Human Rights Group Says U.S. Air Strikes in Yemen Kill Scores of Civilians in Violation of International Law

Edited by Juan Leandro
2013-10-23 11:58:31

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New York, October 23 (RHC)-- In a second report released on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch reviewed six U.S. attacks in Yemen that killed 82 people, at least 57 of them civilians. They include a drone-assisted attack that unlawfully struck a passenger van in 2012, killing 12 civilians; the target was nowhere near the vehicle.

A Yemani farmer told Human Rights Watch the strike killed his father, mother and 10-year-old sister. He said: "Their bodies were charred like coal; I could not recognize the faces."

Human Rights Watch also reviewed the 2009 U.S. cruise missile strike in the village of al-Majalah that killed more than 40 civilians, most of them women and children, and another attack last year that killed a cleric who preached against al-Qaeda as well as his cousin and a police officer.

The New York-based human rights organization said strikes against civilians have violated international law and sparked a backlash that undermines the campaign against Al Qaeda. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both called on the Barack Obama administration to reveal its full legal rationale for the strikes and investigate the killings detailed in their reports.



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