SAUDI CROWN
PRINCE UNDER
INVESTIGATION
Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Context
Ongoing investigation in France
for torture and inhuman treatment
committed during the Yemen war
On 24 November 2018, the Argentine
authorities received a complaint from
Human Rights Watch for his alleged
responsibility in war crimes committed
in Yemen, as well as alleged torture
against Saudi citizens. Mohammed
bin Salman arrived in Buenos
Aires for the G20 Summit on 28
November 2018.
Current status
Under investigation
Suspect
Facts
Crown prince and deputy prime
minister of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia
On 25 March 2015, an international
coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched
air strikes against the armed group of
Houthis in Yemen, triggering a major
armed conflict. For three years now,
Yemen has been ravaged by a war that
has already killed more than 10,000
people, half of whom are civilians.
Country of residence
of suspect
Saudi Arabia
Charges
Torture and inhuman treatment
Developments in
2018
On 9 April 2018, while Mohammed
bin Salman was in France on a
personal visit, the Yemeni human
rights group Legal Center for Rights
and Development (LCRD) lodged a
complaint against him with the French
specialized unit for the prosecution of
genocide, crimes against humanity,
war crimes and torture within the
Paris High Court (hereinafter “the
specialized unit”). The complaint
alleges that Mohammed bin Salman
bears complicity in acts of torture
and inhuman treatment committed
by Saudi forces in Yemen since 2015.
A judge should be designated to
investigate the case.
Mohammed
bin
Salman
was
appointed Minister of Defense on 23
January 2015. One of his first acts
was to launch the military campaign
in Yemen along with other Arab states.
UN bodies and human rights groups
have denounced the widespread
violations of human rights and
humanitarian law committed in
Yemen. Alleged violations include
deliberately targeting civilians, the
use of illegal cluster-munitions,
indiscriminate airstrikes and a naval
blockade that deprived civilians of
access to basic necessities.
The complaint alleges that certain
attacks on civilian targets constitute
violations of the 1984 Convention
against Torture. These include the
destruction of an Oxfam warehouse
containing humanitarian supplies
on 18 April 2015; airstrikes on a
wedding ceremony on 28 September
2015, which killed 131 civilians; the
26 October 2015 attack on an MSF
hospital, the GPS coordinates of which
29
were known to the coalition; and the
bombing of a funeral hall in Sana’a
on 8 October 2016, which resulted in
dozens of civilian casualties.
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