The United Nations has blacklisted Saudi Arabia and its allies for infanticide during its war on Yemen, prompting fresh calls from rights bodies for pressure on Riyadh to end the military campaign.
UN blacklists Saudi-led coalition for killing, maiming Yemeni kids
6 Oct 2017 - 13:33
The United Nations has blacklisted Saudi Arabia and its allies for infanticide during its war on Yemen, prompting fresh calls from rights bodies for pressure on Riyadh to end the military campaign.
The annual blacklist, released by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday, said the actions of the Riyadh-led alliance in Yemen “objectively led to that party being listed for the killing and maiming of children.”
The world body said that the coalition had been responsible for 683 child casualties and 38 verified attacks on schools and hospitals in 2016.
The report was prepared by the UN Children and Armed Conflict envoy Virginia Gamba and issued in the name of Guterres.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (Photo by AFP)
The UN chief said the blacklist was “not only to raise awareness,” but also to “promote measures that can diminish the tragic plight of children in conflict.”
Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan are part of the Saudi-led coalition, which has been bombarding Yemen since early 2015 to restore its Riyadh-friendly government.
More than 12,000 people have died since the onset of the attacks, according to the latest tallies by the local monitoring group.
The new list also includes militants associated with the former Yemeni administration, who have been heavily armed by Saudi Arabia, as well as the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which has been defending the country against the Saudi aggression.
In an apparent attempt to avoid Saudi anger, Guterres had already held talks with King Salman before releasing the list, which does not subject those on the list to any UN action.
Saudi Arabia was briefly included on the annual list of shame last year, but was later removed after the kingdom threatened to cut off its funds to UN programs.
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