HRW: Saudi Warnings Don’t Justify Unlawful Airstrikes in Yemen
Local Editor
Saudi Arabia's warnings to aid agencies in Yemen to leave possible attack zones do not provide a legal basis for the kingdom to launch unlawful raids in those areas, Human Rights Watch [HRW] said.
Legal and policy director at the HRW, James Ross, considered Wednesday that: "A warning is no justification for an unlawful airstrike."
"They [the Saudis] can't shift the blame for shirking their responsibility onto aid agencies that are struggling to address a deepening crisis."
The report also urged the UN Human Rights Council to launch an independent, international investigation into violations of the laws of war by all sides to the conflict in Yemen.
Furthermore, Ross stressed that: "Should the ground war heat up in Yemen, adhering to the laws of war will become even more complicated and necessary."
"The Saudis need to be crystal clear that they are doing far more to meet their legal obligations or civilians will continue to suffer unnecessarily."
Since last March, Saudi raids have struck hospitals and other facilities run by aid organizations, according to a HRW report released on Wednesday.
Facilities of medical charity Doctors Without Borders [MSF] in Yemen have been hit by the air raids several times.
In the context, the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen said in a January 26 report that it had documented 119 sorties relating to violations of the laws of war in Yemen. Among them were five on storage facilities for food aid and 22 on hospitals.
On December 2, 2015, an MSF mobile clinic in the southwestern province of Ta'az was targeted. A civilian was killed and eight other people, including two staff members, were injured in the attack.
Another raid on the northern city of Sa'ada targeted an MSF-supported hospital on January 10. Six people lost their lives and at least seven, most of them medical staff and patients, were wounded.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
- Related News
