associated Press for us because it doesn't
The U.N. panel also pointed reflect the reality," he said.
to possible war crimes by peak, with no apparent gets on official "no-strike" Saudi nemesis Iran, which "We genuinely want to im-
the Iran-aligned Houthi reb- sight of light at the end of lists that should have been the coalition has accused prove the situation in Ye-
els who have been fighting the tunnel." avoided. of arming the Houthis. men: We are spending
the coalition that gets sup- "It is indeed a forgotten cri- At a Pentagon news con- They sharply criticized work money there, our people
port from the U.S., Britain sis," he added. ference Tuesday, Defense by the coalition's Joint In- are getting killed there.
and France. The report said the experts Secretary Jim Mattis said cidents Assessment Team, And Yemen is not a wealthy
In one of the first reactions from Britain, Tunisia and the U.S. intends to continue which was set up as a bul- state . it's just our neighbor.
to the report, a Saudi dip- Australia have "reasonable backing the coalition de- wark against possible rights And we think it is our re-
lomat told The Associated grounds to believe that the spite civilian casualties and violations. They questioned sponsibility to make sure
Press that findings were "not governments of Yemen, questions about the Saudis' the JIAT's explanations for that this country is not used
accurate." the United Arab Emirates commitment to avoiding the airstrikes that have to attack the neighboring
In 2015, Saudi Arabia an- and Saudi Arabia are re- killing innocents. killed civilians, and chal- countries."
nounced it would lead a sponsible for human rights He defended U.S. sup- lenged its "independence Al-Alwasil insisted the coali-
coalition of countries to violations." port for the coalition, say- and its ability to carry out tion regularly reviewed its
against the Houthi rebels Among the violations were ing American influence on impartial investigations." operations and would do
who had ousted Yemen's unlawful "deprivation of the Arab air campaign has The experts began their so "with or without" the re-
internationally recognized the right to life," arbitrary made a difference in re- investigation following a port.
government. detention, rape, torture, ducing instances of errant rights council resolution in "I don't think it's going to
In the years since then, enforced disappearances bombing and the targeting September 2017 — with the have a major impact in
the U.N. says the conflict and child recruitment, the of civilians. assent of the Saudis them- the way that we review our
has become the world's report said, adding that the He noted, however, that selves. The Saudis repeat- procedures or the way we
worst humanitarian crisis, Houthis were to blame for U.S. support is conditioned edly had resisted earlier conduct our military opera-
with more than 22 million many of the same abuses. on a Saudi commitment to diplomatic efforts to orga- tions," he said.
people in desperate need Much of the onus fell on doing "everything humanly nize a more-intrusive inves- In his response to the re-
in what is already the Arab Saudi Arabia, criticized possible" to avoid any loss tigation of possible crimes port, UAE Minister of State
world's poorest country. for airstrikes that have hit of innocent life and Riyadh and rights abuses in Ye- for Foreign Affairs Anwar
The experts documented schools, hospitals and wed- supporting a U.N.-brokered men, and criticized the ex- Gargash tweeted that his
6,475 deaths from March ding parties. One airstrike peace process to end the perts' findings. country "must review it, an-
2015 until last June, but said struck a bus near a market civil war. The U.S. provides The experts said they drew swer its merits and review
the real figure is likely to be in Saada province, a Houthi the coalition with intel- up a "confidential list" of what it says about the hor-
significantly higher. Other stronghold, in northern Ye- ligence, aerial refueling people suspected of com- rors of the Houthis."
groups have estimated men on Aug. 9, killing more and military advice, but mitting international crimes The U.N. refugee agency,
that more than 10,000 have than 50 people, including U.S. forces are not directly and are giving it to the of- meanwhile, said more than
been killed — excluding 40 children, and wounding involved in the airstrikes or fice of the U.N. human 450 civilians were killed in
over 2,300 cholera deaths dozens. other fighting. rights chief. They declined Yemen in the first nine days
since April 2017 amid pitiful Nearly a dozen deadly air- The experts' report urged to specify the number or of August, making it one
water supplies. strikes the experts investi- the international communi- say whether they were on of the deadliest periods
"Despite the severity of the gated in the last year "raise ty to "refrain from providing rebel or government sides. since the start of the war.
situation, we continue to serious questions about the arms that could be used in The AP reported last year Since June, the coalition
witness a total disregard of targeting process applied the conflict"— an apparent that the UAE and its al- has waged an offensive to
the suffering of the people by the coalition," the re- reference to Western coun- lied militias were running a clear the port city of Hode-
of Yemen," said one of the port said. It chastised some tries that have sold sophisti- network of secret deten- ida — pivotal for the entry
experts, British human rights in-the-field coalition fight- cated weapons systems to tion facilities, beyond Ye- of humanitarian aid — of
lawyer Charles Garraway. ers for "routinely" failing to the Gulf states. It also was meni government control. the Houthis and restore
"This crisis has reached its seek information about tar- an apparent reference to In June, the AP reported government control.q