Yemen, another 3-year-old child died under bombs: thus the number of minors killed after the truce ended a month ago rises to 11 (only in October)

ROME – The number of children who died as a result of the war in Yemen rose to 11 in October alone, there were none in September. The UN-led agreement had led to the longest period of relative peace since the conflict broke out in 2015. Save The Children, which has been operating in Yemen since 1963, urges the warring parties to re-engage in a peace process and the international community to tackle once and for all impunity and lack of justice for the victims by re-establishing a mechanism of accountability , through independent and impartial bodies. A three-year-old boy and his father lost their lives and four other children were injured over the weekend following a bombing on a residential street in Yemen, leading to eleven war-related infant deaths in October after the end of the truce led by the United Nations. He makes it known Save the Children.

Another 2-year-old lost a leg. The boy died in hospital on Monday morning and his two-year-old cousin lost a leg after a grenade hit their home in Taiz on Sunday afternoon. Three other children were returning from school when a second grenade hit an alley. Two of the children lost their legs while the third is in critical condition due to splinters in the abdomen, leg and hand. The number of children who died as a result of the war in Yemen rose to 11 in October, there were none in September. The UN-led agreement, which established a 6-month truce that ended on 2 October, led to the longest period of relative peace since the conflict broke out in 2015.

Impunity is part of the reason that the conflict lasts. “I am baffled by yet another reckless act of armed violence that affects the children of Taiz – said Rama Hansraj, director of Save the Children in Yemen – in October our local team intervened in 12 cases of injured children. Almost half of them lost limbs to mines and other explosive weapons. It was encouraging to see that, during the six months of respite, the number of child victims decreased significantly. However – he added – we are now seeing firsthand how the inability of the warring parties to resolve the conflict translates into suffering for the boys and girls. In the absence of a mechanism capable of identifying accountability, incidents such as these have continued to occur on an ongoing and alarming basis. Impunity is part of the reason the conflict continues to rage. The effort to end it is not just about principles but is a moral and political imperative, as well as a question of protection and security for millions of Yemenis, ”she added.

The work of Save The Children in Yemen. This bombing comes a year after the UN Human Rights Council’s decision to reject the renewal of the only independent international accountability mechanism in Yemen. Save the Children urges the parties to the conflict to re-engage in a peace process and the international community to address the growing impunity and lack of justice for victims by re-establishing an international, independent and impartial accountability mechanism. The NGO operates in Yemen by implementing education, child protection, health and nutrition, water and sanitation programs and emergency interventions in most of the country. The Organization responded to the incident through its Child Protection Unit, covering the medical costs of all cases and providing psychosocial support to the victims and their families.

Instruments at the service of justice. Accountability mechanisms are international instruments designed to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the most serious crimes under international law. This type of mechanism must not prosecute cases but prepare for prosecution and support courts seeking to prosecute serious international crimes. To this end, they are responsible for collecting, consolidating and storing information and “evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights” as well as analyzing this evidence and preparing “files in order to facilitate and accelerate fair and independent criminal proceedings” and finally they share the information and evidence gathered and the analytical work produced with national, regional and international courts to proceed with the criminal proceedings.