We will prosecute bin Salman, bin Zayed before ICC : Nobel Peace laureate Tawakkol Karman
Yemen, Sept 04: Yemen’s Nobel Peace laureate and activist Tawakkol Karman has said that the latest UN panel report on war crimes in Yemen constitutes a legal basis to prosecute Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Last week a UN mandated expert panel issued a report which said that members of the Yemeni government, Arab coalition forces particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and Houthi militants have “committed acts amounting to war crimes” in Yemen.
On Saturday the Saudi-led Arab coalition accepted responsibility for last month’s deadly air strike on a school bus that killed 40 children in the governorate of Saada, north of Sanaa.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Karman said the report has revealed a series of “horrific and unprecedented violations,” adding that the report “reflects only a small fraction of what the Houthis or the Arab coalition have done in Yemen”.
“Although the report is too small compared reality, it contained different types of crimes and named senior perpetrators,” she said.
Karman has denounced the continued sale of arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE despite reports which revealed that these weapons are used to kill Yemenis, stressing that those who sell arms to these countries contribute directly and indirectly to the killing of the Yemeni people.
“The Yemeni people reject the coup led by Houthis and Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen and also reject the treacherous coalition that came to occupy Yemen and steal its wealth led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE which did not come to the country to support legitimacy” Karman said.
Courtesy: www.middleeastmonitor.com
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
