06 September 2012

Yemen: Alkarama and HOOD organise a meeting with the families of the victims of the American drone attack of 2 December 2012

Alkarama's Yemen office, in cooperation with the National Organisation for Defending Rights and Freedoms "HOOD", organised today, Wednesday 5 September 2012, a meeting to hear the testimonies of the victims of the American drone attack on a civilian car in the Radaa area in the province of Bayda (170 Kilometres south east of the capital Sana) which took place last Sunday 2 September 2012. The raid killed 11 civilians including two children and two women.
The relatives of the victims spoke during the meeting about the magnitude of the tragedy caused by the American raid. They said that the injured survivors of the raid are still suffering and have not received any medical care from the government except for the first aid they received when they reached the Republican Hospital in Sana. Lawyer Abdel Rahman Barman of HOOD said that the Yemeni Government should provide the necessary medical care for the wounded, even if that meant sending them for treatment abroad.

Legal Coordinator of Alkarama in Yemen, Mohammad al-Ahmadi, said that it is very difficult to believe the claims of the Yemeni authorities that they are the ones who carry out attacks on moving ground targets, as they are certainly American attacks. He pointed out that American attacks are not limited to drone attacks but include other technically sophisticated military means of participating in combat duties in Yemen.

The tribal leader, Mr Ahmad Said al-Zahab, who is a resident of the Radaa area which was targeted by the shelling, said that justice and equality are the best guarantees of the safety of the community from terror, whether that was the terror of states that use planes, or the terror of groups that use explosive belts. He said that he had attempted to address the problems in the area, but "every time we reached an agreement, they sent us their planes." He added: "These planes are not only for espionage, but also for war."

Videos were played during the meeting which included scenes of the aftermath of the 2 September attack which targeted a civilian car and killed 11 Yemeni civilian citizens including two children and two women who were returning from hospital, and the others who were returning from the market. The video included short testimonies of the wounded who are now in the Republican Hospital. Witnesses also confirmed that the plane which fired the rockets was flying at such a low height that it could have easily recorded the most minute details of the target, distinguished between children and adults, and between civilians and armed men, yet it still targeted a civilian car with two rockets which were fired in quick succession.

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