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‘Biased ICC ignoring war crimes of US allies’

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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has declared that the health situation in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a is dire as hospitals run out of medicine. According to a new report by UNICEF, some 71 cholera cases have been confirmed in 11 governorates and at least 7.6 million people are at risk, nearly 40 percent of them being children under 15. Meanwhile, another UN agency, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of alarming levels of hunger in Yemen. Press TV has asked a commentator why Saudi Arabia and its supporters are not prosecuted for their war crimes in Yemen.

Edward Corrigan, a human rights attorney, told Press TV’s Top 5 program that the United States and its allies are using the International Criminal Court (ICC) to go after independent politicians, while the Western front has not been prosecuted for its war crimes.

“The International Criminal Court is very much a politically-biased body and it bows to the wishes of the West and it is not really acting as a way [expected] to prosecute criminals and war criminals and to protect innocent civilians, particularly women and children,” Corrigan said.

He criticized the double-standard attitude in the ICC on prosecuting war criminals, saying, “When the United States, Great Britain or their allies commit atrocities, these are just ‘collateral damage’ and they’re not intentional war crimes.”

“But when people who are easy targets or there are political reasons to target them like various strongmen in Africa, they will go after them and prosecute them at the highest levels in the international courts,” he added.

He described the targeting of the civilian population in Yemen as “collective punishment” and “a war crime” as far as international law in concerned.

Referring to the reason behind the Western powers’ support for the Saudi aggression against Yemen, he said, “The biggest problem is that Britain and the United States and a few other countries, including Germany and France, are making a lot of money by providing arms and equipment to the Saudis.”

More than 11,000 civilians have been killed in the 20-month Saudi war on Yemen, which is one of the Arab world’s poorest countries.

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