\n London-based lawyers representing victims of Yemen's ongoing conflict on Monday called for an International Criminal Court investigation into alleged war crimes by pro-government forces.\n<\/p>\n
\n Yemen's internationally recognised government has been locked in battle with Iran-backed Huthi rebels since 2014.\n<\/p>\n
\n A Saudi-led military coalition intervened the following year to support the government, shortly after the Huthis seized the capital Sanaa.\n<\/p>\n
\n Since then, the insurgents have taken control of much of the north, with tens of thousands -- mostly civilians -- killed in the conflict and millions displaced.\n<\/p>\n
\n The United Nations has described the situation as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, while UN experts have accused both sides of war crimes.\n<\/p>\n
\n On Monday, Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers said it submitted evidence to the ICC to back allegations of coalition war crimes and crimes against humanity.\n<\/p>\n
\n The lawyers, who made the submission on behalf of hundreds of survivors and relatives of those killed, called for the investigation of three incidents, according to a statement.\n<\/p>\n
\n These include a 2016 coalition air strike that killed 140 people at a funeral in Sanaa, and a 2018 air strike on a school bus in northern Yemen that killed at least 40 children.\n<\/p>\n
\n The coalition has admitted that \"mistakes\" were made, and said it would put on trial military personnel suspected of being behind strikes on civilians, including the school bus strike.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"At the time of the attack the coalition claimed they would investigate and hold the perpetrators to account. Of course, they did no such thing,\" Almudena Bernabeu, co-founder of Guernica 37, said in the statement.\n<\/p>\n
\n Neither Yemen nor Saudi Arabia are parties to the ICC's founding Rome Statute.\n<\/p>\n
\n Of the countries making up the coalition, only Jordan has ratified the statute.\n<\/p>\n
\n The ICC has no obligation to consider complaints filed to the prosecutor by individuals or groups.\n<\/p>\n
\n The prosecutor can decide independently what cases to submit to judges at the court, and judges then decide whether to allow a preliminary investigation by the prosecutor, which can then be followed by a formal investigation, and if warranted, charges.\n<\/p>\n
\n In the majority of cases such complaints do not lead to investigations, according to the ICC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
London-based lawyers representing victims of Yemen's ongoing conflict on Monday called for an International Criminal Court investigation into alleged war crimes by pro-government forces. Yemen's internationally recognised government has been locked in battle with Iran-backed Huthi rebels since 2014. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened the following year to support the government, shortly after the Huthis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-81312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n