London-based human rights lawyers, representing victims of Yemen’s civil war, called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) Monday to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the civil war.

Attorney and co-founder of Guernica 37, Toby Cadman, submitted evidence Monday of three alleged war crimes where over 140 individuals, including children, were killed and sometimes tortured. These separate incidents include an August 2018 airstrike that destroyed a school bus, a missile attack in October 2016, and torture and murder of individuals in prisons. The evidence came from survivors and their relatives.

The conflict in Yemen began in 2015 when Houthi rebels ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and took over the capital Sanaa. Saudi Arabia and other Arab States then began an airstrike campaign to restore the original government. The Houthis are largely Zaidi Shia Muslims, a minority branch of Shia Islam, and are said to be backed by Shia-majority Iran. Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia allegedly wanted rid the region of Iran’s influence. Iran has stated they support the Houthis but denied giving them military support. The conflict is ongoing and has resulted in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

In September 2020, a UN group of experts called on the UN Security Council to refer international human rights violations and war crimes committed in the ongoing Yemen conflict to the ICC. Currently, the ICC has 14 ongoing investigations, including in Afghanistan and Myanmar. However, the ICC has not yet opened an investigation of war crimes allegedly committed during the Yemen civil war.

After filing the information, Guernica 37 has said that it is considering the possibility of issuing international arrest warrants against the military leaders and bringing class actions against them in the UK and US.