UN blacklists Saudi-led coalition for killing, maiming children during its military campaign in Yemen

New York, October 4: The Saudi-led coalition has been blacklisted by United Nations for killing and maiming children during its military campaign against Yemen. Notably, Yemen is suffering from dual attack i.e from civil war and cholera which has brought a disaster in the country heavily due to which innocent civilians are being killed.

 

A confidential draft of United Nations report on violations against children which is allegedly leaked has listed a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. The leaked blacklist reportedly named the coalition for killing and maiming children in Yemen, noting that it has put in place measures to improve child protection.

The leaked draft said, "In Yemen, the coalition's actions objectively led to the listing for the killing and maiming of children, with 683 child casualties attributed to this party, and, as a result of being responsible for 38 verified incidents, for attacks on schools and hospitals during 2016."

"The coalition is included in section B of Annex I, as it has put in place measures during the reporting period aimed at improving the protection of children," it added. However, this report is subject to change and needs to be approved by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. It will then be referred to the UN Security Council to be discussed by the 15-member body on October 31.

Meanwhile, Saudi Ambassador to the UN Abdallah al-Mouallimi declined to comment before the report is officially released. The Saudi UN mission had claimed in August that there was “no justification whatsoever” for blacklisting the coalition. Interestingly, the new draft report also lists a series of children rights violations by militants loyal to the former Yemeni government, fighters of Yemen’s Ansarullah groups and Takfiri al-Qaeda terrorists.

Yemen’s civil war erupted in the year 2015 between two factions which has led to the killings of 10,000 of civilians due to air strikes. One is Houthi forces controlling the capital Sana'a and allied with forces loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have clashed with forces loyal to the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, based in Aden. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have also carried out attacks, with AQAP controlling swathes of territory in the hinterlands, and along stretches of the coast while cholera has led the situation worst in Yemen.