Saudi Coalition Presses UN Rights Council To End Yemen War Crimes Probe - Rights Group

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2018) The Saudi-led coalition is pressuring the United Nations Human Rights Council to suppress a scathing report on possible war crimes committed by its pilots in an air campaign backing Yemen's government, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a press release on Friday.

At issue is whether to extend an investigative mandate for an outside "Group of Experts" to continue probing abuses by all parties in the Yemen conflict: Houthi rebels, Yemen's official government and the Saudi coalition that is backing government forces with airstrikes, the release explained.

"In August, the Group of Experts presented their first report, describing horrific war crimes and other abuses that the coalition, the Yemeni government, and the Houthi armed group committed," the release stated. "Given the severity, breadth, and scope of abuses, the experts asked for more time, urging the council to renew their mandate.

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A group of Arab states, including the Saudi coalition is backing a resolution introduced on Thursday that would allow the investigation to expire while a competing resolution backed by European nations and Canada would extend the probe by another year.

In authorizing the investigation last year, the Human Rights Council's message to the warring parties in Yemen was clear: "The world - at long last - is watching," the release said. "If the council folds to pressure and fails to renew the mandate, the opposite message will be sent this year: the world no longer cares. Yemeni civilians will continue to suffer without the scrutiny that only an independent international monitoring body can provide."

The Human Rights Council has until September 28, when the council's session adjourns, to decide whether to extend the investigation's mandate or allow it to expire, the release noted.