UN Experts Report on Potential War Crimes by UAE and Saudi Arabia in Yemen

Three experts from the United Nations Human Rights Council state that the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia may be responsible for war crimes during the three-and-a-half-year civil war in Yemen, including aggression, torture, enforced disappearances, and deprivation of the right to life. In their first report to the UN Human Rights Council, these experts also mention the potential war crimes committed by Houthi rebels. They have collected and documented the damages caused by airstrikes from the Saudi-led military coalition, which has been the deadliest aspect of the conflict over the past year. The UN experts have urged the international community to refrain from selling and supplying weapons that may be used in this war, referencing countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom that assist the Saudi-led military coalition, as well as the Iranian government, which has been accused of arming the Houthi rebels. The experts traveled to various regions in Yemen to gather evidence and prepare this report. Part of the report states, 'We have credible evidence that leads us to believe that the governments of Yemen, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia are responsible for human rights violations.' These violations include deprivation of the right to life, unlawful detentions, aggression, torture, enforced disappearances, and child recruitment. The governments of Yemen, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia did not respond to the publication of this report on Tuesday. The UAE Foreign Minister tweeted, 'We must first review this report, assess its validity and documents, and see what it says about Houthi violence.' Saudi state media reported that the Saudi-led military coalition received the UN Human Rights Council report and has referred it to their lawyers for review before taking an appropriate position. Last year, the Associated Press reported that the UAE and its allied Yemeni militias operate a network of secret detention facilities over which the Yemeni government has no control. In another report published in June of this year, the same news agency revealed that hundreds of prisoners in these facilities have been subjected to rape and torture. The UN Human Rights Council experts also accuse the Houthi rebels, who control most of the densely populated areas in western and northern Yemen, of committing crimes including unlawful detention, torture, and child recruitment. Human rights groups have previously condemned the Houthis for landmining, attacking religious minorities, and detaining opponents. Kamal Jandoubi, a Tunisian human rights activist who heads this expert panel, stated that they have prepared a confidential list of individuals suspected of committing these crimes and submitted it to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday. The experts did not provide further information regarding the number and names of individuals and groups on this list. Since March of last year, the United Nations has announced that Yemen is experiencing the world's largest humanitarian crisis. According to this report, three-quarters of Yemen's 29 million population needs humanitarian assistance. The war has severely damaged the country's healthcare system, which last year facilitated the largest outbreak of cholera. Source: Associated Press; S.