The spokesman for the coalition forces, Brigadier General Turki Al-Maliki, said that, in addition to the statement issued by the Joint Forces Command of the coalition on (January 22, 2022) regarding the Iranian-backed terrorist Houthi militia’s claim that the coalition targeted a prison in the city of Saada, and what was announced by the Joint Incidents Assessment Team on (January 27, 2022), which includes initiating investigation procedures and collecting all information and documents related to the matter. The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will provide all facts and detailed information to the Joint Incident Assessment Team, as well as to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen and the International Committee of the Red Cross, related to the Houthi militia’s claim that the coalition targeted a prison in Saada.
Brigadier Al-Maliki explained that “there are 4 sites on the list of non-targeting of the Joint Forces Command of the coalition as prisons in the city of (Saada) and they are used by the terrorist Houthi militia, and that the nearest prison is located at a distance of 1.8 km from the site in question, and the target site is “Security Camp”. “Saada, which is a legitimate military target by its nature and its military use by the terrorist Houthi militia, as well as its support for the military effort with hostile operations and launching cross-border attacks to target civilians and civilian objects.”
Brigadier General Al-Maliki added that “what was announced and published by the terrorist Houthi militia in its media is an attempt to mislead public opinion about the real activity of the site, and an attempt to win the sympathy of international organizations and international NGOs.”
And Brigadier General Al-Maliki indicated that “arranging is underway to invite the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen and the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the headquarters of the joint forces of the coalition to inform them of the reality of the activity of the military site in question, to discuss the misleading Houthi narrative, and to request the exchange of information available to them, according to the data issued by some organizations, by visiting the site.” The subject of the allegation, as the coalition was not notified or received any request to be included on the non-targeting lists from any UN organization or international non-governmental organization, and the coalition did not prove the existence of any signs of discrimination according to the provisions and provisions of international humanitarian law.
Brigadier General Al-Maliki stressed that “the leadership of the joint forces of the coalition applies the highest standards of targeting and international best practices in the targeting mechanism and rules of engagement, and in the event of any allegations, it is considered and taken seriously in accordance with the internal mechanism led by the joint forces of the coalition and in accordance with international humanitarian law and its customary rules. Stressing that the terrorist Houthi militia bears full responsibility in the event that civilians are used as human shields in their military sites or in violation of the provisions of international humanitarian law related to detention centers contained in Article (23) of the Third Geneva Convention, and paragraph (2c) of Article (5) of Additional Protocol II of the Geneva Convention.