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UN calls for probe into Yemen civilian deaths

Tuesday, 14 April 2015 4:15 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 18 April 2015 6:24 AM ]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein

The UN human rights chief has called for an independent investigation into the high level of Yemen civilian casualties amid ongoing Saudi airstrikes against the impoverished Arab country.

On Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein demanded the investigation after Saudi air raids led to a record number of civilian deaths across Yemen.

He also warned that the ongoing attacks against hospitals and civilians could amount to war crimes.

“Any suspected breach of international law must be urgently investigated with a view to ensuring victims’ right to justice and redress and to ensure that such incidents do not recur,” media outlets quoted the UN rights chief as saying in Geneva, Switzerland.

The UN official also said a series of airstrikes have hit residential areas in Amran, Taiz, Ibb, Aljawf and Sa’da over the past three weeks, adding that dozens of public buildings were destroyed in bombardments or ground shelling across the troubled regions.

“All such attacks need to be thoroughly and transparently investigated,” Hussein added.

Nearly 2,600 people have reportedly been killed in the Saudi aggression so far.

A significant number of schools, shops, gas stations, markets, stadiums and mosques have been destroyed in the attacks.

Saudi Arabia’s military aggression against the already impoverished Yemen started on March 26, without a UN mandate, in a bid to restore power to the former fugitive president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

JR/MKA/SS

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