NICOSIA — London-based lawyers representing victims of
Yemen's ongoing conflict on Monday called for an International Criminal Court
(ICC) investigation into alleged war crimes by pro-government forces.
اضافة اعلان
Yemen's internationally recognized government has been
locked in battle with Iran-backed
Houthi rebels since 2014.
A Saudi-led military coalition intervened the following year
to support the government, shortly after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa.
Since then, the insurgents have taken control of much of the
north, with tens of thousands — mostly civilians — killed in the conflict and
millions displaced.
The United Nations has described the situation as the
world's worst humanitarian crisis, while UN experts have accused both sides of
war crimes.
On Monday, Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers said
it submitted evidence to the ICC to back allegations of coalition war crimes
and crimes against humanity.
The lawyers, who made the submission on behalf of hundreds
of survivors and relatives of those killed, called for the investigation of
three incidents, according to a statement.
These include a 2016 coalition air strike that killed 140
people at a funeral in Sanaa, and a 2018 air strike on a school bus in northern
Yemen that killed at least 40 children.
The coalition has admitted that "mistakes" were
made, and said it would put on trial military personnel suspected of being
behind strikes on civilians, including the school bus strike.
"At the time of the attack the coalition claimed they
would investigate and hold the perpetrators to account. Of course, they did no
such thing," Almudena Bernabeu, co-founder of Guernica 37, said in the
statement.
Neither Yemen nor Saudi Arabia are parties to the ICC's
founding Rome Statute.
Of the countries making up the coalition, only Jordan has
ratified the statute.
The ICC has no obligation to consider complaints filed to
the prosecutor by individuals or groups.
The prosecutor can decide independently what cases to submit
to judges at the court, and judges then decide whether to allow a preliminary
investigation by the prosecutor, which can then be followed by a formal
investigation, and if warranted, charges.
In the majority of cases such complaints do not lead to
investigations, according to the ICC.
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