Human Rights Watch has also documented Houthi forces arbitrarily detaining civilians and holding prisoners in harsh conditions. In July and August, extremist armed groups carried out multiple summary executions of captured Houthi forces in Aden whose ages were not known. In August 2015, Human Rights Watch observed that southern armed groups were detaining 140 suspected Houthi forces, including at least 25 children who appeared to be under age 15, at a school they had taken control of in Aden. Human Rights Watch has documented that parties to the conflict have detained children suspected of loyalty to enemy forces, and that they have abused prisoners and held them in poor conditions. The parties declared a cessation of hostilities on April 10, and began peace talks in Kuwait later that month, but airstrikes and fighting on the ground have continued. Houthi and Saudi forces conducted two prisoner exchanges in March. However, the sides differed as to the number of prisoners to be released, with Houthis saying 1,000 and government sources saying all detainees, according to reports citing sources close to the negotiations. Separately, Houthi and anti-Houthi forces in Taiz exchanged 35 prisoners on June 2.Ī Saudi Arabia-led coalition, militarily supported by the United States and the United Kingdom, has waged an aerial and ground campaign against Houthi forces and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh since March 2015, in support of the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi. On May 30, the United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, announced on Twitter that he had received lists of prisoners from both sides, later reported to include 2,630 on the government side and 3,760 on the Houthi side. UNICEF has verified that more than 900 children were killed and 1,300 injured during 2015, a rate of six children killed or maimed each day since the escalation of hostilities in March 2015.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |