DOCTORS from the scene of violent anti-government protests in Yemen's capital said that what was thought to be tear gas fired by government forces on demonstrators may have been nerve gas, which is forbidden under international law.
Military personnel opened fire on Tuesday night and used what was originally assumed to be tear gas to disperse a group of demonstrators who were trying to bring additional tents into the protest area outside Sanaa University.
At least two people were killed in a fresh round of clashes across the country, where anti-regime protests have been raging since late January, medical and security officials said.
One protester died of gunshot wounds early Wednesday when police opened fire on student demonstrators near the university in the capital Sanaa overnight, a medical official said.
According to witnesses, the soldiers fired warning shots into the air before shooting gas - and in some cases live bullets - into the crowd, killing one and injuring at least 50.Earlier reports indicated that the gas used was tear gas, but doctors who have been treating the wounded refuted that claim today.
"The material in this gas makes people convulse for hours. It paralyses them. They couldn't move at all. We tried to give them oxygen but it didn't work," said Amaar Nujaim, a field doctor who works for Islamic Relief.
"We are seeing symptoms in the patient's nerves, not in their respiratory systems. I'm 90 per cent sure its nerve gas and not tear gas that was used," said Sami Zaid, a doctor at the Science and Technology Hospital in Sanaa.
Mohammad Al-Sheikh, a pathologist at the same hospital, said that some of the victims had lost their muscular control and were forced to wear diapers.
"We have never seen tear gas cause these symptoms. We fear it may be a dangerous gas that is internationally forbidden," Al-Sheikh said.
15 comments:
I learned something new with this article. I had no idea that using nerve gas was against international law. This sounds like an awful situation in Yemen. Because it isn't talked about as much as the revolt in Libya, I keep forgetting there is a revolt in Yemen. The effects that the gas causes sound awful and the government should be punished for using the gas. Hopefully the situation in Yemen will improve. The Yemeni (that is what spell check says) people deserve the government they want and to not have to worry about being physically harmed by the government.
Well obviously the government will face serious attacks from this incident. But the fact that their using live rounds at demonstrations shows how serious they are. The use of a nerve agent was probably intentional but I'm sure they'll face serious legal problems internationally because I would imagine the use of nerve agents used on civilians or even in war is against some article in the Geneva Convention.
The fact that Yemeni police have begun using nerve gas on crowds is quite disconcerting. While it may indicate that they are aware of their slackening grasp, I fear it does mean that they will not abdicate peacefully. Hopefully international awareness of the situation and denunciation of the government might work to protect the protesters fighting for their freedom.
I think that the protesters were treated wrong. It's not like they were having a riot. They were simply protesting against the government and the government's rules. I especially don't agree with the live bullets that were shot into the crowd. Rubber bullets are already bad enough but to shoot real one into a crowd of innocent people and actually have killed one is going too far.
This seems a little bit of an extreme method to disperse a crowd of protesters. I feel like it doesn't take tear gas and bullets to get a group to leave. If this doctors diagnosis of his patients is correct then I think it is safe to say that it was actually nerve gas not tear gas. This just goes to show that countries do have forbidden weapons and if they are willing to use them on their own people I can only imagine what they would do to other nations. It seems like there needs to be some sort of check for these weapons. I dont know how you would go about it but it seems that some sort of action should be taken.
I feel that the protesters should be able to peacefully show their opinions. Only if the protesters get violent or cause major problems, should they be forcefully removed. But even then, the range of force should not get to gunshot, tear gas, or especially nerve gas. Their government needs to take a second look at how to handle these protesters, because taking up arms against their own people is not the way.
The use of nerve gas is an atrosity which cannot go oerlooked. While there is speculation as to whether it was tear gas or nerve gas, when a doctor says he has never seen tear gas cause the types of symptoms which he is observing, then obviously something is up. Nerve Gas has incredibly adverse effects which can easily lead to death, and the use of it has been banned for a reason! Tear gas works just fine when breaking up rights, there is also water hosing, riot shield blockades, and beanbag cannons. There should have been no need for live fire and nerve gas!
There is a bigger problem than crowd control here if the anti-government protesters were hit with nerve gas. Because nerve gas is forbidden under international law, Yemen's government forces may have crossed an international boundary if the nerve gas has indeed been used. Controlling a violent protest through tear gas is one thing, but disregarding international law by using nerve gas is another thing entirely and should not be tolerated.
As bad as protests seem to officials, what they are is an attempt to be heard. No matter how bad the protests get, as long as the protesters aren't using weapons against law enforcement, harm should not be done to them. The nerve gas shouldn't have been used, since it has such negative effects on the body.
This is a horrible thing that is taking place and the U.S. should do something about it. It is good to see that these people are not giving up and are still fighting for there freedom. however it is disgusting what the government is doing. the government should face penalty since they broke a international law by using nerve gas.
Someone should really crack down on this nerve gas stuff. I mean people are back in diapers for the first time since they were two or three. And nobody likes to be parlyzed...
While it would be completely ridiculous if nerve gas was used on the crowd, it's not entirely surprising. People do irrational things during times of revolt, and that doesn't apply only to those revolting.
It is very scary to think of the extemes soldiers have gone through in the situation to simply stop protesters. I can understand the need to calm down a goup of roudy protesers, but not to a measure this severe. It is no wonder people of foreign nations are always bombing or shooting at soldiers in their country if soldiers are putting this bad publicity on themselves. I simply think it is a matter of control by the government to try and prevent these issues from taking place.
Nerve gas is a horrible thing. It causes death in a slow and painful manner. Whoever allowed this to happen should be ashamed. Government should always be working in the people's favor, and although it doesn't always work that way government should have a do no harm motto. Yemen has a long way to go.
The government has gone too far. If the govt. is going to do something about the protests against the corruption in the govt. it has to do so without breaking laws. Doing this just furthers the cause of the protesters. I dont know why they were shooting live bullets, maybe the protesters were actually doing something that warranted that, but nerve gas?
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