Saudi Arabia Accused of Rights Abuses in Yemen Civilian Deaths

The United Nations panel examined 10 airstrikes in 2017 that killed 157 people, and found that the targets included a migrant boat, a night market, five residential buildings, a motel, a vehicle and government forces, Al-Jazeera reported.

The panel said it requested information from the Saudi-led coalition for the rationale behind such strikes, but did not receive a response.

The strikes were carried out by precision-guided munitions, so it is likely these were the intended targets, the report pointed out.

“Even if in some cases, the Saudi-led coalition had targeted legitimate military objectives, the panel finds it highly unlikely that the IHL [International Humanitarian Law] principles of proportionality, and precautions in attack were met,” the report stated.

The report also cited a “widespread and systematic” pattern of “arbitrary arrests, deprivation of liberty and enforced disappearances”. It was particularly scathing about UAE camps, where it says torture has been taking place.

The panel, which investigated the cases of 12 inmates, referenced beatings, electrocution, constrained suspension, use of “the cage” – confinement in a cage in the sunlight – and denial of medical treatment.

Proxy forces funded and armed by the coalition “pose a threat to peace, security and stability of Yemen”, the panel added, and “will do more to further the fragility of Yemen than they will do to hold the state together”.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen since March 2015 to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 15,500 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

According to several reports, the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has driven the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster, as Saudi Arabia’s deadly campaign prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country.