Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned Saudi Arabia and Saudi-backed forces in war-torn Yemen for carrying out a series of abuses against Yemeni civilians in the furthermost eastern province of al-Mahra.
In a report published on Wednesday, the New York-based group said the abuses included arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances and illegal transfers of detainees from Yemen to Saudi Arabia.
“Saudi forces and their Yemeni allies’ serious abuses against local-Mahra residents is another horror to add to the list of the Saudi-led coalition’s unlawful conduct in Yemen,” said Michael Page, HRW’s deputy Middle East director.
“Saudi Arabia is severely harming its reputation with Yemenis when it carries out these abusive practices and holds no one accountable for them.”
The report comes on the eve of the fifth anniversary on Thursday since a Saudi-UAE-led coalition began in March 2015 an air campaign against the Houthi rebels following their takeover of the capital, Sanaa, and other northern areas. Tens of thousands have been killed in the war, and the UN calls the situation in Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
Source: AJ