Ansar Allah website - Report -13 Rabi' al-Thani 1448 AH
The National Human Rights Authority strongly condemned and denounced the wave of criminal escalation by the Saudi enemy over the past hours, which deliberately and systematically targeted civilians, homes, schools, and farms, in a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms.
In a statement issued by the authority, it explained that its field monitoring teams documented the Saudi enemy’s crimes in Taiz Governorate, including an airstrike targeting a citizen’s home in the Al-Kamb area of Maqbanah District, which caused extensive material damage to the home and neighboring property and terrorized women and children.
The statement noted that enemy aircraft destroyed Al-Najdayn School in Al-Athawir sub-district of Hayfan District, describing this as a crime against childhood and education.
It pointed out that enemy aircraft carried out a direct airstrike on a residential area in Al-Aboos sub-district of Hayfan, causing damage to citizens’ property.
The authority stated that the Saudi enemy targeted the border areas of Saada Governorate, striking Razih District with more than 45 shells and missiles and causing extensive material damage to citizens’ homes and farms as part of a systematic policy of collective punishment. It also targeted scattered areas of the border district of Shada with intense artillery shelling.
The statement said that Saudi enemy aircraft targeted civilian objects in Mustaba District of Hajjah Governorate, while continuous Saudi artillery shelling targeted the border areas of Bakil Al-Mir and Haradh districts, striking citizens’ homes and farms.
The Human Rights Authority affirmed that the dangerous Saudi escalation reveals a deliberate targeting of the foundations of civilian life, placing these crimes under international criminal law. It said that the targeting of homes and residential neighborhoods in Maqbanah, Razih, Shada, Haradh, and Bakil Al-Mir constitutes a fully fledged war crime under Article 8(2)(b)(i) of the Rome Statute, concerning “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population,” as well as a flagrant violation of Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which criminalizes the destruction of property not justified by military necessity, and Article 33, which prohibits collective punishment.
It considered the destruction of Al-Najdayn School in Al-Athawir, Hayfan, a defined war crime, noting that Article 52 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions requires the protection of civilian objects, while Article 8(2)(b)(ix) of the Rome Statute criminalizes the intentional direction of attacks against buildings dedicated to education. It also constitutes a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and UN Security Council Resolution 2601 concerning the protection of education in armed conflict.
The authority further said that the artillery and missile shelling of the border areas in Razih, Shada, Haradh, and Bakil Al-Mir constitutes indiscriminate targeting prohibited under Articles 51 and 57 of Additional Protocol I, which prohibit indiscriminate attacks and require precautions to protect civilians. It also constitutes a violation of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.
The National Human Rights Authority held the Saudi regime fully legally and criminally responsible for these crimes, the terrorization of civilians, and the destruction of their homes and schools, considering the targeting of education in Hayfan and citizens’ farms in Razih and Haradh a systematic crime of starvation and deliberate deprivation of education.
It called on the United Nations and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to assume their legal and moral responsibilities toward these crimes and pursue those responsible before the International Criminal Court, considering them war crimes that do not lapse through the passage of time. It affirmed its full solidarity with the affected families in Taiz, Saada, and Hajjah.
