Time to bring killers of children in Yemen to justice

People and parties who are responsible for atrocities in Yemen should be held accountable for their actions and brought to justice, says Save the Children. Nearly 1,200 Kiwis have signed a petition demanding those responsible be held to account for their crimes against children in Yemen. Save the Children NZ is urging the New Zealand Government to also support this call to action.

The organisation welcomes the findings of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, whose report was launched in Geneva today. The report highlights that parties to the raging conflict committed ‘a host of possible war crimes’, many of which have impacted or targeted children’s lives.

The persistent impunity for those responsible of abuses, including grave violations against children, is not acceptable as the conflict is well in its fifth year. The violations include crimes through airstrikes, indiscriminate shelling, arbitrary killings and detention, torture and sexual violence, according to the team that investigated the situation in Yemen for the UN Security Council.

Tamer Kirolos, Country Director of Save the Children said:
“It’s unacceptable that those responsible for the killing, maiming and other grave violations against thousands of Yemeni children are yet to face any consequences. The report even notes the use of starvation as a weapon of war, resulting in thousands of children facing severe malnutrition. Children are not only dying from bombs and bullets, they are being smothered silently because they are denied food.

“Our teams are seeing the results of this terrible conflict every single day – children are coming in sick, malnourished, sometimes too weak to eat. They’re dying of lack of clean and safe water, and medicines. Our staff is supporting children to live but as long as this conflict rages, we can only help children to stay alive, not support them in building a future.

“The group of experts has shed a painful light on possible war crimes but that is currently where their remit ends. They must be given a more powerful mandate to go further.

“We’re calling upon the members of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to renew and strengthen the mandate for the Group of Eminent Experts, during their next meeting on Yemen[i]. This would be an important step towards enhancing accountability for Yemen’s children. The mandate should include a strong focus on securing evidence in the country, additional public reporting, and child specific expertise. There should be independent, credible investigations into all alleged violations of international humanitarian law, and perpetrators need to be held to account.

“Furthermore, we strongly call upon all parties to support all steps to avoid harm to civilians and civilian buildings such as schools and hospitals, as well as to ensure full access for humanitarian goods and services across the country. Save the Children urges all parties to the conflict to find a lasting solution to the conflict in Yemen - only peace can put an end to the suffering of the Yemeni children and their families.”

© Scoop Media