Yemen: Alkarma and More Than 60 Groups Urge General Assembly to Establish New Investigative Mechanism

الجمعية العامة للأمم المتحدة

The United Nations General Assembly should act swiftly to establish an investigative mechanism to gather and preserve evidence of serious human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war in Yemen, a coalition of more than 60 organizations said today. Failure to act would not only be a vote for impunity in Yemen, it would be tantamount to a green light to commit further abuses and war crimes.

This step is urgently needed in light of the
failure of the UN Human Rights Council in October to renew the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts (GEE), which for more than four years had investigated and reported on rights abuses and other violations of international law by all parties to the Yemen conflict.

“The suffering already inflicted on civilians in Yemen demands this step to address impunity in the ongoing conflict and send a clear warning to perpetrators on all sides that they will be held accountable for war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law,” the groups said in a joint statement addressed to the General Assembly’s 193 member countries.

Member states should create a new standing investigative mechanism to demonstrate to the people of Yemen that the United Nations will not turn a blind eye to their suffering and that they support international accountability for crimes and abuses committed there. The Human Rights Council vote was the result of an aggressive lobbying campaign against the experts’ reporting by Saudi Arabia, backed by the United Arab Emirates, leaders of the military coalition in the Yemen conflict, and other allies. “The international community cannot stand by and allow that vote to be the last word on accountability efforts for abuses and war crimes in Yemen,” the organizations said.

The groups urged the UN General Assembly to establish an independent and impartial body that would investigate and publicly report on the most serious violations and abuses of international law committed in Yemen, while also collecting and preserving evidence and preparing files for possible future criminal prosecution.

“Such a strong mandate is required to ensure not only that the serious violations committed in Yemen be exposed to the world, but also that potential avenues of accountability for crimes under international law may be effectively exploited in the future to address impunity and provide effective redress to victims,” the groups said.

All parties to the conflict in Yemen have carried out widespread and systematic abuses, including killing and injuring tens of thousands of civilians, the organizations said. Since 2015, the Saudi and UAE-led coalition has conducted scores of unlawful airstrikes that have killed and injured civilians and destroyed or damaged homes, hospitals, schools, markets, and other civilian infrastructure, and has armed and supported local armed groups and militias that have committed serious abuses.

Houthi forces have fired mortars, rockets, and other missiles indiscriminately into heavily populated areas, including cities, in Yemen, and launched ballistic missiles indiscriminately at populated areas in Saudi Arabia. The warring parties have prevented life-saving humanitarian aid from reaching those who need it. The organizations said that the criminal conduct of all parties to the conflict has claimed many thousands of civilian lives and caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

This would not be the first time the General Assembly has taken bold action against widespread and persistent human rights abuses. In 2016 it created the
International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to collect, preserve, and analyze evidence of the most serious crimes under international law committed in Syria. In 2018, the Human Rights Council created a similar mechanism for Myanmar in the wake of the 2017 crimes against humanity and possible genocide committed against Rohingya Muslims.

Recognizing the urgent need for accountability in Yemen, dozens of UN member states have
already said that the international community should “actively explore further alternative mechanisms” for accountability in Yemen.

“The people of Yemen need justice,” the organizations said. “And justice begins with investigations and accountability. The time to act is now.”

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