US, Great Britain, and France possibly guilty of war crimes
The United States, Great Britain, and France could be complicit in war crimes in Yemen. After all, the Western countries arm the Saudi coalition that starves civilians in Yemen as war tactics. The states also offer logistical support and provide intelligence to the alliance, say United Nations researchers Tuesday.
The investigators, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2017, compiled a secret list of potential suspects of international war crimes during the four-year conflict between a coalition of Arab states and the Houthi rebels controlling the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. They have sent the confidential list to the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.
The investigators found possible war crimes committed by both camps. They also emphasize the role that Western countries play as essential pillars of the Arab states and the support that Iran gives to the Houthis.
Airstrikes, famine and child soldiers
The report accuses the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for killing civilians through airstrikes and deliberately withholding food in a country where there is famine. Houthis, for their part, deployed child soldiers and shot at and besieged cities.
An appendix to the report lists the names of more than 160 “protagonists”, including leaders from Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Yemen, and the Houthi movement. It is not specified whether there are even one of these names on the secret list of potential suspects.
The researchers base their findings on more than six hundred interviews with victims and witnesses and documentation and open-source material.
