Human Rights Groups Demand UN Yemen Probe
Local Editor
Fifty-seven rights groups from around the world Tuesday demanded a UN inquiry into abuses in Yemen, where the war killed thousands and fueled a humanitarian crisis.
Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, has been wracked by violence that led to war in 2014.
The conflict escalated when a Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015, exacerbating the crisis that has left millions on the brink of famine and hundreds of thousands suffering from cholera.
In a letter to members of the UN Human Rights Council, the 57 signatories called for the creation of an independent body to look into violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian laws.
"Serious violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of international human rights law by parties to the conflict have continued to be committed with impunity," said Human Rights Watch, one of the signatories.
HRW said in a statement that the Saudi-led coalition had conducted scores of "unlawful air strikes, some of which may amount to war crimes that have killed thousands of civilians and hit schools, hospitals, markets and homes."
Since 2015, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had been calling for investigations into violations and abuses in Yemen, it noted.
"The victims of abuses in Yemen cannot afford to wait longer for credible investigations into ongoing grave violations and abuses to be undertaken," said the letter.
More than 8,300 people have been killed and 44,000 wounded since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemen war.
Close to 2,000 Yemenis have also died of cholera since April and another 600,000 are expected to contract the infection this year.
The United Nations has called Yemen the "largest humanitarian crisis in the world."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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