Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen rebel-run prison kill over 100
Sanaa: Yemeni medics said on Monday they pulled dozens of bodies from the rubble of a Houthi rebel-run detention center that was hit a day earlier by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, killing over 100 people and wounding dozens.
It was the deadliest such attack so far this year in a stalemated four-year war that's claimed tens of thousands of lives, thrust millions to the brink of famine and spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The Saudi-led coalition, which has fought the Iran-backed Houthis since 2015, has faced international criticism for airstrikes that have hit schools, hospitals and wedding parties, killing thousands of civilians.
By the early afternoon, 86 bodies had been pulled from the ruins of a building complex in southwestern Dhamar province, originally a college but converted by the Houthi rebels to a detention center, Yemen's Red Crescent said.
There were around 170 detainees at the facility when the airstrikes hit on Sunday.
The International Committee for the Red Cross said 40 wounded were being treated for injuries while the rest were presumed dead, and that it would likely take days to recover all the bodies.
The facility was part of the local community college before the Houthis turned it into a detention center, one of dozens in areas under their control.
The Houthis said the detainees were captured forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognized government, and that both the Red Cross and the coalition knew detainees were being held there.
The Red Cross, which inspects detention centers as part of its global mission, said Sunday it had previously visited detainees at the site.
Col Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said in a televised press conference Monday it had bombed a "legitimate military target," and blamed the Houthis for using the former college as a detention center for Yemenis who were forcibly disappeared.
He said the Red Cross never told the coalition that there were detainees at the site, which he said was not on a UN-coordinated no-strike list. The UN provides the coalition with coordinates for locations such as hospitals, schools and official prisons to ensure they are not hit by airstrikes.
"The only known prion (in the area) is located 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the targeted site," he said.
Former detainee Mansour al-Zelai told The Associated Press that the Houthis were repairing weapons in and close to the detention center. Several other detainees said the same via posts to social media, and said the center had come under a series of airstrikes before.
Rights groups have also previously documented that the Houthis use civilian detainees as human shields by placing them in detention centers next to army barracks, under constant threat of airstrikes.
Local residents said the center also held their imprisoned family members, arrested for being critical of the Houthis.
The Abductees' Mothers Union, an association of female relatives of detainees jailed by the Houthis, said "dozens of abductees and people who were disappeared by force" elsewhere in Yemen had been brought to the center from other areas under rebel control.
The mothers' group said some detainees had died from torture in the center and called for an international investigation into Sunday's airstrikes and abuses against the detainees.
The Yemen UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed Sunday that 52 detainees were among the dead.
Bashir al-Dawrani, a spokesman for Yemen's Red Crescent in Dhamar, said the wounded had been taken to various hospitals in Dhamar and the capital, Sanaa. Dhamar is located around 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Sanaa.
Elsewhere in Yemen, security officials said clashes flared up in the oil-rich province of Shabwa between forces loyal to the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and southern separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates.
The fighting between the two sides a subplot within a broader narrative in which they are ostensibly allies in the Saudi-led coalition has added another layer to the complex civil war in the Arab world's most impoverished country.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, said government forces had blocked the southern separatists from taking control of the town of Azzan, a former stronghold for al-Qaida's Yemeni branch.
However, Hani Bin Braik, the deputy head of the secessionist leadership council, said its forces had captured the town. The differing accounts could not immediately be reconciled.
The past weeks have seen heavy fighting in Yemen's south between Saudi-backed and Emirati-backed forces.
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Supreme Court declines fresh curbs on hate speech, says existing laws are enough
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday refused to issue additional directions to curb hate speech across the country, holding that the existing legal framework is sufficient and that the real issue lies in implementation rather than absence of law.
A Bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta said creation of criminal offences falls within the legislative domain and courts cannot legislate or compel Parliament and state legislatures to enact laws.
The Bench observed that constitutional courts can interpret the law and issue directions for enforcement of fundamental rights, but cannot step into the law-making role.
“At the highest, the court may draw attention to the need for reform. The decision whether and in what manner to legislate remains within the exclusive domain of Parliament and the state legislatures,” the court said.
The court held that the field of hate speech is not legally vacant and said concerns arise mainly from poor enforcement of existing provisions.
It also noted that the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, provides a comprehensive mechanism to set criminal law in motion, meaning there is no legislative vacuum.
Referring to remedies already available under the earlier Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the BNSS, the court said police are duty-bound to register an FIR when a cognisable offence is disclosed, as laid down in the Lalita Kumari judgment.
It said if police fail to register an FIR, an aggrieved person can approach the Superintendent of Police under Section 154(3) of CrPC or Section 173(4) of BNSS, and thereafter move the magistrate under Section 156(3) CrPC or Section 175 BNSS, or file a private complaint under Section 200 CrPC or Section 223 BNSS.
The Bench further held that an order directing investigation under Section 156(3) CrPC does not amount to taking cognisance under Section 190 CrPC or the corresponding Section 210 of BNSS.
Even while declining fresh directions, the court acknowledged the seriousness of the issue.
It observed that hate speech and rumour-mongering directly affect fraternity, dignity and constitutional order.
The Bench urged legislative authorities to consider whether further policy or legal measures are needed in view of changing social challenges, including suggestions made in the 267th Report of the Law Commission in 2017.
The judgment came in a batch of petitions arising from events dating back to 2020, when multiple pleas were filed over alleged communal narratives spread through television channels and social media.
Among the earliest cases were challenges relating to content described as the “Corona Jihad” campaign and a programme aired by Sudarshan TV titled “UPSC Jihad”. During those proceedings, the court had restrained further telecast of the programme.
Later, more petitions were filed over speeches made at religious gatherings described as “Dharam Sansad” events.
These included pleas moved by journalist Qurban Ali and Major General S.G. Vombatkere seeking action against alleged hate speeches made at such forums.
During the pendency of the matter, the Supreme Court in 2023 had issued major directions asking all states and Union Territories to act proactively in cases involving communal hate speeches or remarks hurting religious sentiments.
It had directed police to register FIRs suo motu, without waiting for formal complaints.
Later, contempt petitions were also filed alleging poor implementation of those earlier directions.
