US fears accusations of war crimes after 140 killed in Yemen

The death of 140 people following airstrikes by a Saudi led coalition against Houthis in Yemen has raised fresh concerns over war crimes.

The Arab coalition announced that it will carry out an investigation into the bombings “immediately” with the support of US experts, but officials in Washington are deeply concerned that the US may be accused of being a “co-belligerent” in the war under international law.

According to records and emails obtained by Reuters, the US State Department is deeply sceptical of Saudi Arabia’s ability to carry out airstrikes against Houthis without killing civilians and destroying “critical infrastructure”.

Although government lawyers have not reached a conclusion on whether US support for the campaign would make the United States a “co-belligerent”.

One of the emails made a specific reference to a 2013 ruling from the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor that significantly widened the international legal definition of aiding and abetting such crimes.

The ruling found that “practical assistance, encouragement or moral support” is sufficient to determine liability for war crimes. Prosecutors do not have to prove a defendant participated in a specific crime, the UN-backed court found.

The documents, obtained by Reuters under the Freedom of Information Act, date from mid-May 2015 to February 2016, a period during which State Department officials reviewed and approved the sale of precision munitions to Saudi Arabia to replenish bombs dropped in Yemen.

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