HRW: Weapons used in Yemen 'indiscriminate by nature'

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dw.de/hrw-weapons-used-in-yemen-indiscriminate-by-nature/a-18425781



A BLU-108 canister with four submunitions still attached found in the al-Amar area in northern Yemen on April 17, 2015

HRW: Weapons used in Yemen 'indiscriminate by nature'
03.05.2015

Deutsche Welle: Human Rights Watch alleges the Saudi-led coalition has used US-supplied cluster bombs in its attacks on Yemen's Shiite rebels, although Saudi Arabia has denied using these weapons. Can you tell us what evidence HRW has gathered?

Belkis Wille: A few weeks ago, footage was posted online by a predominantly Houthi outlet that showed parachutes landing from an airstrike, and the parachutes were delivering mechanisms for a weapon. We saw the footage and were immediately concerned because the types of parachutes and the way they were landing looked very much like a type of cluster munitions that we know the Saudis purchased from an American company in 2013. A few days later we received photographs showing the actual remnants of the munitions on the ground. This was able to help us further identify what we had seen in the footage. We used satellite imagery to verify that the footage was indeed taken in Yemen from the area where it was said to be taken.

The reason this was so important is because under customary international law, you cannot use cluster munitions in an area inhabited by civilians. We were able to identify from satellite imagery that there are in fact four to six villages in the vicinity of where the film was shot.

How significant is it that these cluster munitions were supplied by the US?

First and foremost, it is a violation of US government policy, which says they cannot sell cluster munitions to countries that will use those munitions in civilian populated areas. However, the purchasing of these weapons happened well before the current conflict that we have today, and as we understand it, the Saudi-led coalition is the one to have used these cluster munitions. The US is a supporter of the coalition, but not a direct member, so it's unclear to what extent the US actually had a role in this specific strike.