SAM calls for the formation of an independent and impartial committee to assess the repercussions of the stampede incident in Sana'a

Geneva - SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties expressed its deep regret over the killing of dozens of citizens and the injury of hundreds in a stampede incident during the distribution of financial aid by a merchant in the Houthi-held city of Sana'a. The organization called for the formation of an independent and impartial committee to investigate this incident.

In a statement issued by the organization, commenting on the unfortunate incident that took place on Wednesday evening, SAM said, “This incident transformed Eid in Yemen from an occasion of joy to a state of grief over the loss of heads of families whose poverty has reached an unbearable extent. As a result, they became victims of an incident that reveals the disregard of those in charge of it and the de facto authority for the needy.”

The organization said that the incident was a wake-up call for the humanitarian situation in Yemen due to the war and the policies of the Houthi group in particular, which have contributed to increasing poverty, rising prices, and burdening citizens with many royalties and daily levies, including recently preventing the distribution of gas except by paying zakat.

The organization confirmed that the Houthi group bears the greatest responsibility for this incident, especially after the information it received about the failure to organize the distribution of aid before, and the attempt to blame people under the pretext of not coordinating with its Ministry of Interior. Thus, there can be no impartial party to any independent and transparent investigation.

The organization stresses that this humanitarian catastrophe reflects the absence of the role of specialized institutions and agencies in the areas controlled by the Houthi group. At the same time, the organization expressed its surprise at the statements of the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior for the group, "Abdul-Khaleq Al-Ajri," who said that "the distribution was random and without prior coordination with them."

The organization concluded its statement by emphasizing the importance of stopping the war and giving Yemenis an outlet for a dignified life. The war is no longer but a special desire of the warlords and those who traffic in people's supplies on the black market and those who benefit from its continuation, while millions of children and women suffer from the scourge of hunger, siege and interruption of salaries.

The organization concluded its statement with the need for a special investigation committee by independent civil society institutions, and the need to publicly publish the results of the investigation and bring all the persons directly and indirectly responsible for the incident to justice and to impose deterrent penalties in order to ensure that such an incident, which reflects the state of negligence and the absence of the institutional role of the main administrative bodies in the areas controlled by the Houthi group, does not recur.