The US, UK, and France may be involved in war crimes in Yemen, arming and providing intelligence and logistical support for a coalition led by Saudi Arabia that robs civilians of military tactics, the UN said, Reuters reported. 

UN investigators have compiled a secret list of potential international war crimes suspects based on their latest report of violations during the four-year conflict between the coalition of Arab states and the Houthis movement that controls the capital of Yemen.

Investigators discovered potential crimes on both sides, and also noted the role that Western countries play as key supporters of the Arab states, and Iran plays in supporting the rebels.

The report, the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, accused of killing civilians as a result of air-strikes, and deliberately denying them food. Suppliers, for their part, are accused of shelling cities, using child soldiers and “siege-like warfare”, it said.

A UN report said that its independent group sent a secret list to UN Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet with an indication of “individuals who may be responsible for international crimes”.

The annex lists the names of over 160 “main actors” among senior officials in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Yemen, as well as the Houthis movement.

“Individuals in the Government of Yemen and the coalition, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, may have conducted airstrikes in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution, and may have used starvation as a method of warfare, acts that may amount to war crimes,” it said. “The legality of arms transfers by France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other States remains questionable, and is the subject of various domestic court proceedings.”

UN investigators said they received reports that the emirates and related forces tortured, raped and killed political opponents held in secret institutions.