CAIRO — The Saudi-led coalition waging an air campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the north is killing children in what amounts to war crimes, an international rights group said Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch released a detailed report documenting the deaths of 26 children killed in five airstrikes since June. The group said that despite coalition promises to abide by international law, the airstrikes have failed to do that and it urged the United Nations to place the coalition on its “list of shame,” a blacklist of countries that violate child rights.
HRW also called for an international investigation into possible war crimes.
“Saudi Arabia pledged to minimize civilian harm, yet coalition airstrikes are still wiping out entire families,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director of the New York-based group. “Yemeni civilians should not be asked to wait any longer for (United Nations) Human Rights Council members, including Saudi allies the U.S. and U.K., to support a credible international inquiry.”
In most of its internal investigations, the coalition either admits making mistakes due to technical errors or bad intelligence or denies responsibility. No international investigation has taken place despite repeated calls from rights groups. Meanwhile, the United States and Western countries have continued to support the coalition with intelligence, logistics and billion-dollar arms deals.