Civilian deaths and injuries in Yemen's civil war have almost doubled since UN human rights monitors were controversially removed in October, a non-governmental organization said on Thursday. The ejection of monitors had opened the door to "unchecked, horrific violations," the Norwegian Refugee Council said, urging their reinstatement. It said 823 civilians were killed or injured in the four months before the end of monitoring, and 1,535 in the four months after their departure. The report added that civilian casualties caused by air strikes, a tactic favored by the Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed Huthi rebels, had multiplied by 39 in the same period.
"The removal of this crucial human rights investigative body took us back to unchecked, horrific violations," country director Erin Hutchinson said in a statement. "Who is responsible for the deaths of these children and families? We will probably never know because there is no longer any independent, international and impartial monitoring of civilian deaths in Yemen." The UN Human Rights Council voted to disband its Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen in October, in a move that was strongly criticized by human rights groups. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed directly or indirectly in Yemen's seven-year war, while millions have been displaced in what the UN calls the world's biggest humanitarian crisis.
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