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Yemen’s Houthis call for committee to investigate Saudi, UAE ‘coalition crimes’

July 16, 2020 at 3:55 pm

A Yemeni boy rides a bike on rubble of houses destroyed in a recent air strike carried out by the Saudi-led coalition on 23 May 2019 in Sana’a, Yemen [Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images]

Yemen’s Houthi movement, officially known as AnsarAllah, have called for the formation of an independent and impartial international commission to investigate all “coalition crimes” in the country, in particular by partners, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Houthi-aligned National Salvation Government (NSG), the international community, UN Security Council, Human Rights Council and humanitarian organisations were urged to fulfil their moral and humanitarian obligations towards the Yemeni people.

“The crimes of the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia against Yemen, on the ground and human rights, will continue as long as the world turns its back on Yemen and does not move a finger,” the statement said.

READ: Yemen’s Houthis open Sanaa-Marib road to civilians

The Foreign Ministry also expressed dismay that the Security Council held a session yesterday to consider the implications of the decaying FSO Safer oil tanker which has been anchored off Yemen’s coast of the Al-Hudaydah province for decades and poses a threat to both the livelihood of Yemenis and the environment. The ministry pointed out that “it did not hold any special session to discuss war crimes committed by the coalition forces.”

Yesterday the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV channel, reported that the Saudi-led coalition air strikes had targeted civilians in the village of Al-Masafa, east of Al-Hazm, in the northern Al-Jawf province, where 31 people were killed and wounded.

According to the Sanaa-based Saba news agency, the NSG Information Minister Daifullah Al-Shami condemned the attack which is said to have targeted a wedding party with women and children among the victims. Al-Shami stressed that these war crimes will not go unnoticed and that the response will be painful.

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