Yemeni militiamen suspected of child rape — Amnesty

DUBAI: Children as young as eight have been raped in a besieged city in war-hit Yemen, Amnesty International said Monday, with militiamen among the suspected perpetrators.

Amnesty said it had documented evidence of the rape of three boys and the sexual assault of a fourth in the southwestern city of Taez, controlled by pro-government forces and surrounded by Yemeni rebels.

The families of the four boys, aged eight to 16, told Amnesty their sons had been assaulted over the past eight months, including at a mosque, but authorities in the area had not been responsive.

All four families reported the assaults to the Criminal Investigations Unit in Taez, Amnesty said. No legal measures had been taken.

“Rape and sexual assault committed in the context of an armed conflict are war crimes,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa director.

“Commanders who fail to stop such heinous acts can themselves be responsible for war crimes.”

The mother of an eight-yearold boy told Amnesty her son had been raped at least twice in 2018 at a mosque, each time by two men including the son of an Islahaffiliated imam.

Al-Islah is a Yemeni Islamist party with historic ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Saudi Arabia.

Medical reports reviewed by Amnesty showed the boy suffered impaired mobility and concussions as a result of assault.

The father of a 13-year-old boy reported his son had been raped by the same two men at the same mosque. — AFP