News - Yemen: The International Human Rights Watch said that the United Nations should establish a new mechanism to investigate war crimes against Yemen, noting that Saudi Arabia and the UAE will fight hard to prevent such a mechanism from seeing the light of day. 

The organization indicated that last month the Netherlands’ ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) had “failed the people of Yemen” by rejecting the renewal of an investigation into alleged human rights abuses and war crimes there.

The organization stressed that the member states of the United Nations have an opportunity to correct this failure and establish a better mechanism as the conflict in Yemen continues to rage.

Last week, the Netherlands delivered a joint statement on behalf of 37 countries to the UN General Assembly voicing deep regret at the UNHRC’s failure to renew the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts (GoEE), which since 2017 has been investigating alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Yemen.

The statement urged UN member countries to “use all opportunities within the UN-system to assess facts on the ground in an impartial manner, and work towards accountability.”

In response, some two dozen mostly Arab governments endorsed a Saudi-drafted statement welcoming the demise of the GoEE.

The UNHRC could seek to create a new Yemen accountability mechanism at its next session in March. But why wait? The General Assembly could establish a standing independent and impartial investigative body that would not only report on alleged violations to UN member countries but also gather and preserve evidence and prepare cases for possible future prosecutions.

We owe it to the people of Yemen to try,” Human Rights Watch concluded.