taiz
“This bloody attack by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group is further evidence of the need for justice and accountability for their violations against civilians throughout the last five years” Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Mwatana Chairperson said.
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[caption id="attachment_18490" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Photo of the aftermath of the attack on the prison, Taiz. April 7, 2020.[/caption]
Sana'a – The Ansar Allah (Houthi) armed group attacked the Taiz Central Prison Complex on Sunday April 5, killing five women prisoners, two young girls and a policewoman, and wounding nine, including six other women, two girls and a civilian man, Mwatana for Human Rights said. Prison authorities in Taiz had been preparing to release some women prisoners on Monday, April 6, the day after the attack, as part of coronavirus prevention efforts.At about 4:20 p.m. on April 5, at least five mortar shells landed on and near the Central Prison Complex in Taiz governorate, in southwestern Yemen. Two mortar shells hit the Women's Correctional Facility, located at the south of the Central Prison complex. Another shell landed near the complex’s east, wounding a civilian. Two other mortar shells hit the road leading to the Correctional Facility and behind it.“This bloody attack by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group is further evidence of the need for justice and accountability for their violations against civilians throughout the last five years,” Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Mwatana for Human Rights Chairperson said. “These women were waiting to be released and to embrace their families, and instead were met by deadly shells.”The Central Prison Complex is located on the western outskirts of Taiz City, six kilometers away from the city center, in the Adhabab area in Sabr Al Mawadim district. The area is controlled by forces of the internationally recognized government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The prison complex has four main buildings, including the Women's Correctional Facility, consisting of three large wards. At the time of the attack, the Facility held 28 women prisoners and seven of their children. Ansar Allah fighters are positioned to the north of the complex, on 50th Street, about three kilometers away from the complex.According to interviews conducted with witnesses and survivors, the first shell landed at around 4:20 pm on the road east of the Central Prison Complex’s main gate.Shrapnel from one of the mortar shells, which left a crater in the asphalt, hit the right side of a medium-size transport truck that had four people on board. A 24-year-old man was wounded in his right foot and arm. A 20-year-old man said, "After the first shell landed near the truck, I heard a shell whistle over my head coming from the north side. A few seconds later, I heard an explosion inside the prison."Between around 4:24 and 4:30 p.m., two shells landed on the Women’s Correctional Facility. The first hit a concrete pole in front of Ward No. 3. The second hit the surface of the Correctional Facility’s courtyard, where some female prisoners were sitting at the time of the strike. Five women prisoners, a policewoman, and two little girls between five and seven years old were killed. Some of those killed died of severe injuries after being transferred to a nearby hospital. Six other women and two more little girls were wounded. One of the shells left a crater about half a meter in diameter. The attack caused damage to the Correctional Facility courtyard and wards.
A 25-year-old woman told Mwatana:I was in the courtyard chatting with my friends before we heard the explosion of the first shell. I got anxious, then, so I decided to go in the ward to have rest. Suddenly, while I was inside the ward, I lost my hearing for a moment by another huge explosion in the courtyard where my friends were. I grabbed my head and laid down on the floor. I waited a little before I went out to see what had happened. It was a terrifying scene. My friends' limbs and body parts were scattered all over the courtyard. I saw a head with half a face and a leg cut away on the ground of the courtyard. We rushed to the building of the emergency doctor seeking help to rescue those who were still breathing.Around six minutes later, two more mortar shells hit the road leading to the Correctional Facility and behind it.“This was a horrible and unjustified attack. The perpetrators should be held to account, redress provided to victims, and steps taken to prevent the recurrence of such attacks," Al-Mutawakel said.Witnesses told Mwatana that they were unaware of any fighting in the area before they heard the explosions at the Central Prison Complex.Mwatana visited three hospitals in Taiz on April 6: Al-Thawra Hospital, Al-Buraihi Hospital, and Al-Safwa Hospital. Mwatana obtained figures on those wounded, as well as six death certificates for people killed in the attack, from hospital sources. Mwatana also visited the Central Prison Complex, interviewed three women prisoners, and examined the area surrounding the site of the attack. Mwatana was unable to enter the Women’s Correctional Facility, as it was closed by security personnel, but collected photographic evidence, including of the crater. On April 7, Mwatana visited Al-Buraihi Hospital again to follow up on two women who had been placed in the intensive care unit after the attack. The doctor on duty informed Mwatana the women had died of their injuries.Mwatana found weapons remnants in the crater made by the first shell and additional fragments that damaged the truck. According to a weapons expert's analysis, the remnants indicate the attack was either carried out using a mortar or other projectile.The first shell landed about 200 meters away from the outer fence of the six-building Social Welfare Compound, which houses juveniles, orphans, and those with disabilities. The Social Welfare Compound is about 300 meters away from the Women’s Correctional Facility. According to a document, of which Mwatana has a copy, the head of the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations to Human Rights (NCIAVHR), established by President Hadi, demanded on January 26, 2020 that the Taiz Military Axis commander—affiliated with the Hadi government—evacuate four of the six buildings of the Social Welfare Compound, which were being used by 17th-Mechanized Brigade Forces. A source told Mwatana that 17th-Mechanized and 145th Infantry Brigades had stationed military personnel in buildings in the Social Welfare Compound, and used them as an administrative office. By doing so, they unlawfully endangered the Compound. Mwatana was not able to determine if military personnel were present in the Compound at the time of the attack.International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks, including those not directed at a specific military objective or that use weapons that cannot be directed at a specific military objective. Weapons such as mortars, artillery, and rockets, when firing unguided munitions, are fundamentally inaccurate systems. Indiscriminate attacks may constitute war crimes when carried out with criminal intent. Explosive weapons so inaccurate they cannot be directed at military targets without a substantial risk to civilians should not be used in populated areas.All parties to the conflict in Yemen must take all feasible precautions to spare civilians under their control from the effects of attacks, including avoiding deploying forces in densely populated areas and to the extent feasible removing civilians in the vicinity of their military forces. Forces are prohibited from using civilians to shield military objectives or operations from attack. Forces carrying out attacks still have an obligation to take into account the risk to civilians even where opposing forces have put them at unnecessary risk.The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group has repeatedly indiscriminately shelled densely populated civilian areas in a number of Yemeni governorates, in Taiz in particular. In its report, “Chapters from Hell”, Mwatana documented dozens of indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Taiz. The warring parties in Taiz have used a range of weapons during fighting that has taken a significant toll on civilians throughout the conflict, including like Kalashnikovs, Heckler & Koch G3s, 14.5 mm weapons, 12.7 mm machine guns (DShK), 23 mm anti-aircraft weapons, 12.7 mm and 14.5 mm snipers, 40, 60, 82, and 120 mm mortar shells, defensive and offensive bombs, tanks, RPGs, 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, self-propelled and self-guided missiles, 57 mm cannons, B10 cannons, and BM-21 Grad rockets.Mwatana for Human Rights calls on the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group to immediately end indiscriminate attacks, cease their use of indiscriminate weapons, and take steps to provide redress to victims of unlawful attacks and hold perpetrators to account. Mwatana also calls on internationally recognized government forces to remove any forces stationed in or near civilian targets, and avoid deploying forces in densely populated areas.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
