Yemeni Govt Condemns Houthi Bombing of School in Hajjah

Houthi drone downed by the Yemeni army in Marib (Military media)
Houthi drone downed by the Yemeni army in Marib (Military media)
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Yemeni Govt Condemns Houthi Bombing of School in Hajjah

Houthi drone downed by the Yemeni army in Marib (Military media)
Houthi drone downed by the Yemeni army in Marib (Military media)

The Houthi militia in Yemen continued its violations by bombing a school in Hajjah governorate, left a child dead and two others injured, according to official sources.

Yousef Abdoh Bishi, 11, was killed in the Houthi drone attack on the school in the al-Deir village.

The Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, Moammar al-Eryani, condemned the attack in the strongest terms, warning that the terrorist Houthi militia's targeting of the school reaffirmed its disregard for calls and efforts for peace.

The Yemeni minister urged the international community, including the UN and US envoys and human rights organizations to condemn this heinous crime and classify it as a war crime and crime against humanity.

He called for the prosecution and accountability of Houthis leaders and elements behind the attack, including those on international terrorist lists.

UNICEF reported that more than 11,000 children have now been killed or maimed due to the conflict in Yemen, an average of four a day since the escalation of the conflict in 2015.

According to a report, the United Nations confirmed that 3,774 children were killed, and 3,995 children, including 91 girls, were recruited into fighting.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms documented more than 127,000 Houthi violations, which caused the death and injury of about 48,000 civilians over eight years.

In a report issued on Human Rights Day, the Network reported the death and injury of 9,808 civilians, including 1,388 children, by Houthi mines since their coup against legitimacy.

It accused the militias of arresting and kidnapping 16,804 civilians, including 4,201, who are still in detention.

The report stated that 1,317 citizens were still forcibly disappeared, including 84 women and 76 children, in Houthi prisons, and revealed that 671 abductees were killed inside prisons.

The Network for Rights and Freedoms held the international community and the Security Council responsible for protecting Yemenis from Houthi terrorism and demanded that the group be quickly classified on the terrorist list.

It also called on the international community and the Security Council to subject the group to United Nations and Security Council resolutions, human rights treaties and charters, and international humanitarian law.



International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor Meets with Syrian Leader in Damascus

This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, shows Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) meeting with International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan in Damascus on January 17, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, shows Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) meeting with International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan in Damascus on January 17, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
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International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor Meets with Syrian Leader in Damascus

This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, shows Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) meeting with International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan in Damascus on January 17, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, shows Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) meeting with International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan in Damascus on January 17, 2025. (SANA / AFP)

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan made an unannounced visit Friday to Damascus to confer with the leader of Syria’s de facto government on how to ensure accountability for alleged crimes committed in the country.

Khan's office said he visited at the invitation of Syria’s transitional government. He met with Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of Syria’s new administration and the foreign minister to discuss options for justice in The Hague for victims of the country's civil war, which has left more than half a million dead and more than six million people displaced.

Assad, who fled to Russia in December, waged an oppressive campaign against anyone who opposed him during his more than two decades in power.

Rights groups estimate at least 150,000 people went missing after anti-government protests began in 2011, most vanishing into Assad’s prison network. Many of them were killed, either in mass executions or from torture and prison conditions. The exact number remains unknown.

The global chemical weapons watchdog found Syrian forces were responsible for multiple attacks using chlorine gas and other banned substances against civilians.

Other groups have also been accused of human rights violations and war crimes during the country’s civil war.

The new authorities have called for members of the Assad regime to be brought to justice. It is unclear how exactly that would work at this stage.

Syria is not a member of the ICC, which has left the court without the ability to investigate the war. In 2014, Russia and China blocked a referral by the United Nations Security Council which would have given the court jurisdiction. Similar referrals were made for Sudan and Libya.

Khan's visit comes after a trip to Damascus last month by the UN organization assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria. The International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria was created to assist in evidence-gathering and prosecution of individuals responsible for possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide since Syria’s civil war began in 2011.

The group's head, Robert Petit, highlighted the urgency of preserving documents and other evidence before they are lost.