Abu Dhabi: More than 3,000 people were killed, about 20 per cent of them women and children, in indiscriminate shelling by the Al Houthi militia in Yemen during the past year, a report said yesterday.
The report by the Yemeni Coalition to Monitor Human Rights Violations documents crimes committed by the Al Houthis and the militia allied to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Apart from 3,074 deaths, the report says that between September and August, 7,347 civilians were wounded, at least 25 per cent of them women and children, due to the random shelling by the Al Houthis. It also said 5,894 people were arbitrarily detained by the militia while 1,254 people still remain in captivity.
The report is the result of a year of hard work by the coalition’s field monitors who braved a challenging environment, sometimes risking their lives to document the violations of the international human rights law. The report covered the atrocities committed by Saleh-Al Houthi militias in Sana’a, the capital, Aden, Taiz, Lahej, Hodiedah, Addali’e, Abyan, Dhamar and Shabwa governorates from September 21 last year.
The report also said the detainees, in the custody of the Al Houthi-Saleh militias who toppled the legitimate government, are mistreated and deprived of basic needs such as food, water and proper hygiene and sanitation. Some of them are used as human shields at military sites that are targeted by the Coalition airstrikes. It said the former president showed total recklessness towards human suffering.
The report, in its recommendations, called on the Al Houthi-Saleh militia, Yemeni government and the international community to implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions. It also urged the international community to support the newly-established National Commission to Investigate alleged Human Rights Violations with all needed technical assistance, as well as capacity building.
