The Yemeni youth movement behind the months-long uprising against Ali Abdullah Saleh has called for the embattled president to face trial in the International Criminal Court. The youth movement said in a letter to the United Nations that at least 861 people have been killed and some 25,000 others wounded since January when mass anti-government demonstrations demanding Saleh’s resignation began. “We call on the UN to refer Saleh, his sons and his gang to the International Criminal Court for their crimes against peaceful protesters,” said the letter addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. They also called on the international community to freeze the bank accounts and assets of “Saleh, his family, and their supporters in the regime.”
The youth group, organisers of an anti-regime sit-in at the capital’s Change Square since February, have come under repeated attack by pro-Saleh forces but have so far refused to leave. Saleh has also refused to step down and hand power to his deputy, Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, despite continued calls to do so by the United States, the United Nations, and the leaders of the Gulf Arab nations. The youth group also called for an immediate halt to arms sales to Saleh’s regime. Although Washington has condemned Saleh’s harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters, it continues to support his regime in its fight against Al-Qaeda militants who have overrun some towns and cities in the southern provinces.
