You are here

The war in Yemen must end

Aug 30,2018 - Last updated at Aug 31,2018

A panel of UN human rights experts have reached a "verdict" on Tuesday in Geneva  that both the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis in Yemen have committed grave humanitarian violations in their war against one another which "may amount to war crimes". This UN finding is diplomatically coined when all that it says  is that the war casualties  committed by the two warring sides in Yemen "may" amount to war crimes. There is hardly any war big or small that does not entail the infliction of heavy casualties and destruction that "may" qualify as acts of war crimes or crimes against humanity. The Saudi-led coalition has been conducting heavy aerial bombardments on the Houthis and no doubt could have  caused civilian casualties  during these attacks that may amount to crimes. Likewise the Houthis have been perpetrating  all sorts of crimes including the commission of  torture and enlisting child soldiers for their war effort. What distinguishes the two sides in the fighting is the obvious fact that the Saudi-coalition forces are engaged in a war to restore legitimacy to Yemen after the Houthis had  staged a coup in 2015 against the legitimate government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi which happens to enjoy international support and UN recognition. The real issue now after three years of inconclusive fighting in Yemen, the time has come to end the war. Since the immediate parties to the Yemeni war cannot agree on terms for the cessation of hostilities, the time has come for the UN Security Council to intervene by "ordering" an immediate end to the three year war and call for peace talks under UN supervision. Short of such an international intervention, the two sides to the war in Yemen can go on and on fighting each other and committing all sorts of war crimes and crimes against humanity intentionally or otherwise. The international community must not only keep a watchful eye over the horrible war in the country and issue pious statements every now and then with no avail. The war must end now. Who is right or who is wrong is no longer the primary issue in Yemen. Stopping the killings and destruction  must be  the primary concerns for all sides including the immediate combatants.

 

up
62 users have voted, including you.


Newsletter

Get top stories and blog posts emailed to you each day.

PDF