UN: Civilian Death Toll Now Exceeds 1,500 in Yemen Crisis
Local Editor
The United Nations [UN] human rights office expressed "deep concern" on Tuesday over the worsening human rights and humanitarian situation in Yemen as the civilian death toll exceeds 1,500 in three months of violence, when the Saudi-led aggression began in March. It said that 3,600 others have also been injured and 1 million displaced.
The UN agency released the latest figures on Tuesday, saying that at least 92 civilians have been killed and 179 others suffered injuries in the recent two weeks between June 17 and July 3.
Underscoring that civilians continued to bear the brunt of the conflict, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR], Cécile Pouilly, said that between 17 June and 3 July, at least 92 civilians - including 18 women and 18 children - were killed with another 179 injured - including 43 women and 30 children.
"Since 17 June, coalition forces have continued aerial bombardment and other attacks..." Pouilly further added.
"Since 17 June, there has been further destruction of civilian infrastructure, with at least 36 buildings, including hospitals, schools, court houses, power generation facilities and communications institutions partially or totally damaged in the governorates of Sana’a, Aden, Taiz, Al-Jawf, Al-Mahwit, and Hajjah," Pouilly said.
The UN rights office is acutely worried about increasing attacks against places of worship, pointing to the targeting of five mosques with car bombs over the past few weeks as an alarming trend to create sectarian divisions, the UN said.
Humanitarian access also remains severely constrained by the recent violence. Since the beginning of the conflict, land, air and maritime restrictions have severely reduced imports - with food and other essentials dropping significantly, according to the UN.
In addition to insecurity on the roads and blocked access to food and clean water, it added, Yemen’s healthcare system continues to deteriorate as medicine shortages, essential medical supplies and fuel have reached critical levels.
OHCHR has been closely monitoring attacks against UN offices, citing a Saudi-led airstrike partially destroyed the UN Development Programme [UNDP] office in Khormaksar, Aden, and wounded one civilian on 28 June.
The International Organization for Migration [IOM] was also struck before by a Saudi-led airstrike in Harad.
"Once again," Pouilly stressed, "we urge all sides of the conflict to ensure that international human rights law and international humanitarian law are respected, and to ensure that all feasible measures are taken to protect civilians. International humanitarian law imposes on parties to a conflict the duty to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need. "
At the same time, Adrian Edwards, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], said that there are some 250,000 refugees in Yemen, whereas more than 46,000 persons had fled the country.
"Clearly, there is a massive humanitarian crisis...in Yemen," said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA], who said the UN’s $1.6 billion dollar appeal is only partially funded.
