In
the category of crimes against humanity, the worst are those against
children, against, that is, the future. The Saudi War in Yemen (summed
up by Juan Cole below) is a vast and growing crime against children.
The famine there, aided and abetted by the Saudis (in a blockade and air
campaign that has been backed by Washington), may soon be the worst
we've seen on the planet in decades. And children will be hit the
hardest of all because they are the most vulnerable. Tom
"The
Saudi-led coalition is waging total war on Yemen in a bid to defeat the
guerrilla group, the Houthis or the Helpers of God. The Houthis took
power in Sanaa in fall of 2014 and consolidated it in early 2015. By
March-April, Saudi Arabia’s Muhammad Bin Salman, now the crown prince,
had ordered air strikes on the country that have continued to this day.
These strikes have been indiscriminate, hitting schools, hospitals,
apartment buildings and key civilian infrastructure like ports, bridges
and roads. Any one of these strikes is a war crime. In the aggregate
they become crimes against humanity.
The Houthi gang is also
guilty of war crimes, and of severe human rights violations and cannot
be held blameless in the unfolding devastation of Yemen. But the
Saudi-led war and the various forms of blockade Riyadh is imposing on
Yemen are far worse. The Houthis are a radical group deriving from Zaydi
tribes in Saadeh and other towns in rural north Yemen, who as Shiites
deeply resent Saudi proselytizing for hard line Salafi Sunnism in Yemen.
Houthi leaders have vowed to overthrow the House of Saud and have tried
to imitate the rhetorical style of Hizbullah in Lebanon. However,
Houthis are a local indigenous protest movement in Yemen, and are not a
proxy for Iran. Houthi weaponry is mostly American and Iran does not
give them much money or other support. The Saudis try to blame Iran for
the Houthi revolt in order to shift blame from their own aggressive
policies.
"These political considerations should not allow us to forget what is being done to Yemen children.
"Save the Children writes,
“Severe acute malnutrition is the most extreme and dangerous form
of undernutrition. Symptoms include jutting ribs and loose skin with
visible wasting of body tissue, or swelling in the ankles, feet and
belly as blood vessels leak fluid under the skin.”
* 130
children die every day in Yemen from extreme hunger and disease–one
child every 18 minutes. The Saudi blockade on ports such as Hudeida will
increase this death toll.
*This year, at least 50,000 children
are expected to die as indirect casualties of the war (if food cannot be
off-loaded at ports, and bridges are knocked out, children will die of
malnutrition).
* Nearly 400,000 children will need to be treated
for severe acute malnutrition in Yemen in the next twelve months. Aid
organizations are being actively interfered with in this work by the
Saudi blockade and bombing strikes.
* As a result of the Saudi
blockade, aid organizations like Save the Children will be out of food
and medicine stocks in the next two to three months.
* If left untreated some 20 to 30 percent of children with severe acute malnutrition will perish every year.
* It should be remembered that famines usually do not kill people
because there is no food at all. What happens is that the food becomes
too expensive for the poor to purchase. This situation now obtains in
Yemen and obviously the Saudi blockade, by obese princes who are
obviously getting three square meals a day, is driving up the price of
food for Yemenis.
* A shocking 10,000 children are likely to die in Taiz district and another 10,000 in the Hodeidah district this year.
"The aid organization concludes:
“Save the Children currently has five shipping containers full of
life-saving food for sick and malnourished children stuck in Aden
because of road closures. Our staff cannot reach communities to provide
life-saving care and much-needed supplies and relief workers cannot
enter the country. Essential medicines, fuel and food stocks could start
running out in a matter of weeks. It’s utterly unacceptable to let
children die of neglect and a lack of political will. Without urgent
action the future looks bleak.”
