Amnesty International called for the suspension of all weapons transfers to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen, after it reported to have “damning evidence of war crimes”.
In a new report examining air strikes by the coalition, the NGO said the “unlawful air strikes” may amount to war crimes. The report, entitled ‘Bombs fall from the sky day and night’: Civilians under fire in northern Yemen’ demonstrates “in harrowing detail how crucial it is to stop arms being used to commit serious violations of this kind” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser.
Ms Rovera, who headed Amnesty’s fact-finding mission to Yemen, said “the USA and other states exporting weapons to any of the parties to the Yemen conflict have a responsibility to ensure that the arms transfers they authorize are not facilitating serious violations of international humanitarian law”. “Lack of accountability has contributed to the worsening crisis and unless perpetrators believe they will be brought to justice for their crimes, civilians will continue to suffer the consequences,” she added.
The report examined 13 different airstrikes by the coalition, including the use of cluster bombs, which killed approximately 100 civilians, including 59 children.
“The world’s indifference to the suffering of Yemeni civilians in this conflict is shocking,” said Ms Rovera. “The failure of the UN Human Rights Council last week to establish an international investigation into violations committed by all sides is the latest in a series of failures by the international community to address total impunity for perpetrators of serious violations in Yemen.”
See the full report here.