Rights groups urge ICC referral over Saudi attacks in Yemen

Amid heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Ansarullah movement, political observers and international experts have said that Saudi military attacks on civilians in Yemen may constitute war crimes and are urging the UN Security Council to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The observers compared the situation in Yemen to the conflict in Gaza, noting that the ICC has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former war minister Yoav Gallant on war crimes charges, and argued that similar measures should be considered for those responsible for attacks in Yemen.

Human rights monitoring bodies reported that Saudi operations have intensified in recent days across Saada province, specifically in the Munabbih, Al-Qahr, Al-Zahir, Marran, and Al-Jabanah areas, describing them as examples of crimes against humanity. The reports said African migrants have also been affected, and that Saudi forces are targeting civilians in border villages following battlefield setbacks. The accounts could not be independently verified.

In late September, the UN Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that parties to the conflict in Yemen were responsible for gross human rights violations, without explicitly naming Saudi Arabia. The group reiterated its call for the Security Council to refer the situation in Yemen to the ICC. According to the report, Saudi Arabia subsequently lobbied to end the experts' mission, and the renewal of the group's mandate was rejected during the UN Human Rights Council session in October.

For more than seven years, Saudi Arabia has maintained a naval, aerial, and land blockade of Yemen and has bombed residential areas, according to the report. It said civilians, particularly children, have been victims of attacks and airstrikes, and that the deprivation of access to water, food, medicine, and fuel amounts to a crime against humanity. Statistics from Entisaf, an organization advocating for the rights of women and children, indicate that children have been killed, detained, and denied access to education and medical treatment. The group recorded nearly 75,000 cases of children suffering from disabilities and cancerous tumors, more than 3 million children suffering from malnutrition, over 300 child deaths daily, more than 3,000 children with congenital abnormalities, and more than 3,000 requiring open-heart surgery. It added that 2 million Yemeni children are out of school and another half-million have dropped out since the Arab coalition's campaign began.

The report recalled that on August 25, 2017, during an attack in the Faj Attan neighborhood of southwestern Sana'a, 8-year-old Buthaina lost her parents, uncle, and four siblings. The National Organization for Human Rights in Yemen has held Saudi Arabia legally and criminally accountable for its actions and their humanitarian consequences, and has called on the international community to break its silence, halt the aggression, lift the blockade, and ensure the protection of civilians. According to Mehr News, the accounts highlight continuing concerns over civilian suffering in Yemen.