“Lack of accountability for serious crimes intensified in October when members of the UN Human Rights Council, under pressure from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, narrowly voted to end the mandate of the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, the only independent, international body documenting serious violations and abuses of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict,” it said.

 

The organization stated that: “When running for office, President Biden promised to “make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms or buy oil.” In the context of the Yemen conflict, fulfilling this promise may not be easy, but it is clear: In Biden’s own words, America must “end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.” 

 

“Unfortunately, the administration’s response to the recent escalation in the conflict has been to revert to the same failed playbook as previous administrations, risking further complicity in the Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) coalition’s violations,” it added.

 

According to the organization, the war on Yemen has devastated the lives of millions of people in Yemen over the past seven years, but the recent uptick in hostilities makes clear the deadly cost of broken promises. 

 

U.S. policymakers should take bold actions aimed at stopping the ongoing violations and support accountability in Yemen, it added.

 

Now, as the conflict enters its seventh year, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that it has caused the deaths of nearly a quarter-million people. In addition, more than half the population faces acute levels of food insecurity.

 

 

Early in the conflict, the U.S. began providing weapons, logistics and intelligence support to the Saudi- and UAE-led coalition.

 

For years, Human Rights Watch and other groups have documented serious abuses including more than 90 unlawful and indiscriminate airstrikes by the coalition against civilians that could amount to war crimes. 

 

Though U.S. law prohibits selling arms to abusive governments, consecutive administrations have authorized at least $36 billion in arms sales to the Saudi and UAE governments, based on publicly available data.

 

In doing so, the U.S. has chosen to ignore or enable serious international law violations, including possible war crimes, committed during the conflict. 

 

But; according to the organization, it isn’t too late for the Biden administration to prioritize human rights and accountability in Yemen.Human Rights Watch and other Yemeni and international groups have called upon the U.S. and its allies to halt arm sales to the coalition. 

 

If the Biden administration cannot or will not act, Congress needs to step in. Specifically, Congress should publicly and privately communicate to the administration that arms sales to the coalition should stop and that the Houthis should not be predesignated a “terrorist” group.