Yemen war: UAE accused of war crimes

Experts appointed by the UN’s leading human rights unit, investigating possible crimes in Yemen war, said that rape, sexual assault and gender-based violence were committed by all warring sides in Yemen.



The experts mentioned that offenders also included militias, supported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Recently, the militiamen have scaled up their presence in the south, taking hold of region from forces loyal to the internationally-recognized government in Yemen.

The cases of allegedly taking hostage women and girls were denounced by the panel. The experts also found out that Iran-backed Houthi rebels, in the northern Yemen, have abducted women to blackmail their family members.

Besides revealing the poor human rights record and UAE war crime in Yemen, the United Nation experts’ report also highlighted the humanitarian disaster caused by airstrikes conducted by the Saudi-led coalition since 2015.



The report, officially out in Geneva, came during the world expressed anger over Saudi Arabia’s airstrikes on a Houthi-run detention center in Yemen. Over 100 people were killed and dozens wounded. It was also speculated that the killed inmates, captured by the rebels, were majorly part of the Saudi-led coalition. Saudi’s neighboring ally, UAE is also a member of coalition, and has faced international outrage for targeting schools, hospitals and wedding parties, killing thousands of innocent civilians.



The report said that forces loyal to both the UAE and the Yemeni government “continued to commit sexual violence.” The incidents of “punching, kicking, beating with metal bars, sticks and guns, whipping with electric cables and electric shock, hanging from the ceiling for hours, and nail removal’’ were recorded in the detention facilities.



The experts allege possible UAE war crimes pulled off through airstrikes, snipers, land mines, arbitrary killings, and blocking of humanitarian aid to civilians.

As the Yemen war enters its fifth year, there is still little hope of putting this massacre to an end. Thousands have been displaced, taking shelter in refugee camps, despite having homes of their own. Children are deprived of basic necessities, let alone education. If Saudi and UAE war crimes continue, Yemen could become an abandoned land soon.