ICRC President Urges Observing Int’l Humanitarian Law in Yemen
Local Editor
The President of International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC], Peter Maurer, expressed regret on Wednesday over the targeting and killing of civilians in Yemen, and urged parties in Yemen to observe the International Humanitarian Law [IHL].
Speaking in a press conference in Iran’s capital of Tehran following his meetings with the Iranian Red Crescent Society, the First Vice President, and the Deputy Foreign Minister, Maurer deplored the shelling of civilian areas and hospitals and urged sides to commit themselves to international laws.
The ICRC chief, who arrived to Iran from Yemen, said that he was in negotiations with the warring parties.
Maurer expressed regret over the targeting and killing of civilians in Yemen and blamed it on the numerous non-state militants who take their tolls on ordinary people.
Maurer also said that the targeting of vital infrastructure, such as health centers in Yemen, has given rise to a higher civilian death toll among the war-hit people who lack basic services.
Moreover, he hailed the contributions of the Iranian Red Crescent Society [IRCS] in dispatching relief aid to Yemen and said that the Iranian society is one of ICRC’s main partners which has sent considerable humanitarian packages to the war-ravaged country.
Earlier in the day, Maurer met IRCS Secretary Mohsen Ziaei during which both sides conferred on facilitating the dispatch of humanitarian aid to the impoverished Yemeni people.
Ziaei said that Iran will continue its relief aid to Yemen in cooperation with ICRC and added that IRCS is ready to launch IHL as an independent course at its academy.
To a question on his planned visit to the holy city of Qom in Iran on Thursday to meet members of the Islamic Research Center on Humanitarian Law, he welcomed the center’s studies and said that ICRC is keen on being informed on the Islamic values corresponding to IHL.
Since March, a Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been carrying out airstrikes against Yemen. The airstrikes have not been authorized by the United Nations [UN].
The death toll of civilians has risen to at least 1,916, with another 4,186 civilians wounded since the escalation of the conflict in Yemen in March, according to the UN recently last week.
