(Se puede leer este artículo en español aquí.)
US-backed Saudi forces bombed a crowded detention center in Yemen three times on January 21, killing at least 91 people and injuring 236 more.
This massive atrocity in Yemen’s northwestern Saada governorate was carried out using US-made weapons, including a laser-guided bomb manufactured by top Pentagon contractor Raytheon.
Washington’s complicity was confirmed by Amnesty International, whose experts analyzed photos showing the remnants of a 500-pound GBU-12 Raytheon bomb.
Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s richest countries per capita, has been relentlessly bombing Yemen, the poorest nation in West Asia, since March 2015, with the steadfast support of the United States and Britain.
The war on Yemen has unleashed the largest humanitarian catastrophe on Earth, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis.
US assistance to the Saudi monarchy in this war has continued under the administrations of Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.
Even Amnesty International, which is notorious for its pro-Western bias, acknowledged that this massacre in Yemen is “the latest piece in a wider web of evidence of the use of US-manufactured weapons in incidents that could amount to war crimes.”
The organization wrote:
Since March 2015, Amnesty International’s researchers have investigated dozens of air strikes and repeatedly found and identified remnants of US-manufactured munitions. Amnesty International previously identified the use of the same US-made Raytheon bombs used on 21 January in a Saudi-led air strike carried out on 28 June 2019 on a residential home in Ta’iz governorate, Yemen, that killed six civilians — including three children.
The United Nations reported that the Saada detention center was full of roughly 2,000 people, including 700 migrants, at the time it was attacked “by three airstrikes in quick succession.”
The spokesperson of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rupert Colville, made it clear that this was a civilian target, stating, “During the recent visit by our team this week, we saw no signs indicating that this site, formerly a barracks, continues to have a military function.”
On the same day of this attack, Saudi and Emirati forces supported by the United States and Britain also attacked Yemen’s telecommunications grid, taking down the entire country’s access to the internet.
The OHCHR reported that, in the first 28 days of year 2022, US-backed Saudi forces launched 1,403 airstrikes in Yemen.
President Joe Biden promised during his 2020 presidential campaign that he would cease US support for the war on Yemen. In February 2021, just weeks after he entered office, Biden claimed he was “ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arm sales.” This was demonstrably false.
The Biden administration has maintained support for Saudi Arabia and arms sales to the monarchy as it regularly bombs civilians in Yemen.
Amnesty International reported:
Since November 2021, the Biden administration has approved sales of — and awarded US firms contracts for — missiles, aircraft, and an anti-ballistic defence system to Saudi Arabia, including a $28 million deal for US maintenance of Saudi aircraft in mid-January.
Among these was the approved sale of $650 million in missiles to Saudi Arabia, also from Raytheon, which Congress greenlit despite motions to block it. In December, the administration stated it “remains committed” to the proposed sales of $23 billion in F-35 aircraft, MQ-9B, and munitions to the UAE — despite strong human rights concerns. Continuing to arm the SLC not only fails to meet the US’s obligations under international law, it also violates US law. The Foreign Assistance Act and Leahy Laws both bar US arms sales and military aid to gross violators of human rights.
The United Nations has called for an investigation into the attack.
Amid 🇾🇪#Yemen’s escalating conflict, which saw deadly airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition on 21 January, we call for a transparent, independent and impartial investigation to ensure accountability for any breaches of international humanitarian law.https://t.co/pt3cg0urY5 pic.twitter.com/ZNtCEqXY8A
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) January 28, 2022
Ronald
2022-01-31 at 04:23
Esa monarquía sádica criminal y medieval comete esos crímenes contra el pueblo yemení porque es protegido del imperialismo norteamericano y sus vasallos de la “unión europea” a cambio que esa monarquía le siga comprando armas a Estados Unidos y Europa. Para la industrias fabricantes de armas esos borbandeo por parte de esa monarquía criminal medieval contra el pueblo yemení es un negocio redondo para seguir fabricando y vendiendo armas. Detrás de todo capital hay ríos y charco de sangre decía un marxista.