The Deputy Foreign Minister and Expatriates Affairs Minister Abdul Wahid Abu Ras sent identical letters to the UN Secretary-General and the President of the UN Security Council regarding the Saudi attack on the Central Prison in Al-Jawf.
The letters were circulated to all UN member states, the European Union, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the UN Special Envoy for Yemen.
Abu Ras said that over the past three days, Saudi forces had carried out attacks on the provinces of Marib, Al-Bayda, Hodeidah, Taiz and Al-Jawf, committing several crimes, including the attack on the Central Prison in Al-Jawf on Monday, Sept. 7. The attack killed 17 inmates, including a visiting child, and injured seven others, including a female visitor. He said the toll was preliminary as rescue and search operations were still underway.
He described the attack as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law , basic humanitarian norms and values.
Abu Ras said the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure was further evidence of Saudi Arabia’s alleged violations against Yemen, citing attacks on houses, hospitals, schools, airports, factories, roads, bridges, farms, water tanks, markets and mosques.
He also accused Saudi Arabia of using starvation and collective punishment as weapons of war through an economic blockade, withholding salaries, closing Sana’a International Airport and restricting access to ports, which he said had contributed to a severe humanitarian crisis.
The deputy foreign minister called on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities, condemn the attack, pressure Saudi Arabia to end its attacks and lift the blockade on Yemen.
He concluded by affirming that the Yemeni people would continue what he described as a policy of confronting blockade with blockade and escalation with escalation to secure their rights, warning that alleged crimes against Yemenis would not go unanswered.
