Yemen: Houthis, Southern Fighters Endanger Aden Hospital

06/17/2015
(Beirut) – Houthi forces and southern armed groups have committed serious abuses at a hospital in Yemen’s port city of Aden, forcing its evacuation in late April 2015.

Staff at the al-Jumhouri Hospital told Human Rights Watch that in late March southern fighters summarily executed two Houthi fighters who were patients and used the hospital as a defensive position until driven from the area. The Houthi assault on the area around the hospital resulted in repeated firing on hospital staff and patients, killing at least two civilians and wounding a nurse.

All parties to Yemen’s armed conflict should respect the neutrality of hospitals and other medical facilities and not target them or use them for military operations, Human Rights Watch said. The United Nations Security Council should remind the parties in Yemen that attacks on hospitals violate international humanitarian law, and that those responsible for such attacks are subject to travel bans and asset freezes under Resolution 2140.

“The fighting in Yemen is terrible enough without both sides bringing the battle into hospitals,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director. “Attacks on medical facilities prevent people who are injured from the fighting to get critical, life-saving care.”

The article continues on the Human Rights Watch website at http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/06/17/yemen-houthis-southern-fighters-endanger-aden-hospital.