Saudi Arabia, allies slam ‘biased’ UN resolution on Yemen

Yemeni children accompanied by their fathers hold weapons during a gathering in Sanaa to show support for the Houthi militia. (File/AFP)

• It comes after the UN Human Rights Council voted to extend an international probe of alleged war crimes committed in Yemen
• Saudi Arabia and its allies bemoaned what they said was the council’s “failure to achieve consensus”

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia and key allies have denounced as “biased” a resolution that renewed a UN-backed investigation of alleged war crimes in Yemen.
The condemnation was issued in a joint statement released by the Yemen government, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. It comes after the UN Human Rights Council voted to extend an international probe of alleged war crimes committed in Yemen. “We are left with a resolution which is biased, and which clearly contradicts the clear mandate laid out by the UN Security Council,” said the joint statement. Rights council members voted in favor of the resolution in Geneva on Friday by 21 to 8, with 18 abstentions. Saudi Arabia and its allies bemoaned what they said was the council’s “failure to achieve consensus.” “In particular, we are disappointed that certain member states failed to consider the real and legitimate concerns of those states who are most affected by the situation in Yemen,” their joint statement said.
The resolution showed “disregard for Yemen’s sovereign right to give its consent to cooperate with international resolutions that deal directly with the human rights situation on its own territory,” it added. On the eve of the vote, the Yemeni government had announced it was ending its cooperation with the UN human rights mission, accusing it of bias in an August report on alleged war crimes. The report accused both government forces and the Houthi militia of violations of international law.
Earlier, Arab Coalition spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki criticized the inaccuracy of the information in the report.
The report “failed to mention Iran’s role in Yemen, and the countless violations perpetrated by the Houthis, both against the Yemeni people and against Saudi Arabia,” Al-Maliki said.
The Houthis have fired more than 200 missiles at Saudi Arabia since it intervened in Yemen in March 2015.
The coalition accuses Iran of smuggling the missiles through the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hodeida, the entry point for UN aid for millions of civilians.