Originally posted to The Middle East Monitor website, 15 September 2021
Saudi Arabia has rejected the findings of a report prepared by a group of regional and international experts on Yemen, which accused all parties to the conflict of violating human rights, and said it was “politicised and not impartial”.
This came in a speech delivered by the kingdom’s permanent representative to the Un in Geneva, Abdulaziz Al-Wasel, yesterday, during an interactive dialogue session held by the United Nations Human Rights Council to discuss the fourth annual report on Yemen.
Al-Wasel said: “Saudi Arabia rejects the mandate of the team charged with following up on the situation in Yemen and does not recognise its politicised reports and outcomes that were reached through biased tools and unreliable sources.”
The official SPA news agency quoted Al-Wasel as saying: “The team’s practices and reports certainly indicate a lack of impartiality.”
“The Kingdom was subjected to missile attacks by the terrorist Houthi militia, targeting citizens and vital infrastructure, but the team stated that these attacks are of a military nature.”
“Does the team, with its biased monitoring of a dark terrorist coup militia, actually wish to contribute to solving the Yemeni crisis, or to encourage the militias to continue their coup?” he asked.
UN: 18,000 Yemen civilians killed, wounded in air strikes since 2015
In its fourth report to the Human Rights Council, the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen presented its findings on serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed by the parties to the conflict in Yemen. The report titled “A nation abandoned: A call to humanity to end Yemen’s suffering” was released on 8 September and covers the period from July 2020 to June 2021.
The report highlighted “humanitarian restrictions as well as obstacles to access to food and healthcare, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, gender-based violence, including sexual violence, torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, denial of fair trial rights, violations of fundamental freedoms, persecution and violations against journalists, human rights defenders, minorities, migrants, internally displaced persons and violation of children’s rights.”
These, it said, were carried out by “all parties to the conflict, with violations committed by the Government of Yemen, the southern transitional council, members of the coalition and the de facto authorities.”
Going on to “call for third States to stop providing arms and military support to the parties given the role of such transfers in perpetuating the conflict and potentially contributing to violations.”
Link to the original post: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210915-saudi-rejects-un-report-on-abuses-in-yemen/
