The Netherlands on Wednesday withdrew the draft of a resolution supported by mainly Western countries mandating the High Commissioner for Human Rights to send experts to conduct an investigation into the conduct of the war in Yemen.
The resolution came out of a key recommendation made by the High Commissioner in his report on the conflict in Yemen earlier this month, which detailed the extensive loss of civilian life in Yemen resulting from indiscriminate airstrikes by the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the indiscriminate shelling by Houthi rebels.
In addition to an international independent inquiry, the resolution called for parties to the conflict to allow access for humanitarian groups into the conflict zone.
However, reportedly following pressure from Saudi Arabia and its military coalition members, Netherlands withdrew the resolution and instead, Western governments are reported to have accepted a resolution sponsored by Saudi Arabia with no reference to an international inquiry into the conflict.
The new resolution instead calls for the Office of the High Commissioner, “to provide technical assistance and to work with the Government of Yemen, as required, in the field of capacity-building and to identify additional areas of assistance to enable Yemen to fulfill its human rights obligations," and supports a national commission of inquiry appointed by exiled Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, whose government is supported by Saudi Arabia and is party to the ongoing war.
“The result is a lost opportunity for the council and a huge victory for Saudi Arabia, protecting it from scrutiny over laws of war violations which will probably continue to be committed in Yemen,” said Philippe Dam, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Geneva, to the New York Times.
The new consensus resolution is scheduled to be voted on later this week at the UN Human Rights Council.
The resolution came out of a key recommendation made by the High Commissioner in his report on the conflict in Yemen earlier this month, which detailed the extensive loss of civilian life in Yemen resulting from indiscriminate airstrikes by the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the indiscriminate shelling by Houthi rebels.
In addition to an international independent inquiry, the resolution called for parties to the conflict to allow access for humanitarian groups into the conflict zone.
However, reportedly following pressure from Saudi Arabia and its military coalition members, Netherlands withdrew the resolution and instead, Western governments are reported to have accepted a resolution sponsored by Saudi Arabia with no reference to an international inquiry into the conflict.
The new resolution instead calls for the Office of the High Commissioner, “to provide technical assistance and to work with the Government of Yemen, as required, in the field of capacity-building and to identify additional areas of assistance to enable Yemen to fulfill its human rights obligations," and supports a national commission of inquiry appointed by exiled Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, whose government is supported by Saudi Arabia and is party to the ongoing war.
“The result is a lost opportunity for the council and a huge victory for Saudi Arabia, protecting it from scrutiny over laws of war violations which will probably continue to be committed in Yemen,” said Philippe Dam, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Geneva, to the New York Times.
The new consensus resolution is scheduled to be voted on later this week at the UN Human Rights Council.