NYN | News
In a move that reveals the alliance of international powers granting perpetrators a free pass from sanctions, the Paris Court of Appeal has definitively closed the door to efforts aimed at holding Saudi and Emirati officials accountable for alleged crimes committed during the aggression against Yemen. This came after the court rejected two lawsuits filed in 2018 and 2021, accusing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as well as former military leaders, of involvement in war crimes and financing terrorism during the years of war ignited by Saudi Arabia and the UAE against Yemen.
According to a source cited by the AFP news agency, the French court’s rejection was based on procedural arguments, such as France’s lack of jurisdiction to adjudicate the case and the inadmissibility of the “Legal Center for Rights and Development,” a Yemeni organization based in Sana’a, despite presenting compelling evidence, including UN reports, documents, and testimonies published in international investigative journalism.
The complaints included allegations of torture, enforced disappearances, and financing destructive military operations that targeted civilians.
On his part, the victims’ lawyer, Joseph Breham, expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision, calling it “contrary to international humanitarian law obligations,” in reference to the international community’s failure to hold the coalition countries, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, accountable. These countries intervened militarily in 2015 under the pretext of supporting a Yemeni government opposed by the people, which led to the escalation of the war and the worsening of the humanitarian disaster, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties and the destruction of Yemen’s infrastructure.
It is worth mentioning that the second complaint, which was rejected last March, was filed on behalf of eight Yemenis and local human rights organizations, as part of an effort to break the impunity enjoyed by the coalition powers, while Sana’a and its people continue to bear the consequences of the siege and aggression, which are carried out with direct Western support.
This judicial rejection adds to a series of difficulties faced by efforts to achieve justice for the victims of the aggression, amid accusations of political bias and double standards by international organizations in dealing with human rights violations in Yemen. Meanwhile, UN documents highlight clear evidence of serious violations committed by coalition forces, but Western courts have remained inactive in investigating them, as the accused sit atop the oil thrones.
