SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties said in a statement today, Saturday, August 29, 2020, that an impartial international investigation must be conducted into strikes targeting the army of the internationally recognized legitimate government in Yemen, that has prolonged the war and led to hundreds of casualties.

 

SAM said that it had documented more than 63 airstrikes targeting the army of the internationally recognized government, in different regions, the most heinous was the one carried out by the Emirati air force on August 29, 2019, on the outskirts of Aden city, which led to the killing and wounding of nearly 300 soldiers and officers. In addition to other strikes in Marib, Al-Jouf, Nihm Sanaa, and sites and camps belonging to the sixth, fifth, seventh and third military districts.

 

SAM emphasized that the fact that the targets of these operations are military personnel does not revoke their right and families’ to equity and knowledge of the truth, in addition to compensating them and their community fairly for the consequences of these airstrikes in violation of international law that targeted government forces and civilian and military sites of the Republic of Yemen loyal to the recognized authority, which is carried out internationally by the Saudi and UAE air forces, at a time when they are not fighting a declared war against the legitimate authority, and the forces targeted by their strikes are considered their allies; theoretically.

 

On July 7, 2015, the Coalition warplanes targeted the 23rd Mechanical Brigade camp in Al-Abr desert with three raids, first one targeted the headquarters, the second the training center of the Second Division, while the third targeted the weapons depots.

The operation led to the killing of more than seventy officers and soldiers, including Major General Ahmed Al-Abara, the commander of the camp, and wounding more than a hundred others.

 

Abdul Raqeeb Al Abara, son of Major General Ahmed Al Abara, who was accompanying his father, says: “In a moment I was not expecting, the coalition raids attacked us, raid after another with few seconds apart between each raid, that scattered the body of more than hundred soldiers apart, including my father and seven of my relatives who were gathering after having their breakfast in the camp, the scene was horrific, everyone in a state of terror, they search among the rubble of the bodies for their relatives, the wounded, who can be saved, but to no avail, as the Saudi-Emirati coalition forces have turned lives into corpses, turned the bodies to pieces, and turned the remains into scattered pieces that are difficult to identify.

 

Al-Abara, who is currently residing in Turkey, says "I identified my father with difficulty.. I could not look at his completely burnt face that was scattered, other body parts of my relatives who were accompanying him were scattered .. It was a moment in which I could not hold myself together. I could not scream or cry either, I hid everything inside of me, I could not speak normally for days, I still suffer from the horror of that trauma to this day, I suffer from its effects psychologically, I fear any loud voice. The memory of my father still haunting me, and every day I believe that punishment for us and for the souls of our martyrs will be achieved, justice will be served ... We will wait for the day, even if it is late, but it will definitely come. "

 

On August 29, 2019, a plane belonging to the United Arab Emirates targeted the army forces of the internationally recognized government, killing and wounding nearly 300 soldiers. The UAE admitted bombing the Yemeni army forces, and justified this by fighting terrorism. The legitimate government condemned this incident, but it did not take any legal action, locally or at the international level.

 

On January 18, 2020, about 120 soldiers were killed in the Special Forces camp in Marib by unknown bombing. Some parties accuse the UAE of targeting the camp, noting that Houthis militia denied responsibility for the crime, and government did not establish an investigation committee to investigate the attack or issue a report on it until this moment.

 

SAM said that all the documented incidents were carried out in violation to the international law and are considered war crimes, extrajudicial killing and an assault on the basic right to life.

 

SAM called on the Yemeni authorities to work courageously to uncover the circumstances of these crimes in cooperation with the international community, and to grant the families of the victims the right to know the truth, hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable and compensate the victims with a fair compensation.