On 16 March, ADHRB has delivered an oral intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 46 during interactive debate under item 4.
Mr President,
We direct the Council’s attention to the ongoing war crimes occurring in Yemen as we welcome the Group of Eminent Experts’ third report which found that “Yemen remains a tortured land, with its people ravaged in ways that should shock the conscience of humanity.”
While we agree, the report itself is not free from major shortcomings as it fails to highlight the hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by malnutrition related diseases that could have been prevented if it were not for the Coalition blockade on food, medicine and fuel. While the first two reports referred to these crimes in general, the third report relegated these crimes to a footnote that pointed to a UN Development Program report projecting that over 130,000 people would have died as a result of worsening socio-economic, health and humanitarian condition by the end of 2019.
Mr. President,
This worsening situation is due to the Coalition blockade which has resulted in the death of over 300,000 civilians by use of mass starvation as a weapon of war. Neglecting to mention the number of civilian deaths due to the blockade in the first two reports and then relegating this crime to a footnote in the third report is the basis of our continual concern that the crimes affecting the overwhelming majority of the population are not being given the required attention by the Experts.
Accordingly, we call for a recommendation to the Security Council to transfer the case regarding the blockade to the International Criminal Court as these are crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity.
