Saudi-backed militants in Yemen’s southern city of Taiz "are leading a campaign of harassment and intimidation against hospital staff," said Amnesty International on Wednesday.
Philip Luther, the Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said Saudi mercenaries are stationing fighters and military positions near medical facilities.
"By positioning fighters and military positions near medical facilities they have compromised the safety of hospitals and flouted their obligation to protect civilians under international law," he said.
According to Luther, pro-Hadi militants are also "harassing medical staff or preventing doctors from carrying out their life-saving work. Attacks targeting health professionals or medical facilities are prohibited by international humanitarian law and can constitute war crimes."
Amnesty cited at least three cases in which hospitals were shut down because of threats against staff. On November 21, the Saudi-paid militants raided and shut down al-Thawra hospital, the biggest public hospital in Taiz, apparently in retaliation for hospital staff providing emergency medical treatment to three injured Houthi fighters.
"According to eyewitnesses three armed men stormed an office at the hospital and threatened to kill medical staff if it was not shut down immediately. They also tried to drag the two surviving Houthi fighters - one of whom is a minor- out of the hospital’s intensive care and recovery units."
Wednesday’s report cited 15 doctors who described abuses by the pro-Hadi militants, including requesting preferential medical treatment, insulting the staff and diverting electricity for personal use.
"Doctors told Amnesty International that if anti-Houthi fighters were turned away due to lack of capacity at the hospital in some cases they turned violent or abusive," the organization said.
"In other cases, medical staff said that doctors were forced to carry out their work at gunpoint," it added.
According to one doctor, one militant opened fire inside the al-Jamhouri hospital’s compound after being told his son did not require emergency care and could be treated by a nurse. The gunfire injured hospital staff and killed a patient.
Amnesty quoted an administrative work as saying that pro-Hadi militants had threatened medical staff and interfered with the hospital’s administration and its decision-making "hundreds of times".
"When we stand up to them, they threaten us with being killed," the unnamed worker said.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
