UN Fails to Launch Independent Probe into Yemen War Crimes

Or, why the UN is rapidly making itself

obsolete and redundant

Abduljabbar Zeyad / Reuters

An EU-backed resolution demanding an independent inquiry into human rights violations during the Yemeni war has been withdrawn at the UN Human Rights Council. Instead, to activists’ discontent, a weakened “reasonable compromise” text has been adopted.

A “strong” resolution submitted by Slovenia and backed by 21 other EU states failed at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Tuesday, September 27. EU members had requested an “independent” international inquiry “to monitor and report on the situation of human rights in Yemen, on violations and abuses thereof since September 2014.”

 As a result of days of behind-the-scenes talks, an updated and far milder “compromise” version of the resolution drawn up by Sudan on behalf of African Group was adopted without a vote on Thursday.

The resolution now calls for the allocation of “additional international human rights experts to its Yemen programme in coordination with the Government of Yemen” and the assurance that “the National Commission investigates allegations of violation and abuse committed by all parties to the conflict.”

Abduljabbar Zeyad‘Utter disregard for civilian life’: MSF slams Saudi airstrikes on Yemen hospitals
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who has long been calling for an independent investigation, will also have to prepare an oral report on the situation in Yemen for the human rights council’s next meeting, the text of the resolution says.

Some welcomed the resolution, calling it “a step in the right direction,” as John Fisher of Human Rights Watch in Geneva described it, according to AFP. Vojislav Suc, Slovenia’s representative to the UN in Geneva, said the text is a “good and reasonable compromise.”

The proposed increase in the number of international experts was also welcomed by the Save the Children group, that, however, noted that “they [experts] need to establish all the facts around reported violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, which are destroying the lives of Yemeni children and their families.”

However, other rights groups such as Amnesty International have described the Yemeni National Commission as one-sided and lacking impartiality. Another fact that adds to concerns over the matter is that the Yemeni government has now basically been put in the position of investigating itself. The group called the compromise a “shameful” deal designed to please Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition of nine Arab states participating in the Yemeni conflict, and has often been accused of bombing civilian targets. It has been staunchly against the international probe, with some human right groups saying the decision to decline the bid for an independent inquiry could have been made under pressure.

The approved resolution “puts Saudi Arabia’s desire for impunity above the need to protect the people of Yemen,” said Salma Amer, the UN advocacy officer at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, as cited by AFP.

This is not the first decision UN has made that seemingly plays into the hands of Saudi Arabia. In June the kingdom was surprisingly removed from the UN’s blacklist of counties violating children’s rights in armed conflicts. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon later admitted that his arm was twisted and he received threats from a number of countries. Ban did not specifically mention Saudi Arabia, but admitted his decision was made under pressure. 

Is the UN becoming a puppet of Saudi Arabia? How else could they get away with bombing hospitals, killing children and MSF doctors. The same thing is happening in Syria with Assad and, apparently, Russians doing some of the bombing. There should be zero tolerance for such heinous crimes and those responsible should be arrested to face crimes against humanity charges, or, just bombed to Hell.

Thinking Anew – ‘The Light Shines in the Darkness’

Excellent column in the Irish Times by

Gordon Linney

“We do not have to like or approve of those we are called to reach out to, and that can be very demanding.” 

A hospital chaplain bringing Holy Communion to bedridden patients came across a cleaner on her knees scrubbing a granite staircase. When she saw the chaplain, she gathered up her things in silence and almost cowered against the wall. The chaplain stopped to ask her did she think that what he was doing was important. She assured him she did. He then asked her did she think that what she was doing was important, and she said not really. He then told her that her work was just as important; a dirty hospital would be a dangerous place for any sick person; her work was very important.


Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King believed that everybody could be great because anyone can serve. “You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermo-dynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

In tomorrow’s gospel we are told how Jesus uses a social occasion to explain that service makes demands. While a guest at a meal he offers this advice to his host: “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.”

This is not just a story about sharing food nor is it a demand that we abandon the enjoyment of family and friends; Jesus himself enjoyed family and friends. Rather it questions the tendency we all have to live in bubbles – social, cultural, religious, political, economic, with little or no engagement with or understanding of the world that exists beyond.

The Epistle reading goes further by urging us to show hospitality to strangers and concern for those who are in prison. This suggests that we do not have to like or approve of those we are called to reach out to, and that can be very demanding.


Médecins Sans Frontières

David Nott, a vascular surgeon working in London, has also served regularly with Médecins Sans Frontières in war situations such as Bosnia, Gaza, Iraq and more recently Syria. Nott, a committed Christian, describes an encounter he had with Isis fighters in Syria who forced their way into a hospital in Aleppo where he was operating on a wounded man. A colleague told him to say nothing as these aggressive men would have killed him instantly if they discovered he was a Christian. He tells how he trembled with fear as his colleague told them the patient – one of their own men – would die if they distracted the surgeon.


Queen Elizabeth

In 2014 Nott received an award from Queen Elizabeth and was invited to lunch at Buckingham Palace where he was seated beside Queen Elizabeth. She was keenly interested in his work but when she asked him to talk about it he became upset and found it impossible to talk about his terrible experiences. She, realising that he was distressed, sent for the corgis and for the next 20 minutes they quietly fed the dogs while everyone else enjoyed lunch. Charming as that moment of royal sensitivity was, it arose from the trauma that David Nott experienced in Syria.

Our world is a nasty place right now as we see every boundary of human decency abandoned in Syria and many other countries. It is tempting to become despondent but thanks to thousands of people like David Nott love and human compassion refuse to give in even in the darkest of times. St John’s gospel assures us that that is how it will always be: “The light [Jesus Christ] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”