REPUBLIC OF YEMEN: BLOODY TRAIL OF CIVILIAN DEATH AND DESTRUCTION PAVED WITH EVIDENCE OF WAR CRIMES

26 Aug 2015

[International Secretariat]

Region: REPUBLIC OF YEMEN

Topic: Regional conflict

Nowhere safe for civilians’: Airstrikes and ground attacks inYemen highlights the impact of unlawful coalition airstrikes in densely populated residential neighbourhoods, and attacks by Huthi loyalists and anti-Huthi armed groups operating on the ground, who have carried out indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks in civilian areas.

“Civilians in southern Yemen have found themselves trapped in a deadly crossfire between Huthi loyalists and anti-Huthi groups on the ground, while facing the persistent threat of coalition airstrikes from the sky. All the parties to this conflict have displayed a ruthless and wanton disregard for the safety of civilians,” said Donatella Rovera, Senior Crisis Response Advisor at Amnesty International.

Attacks by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition

Amnesty International has investigated eight airstrikes by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition which killed at least 141 civilians and injured 101 others, mostly women and children, during a research mission to Yemen in June and July 2015.

One resident describing the aftermath of an attack on a residential compound inhabited by power plant workers in Mokha on 24 July said “corpses and heads” were scattered everywhere “engulfed by fire and ashes”, comparing the sight to a scene from “judgement day”.

A coalition attack on 9 July killed 10 members of one family including four children who had sought shelter at a school in north Aden after being displaced from their home because of fighting.

Attacks by armed groups fighting on the ground

Amnesty International also investigated 30 attacks in Aden and Ta’iz by the Huthi armed group, supported by armed and security forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and anti-Huthi armed groups battling each other on the ground, killing at least 68 civilians and injured 99 others.

Fighters from both parties routinely used imprecise weapons including Grad-type rockets, mortars and artillery fire in densely populated residential areas.

In one such attack, rockets fired into Aden’s al-Mansoura neighbourhood on 1 July struck two hotels where displaced families had been sheltering. Among the worst injured civilians were AmalAli and her 18-month-old baby. “Shrapnel penetrated his head and went through to his left eye, causing internal damage,” she said of her child. “He lost his eye and is in a coma.”

One of the deadliest attacks on 19 July was carried out by the Huthis and their allies on Dar Saad, in Aden, where 45 people were killed, most of which were civilians.
Many attacks appeared to have been launched from within densely populated civilian neighbourhoods in violation of international humanitarian law.

In several cases documented, children were killed or injured while playing in the streets or near their homes. The report also contains several disturbing and grisly accounts from eyewitnesses and survivors describing bodies being sliced open and severed body parts. An eyewitness to one attack described a child running towards him with blood running down his neck and a hole in his head from shrapnel and “pieces of brains smeared on the walls and windows”.

“The utter failure of all parties to the conflict to minimize the risk to civilians during fighting has had truly devastating consequences for civilians. The gruesome nature of the casualties exposes the true horror and reality of war and the deadly and long-lasting impact of such attacks on civilians,” said Donatella Rovera.

UN Commission of Inquiry

Amnesty International is calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to create an international commission of inquiry to independently and impartially investigate alleged war crimes committed during the conflict.

By 4 August, the fighting in Yemen had resulted in at least 1,916 civilian deaths according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. At least 207 civilian objects, including property and infrastructure, have been completely or partially destroyed as a result of the armed conflict.

Perpetrators of the callous attacks against civilians in Yemen need to know that they will pay the price and will be held responsible for war crimes. The suffering of civilians in southern Yemen has also been intensified by an acute humanitarian crisis. At least 80% of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance. Essential services including access to clean water and electricity are cut off and food prices have sky-rocketed.

18 August 2015
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE