UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday issued a statement condemning the “air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition against a detention center in Saada” in Yemen, killing at least 60 and injure more than 100 “inmates.
“Air strikes have been reported elsewhere in Yemen, with dead and wounded among civilians, including children,” he said, calling for “swift, effective and transparent investigations” into the strikes to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.
On Tuesday, Antonio Guterres had limited himself to saying he was “mourning” the previous deadly coalition airstrikes launched in retaliation for Shiite Houthi rebel attacks on the United Arab Emirates, with three dead and six wounded.
“Air raid on buildings housing telecommunications infrastructure in Honda,” a Houthi-controlled western Yemeni city, has also caused major problems in accessing Internet services that are “vital to much of the country,” the UN chief said. in its announcement yesterday, in an unusually stern tone towards Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In yesterday’s text, he “reminds every day that attacks on civilians and political infrastructure are prohibited forces of international humanitarian law.”
Antonio Guterres demands that “all parties (…) guarantee the protection of civilians from the dangers posed by military operations, respecting the principles of proportionality, discrimination and precaution”.
Earlier, during a press conference, the UN Secretary-General ruled that the Houthis, who are considered to be backed by Iran, made a “grave mistake” in refusing to accept his special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg.
“We are in close contact with various countries that have relations with the Houthis to try to explain to them that it is in their interest and in the interest of peace that our special envoy be able to go to Sanaa, and I hope that will happen. “Soon,” said Antonio Guterres.
He stressed that “this escalation of hostilities” in Yemen lately “must stop.”
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