On 22 March 2018 at the 37th session of the Human Rights Council, ADHRB’s Saudi Advocacy Associate Tyler Pry delivered an oral intervention during the Item 10 General Debate on technical capacity building in Yemen. In his intervention Pry raised the difficulty of implementing technical cooperation programs given the continuing conflict, humanitarian crisis, and fragmentation of the country. Click here to read a PDF of his intervention.
Mr. President,
Alsalam and ADHRB would like to raise concerns about the deterioration of the continuing conflict in Yemen and the complications this deterioration presents to the fulfillment of the technical cooperation program outlined in Resolution 36/31.
Resolution 36/31 calls on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to contribute to the improvement of the situation of human rights in the country and encourages all parties to reach a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict. However, rather than working to end the war and clear the way for the successful implementation of the program of technical cooperation, Saudi Arabia and its allies, most prominently the United Arab Emirates have caused a sharp deterioration in the conflict.
The continuation and intensification of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates’ war efforts will clearly hinder the work of the Group of Experts. The deeper the conflict, the more fragmented Yemen is, the worse the man-made humanitarian catastrophe, and the more entrenched the multiple sides, the harder the work of the Group of Experts will be.
Even as we speak, Yemen is edging closer to a humanitarian disaster and a famine of epic proportions while the country begins to fragment under the weight of competing loyalties. For Yemen to receive the technical support it needs, Saudi Arabia and the UAE must immediately halt the fighting and immediately and seriously commit to upholding Resolution 36/31 and supporting the work of the Group of Experts.
Thank you,
