Brussels, 13/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - “Appalled” by the reports of the death from serious injuries, including internal bleeding, of a young Yemeni girl sustained on her wedding night, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton has urged the Yemeni authorities to investigate this case “without delay”, and to prosecute all those responsible for this crime.
Ashton has called on the Yemeni government to re-instate legislation immediately - setting a minimum age for marriage, in line with international law, including the United Nations Conventions protecting children's rights (to which Yemen has signed up). “The onus is on the Yemeni authorities to put in place a legislative framework to counter practices which are patent violations of basic human rights and could result in horrific crimes”, Ashton stated. She added that “such a course of action is required to ensure consistency with the efforts being made by Yemen (…) to make progress on the path of reforms, modernisation and protection of human rights”.
An 8-year old Yemeni girl reportedly died the day after her wedding night following injuries sustained during sexual relations with her husband in his forties, a man originally from Saudi Arabia and to whom the young girl had apparently been sold, according to the Kuwait daily newspaper Al Watan. The local authorities have denied the information. (CG/transl.fl)