To cover up its crimes… UAE refuses to allow UN to investigate war in Yemen
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has refused to allow a team of UN experts to continue its investigation into the war in Yemen in an effort to cover up war crimes against civilians.
The UAE’s decision was condemned in international human rights circles following accusations by the United Nations expert team of the Saudi-UAE alliance of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Yemen.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, rejected the report by the UN team.
In his letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, Gargash claimed that “the Group’s mistakes and missteps in judgment and methodology are too numerous and too serious to ignore”, which is why the UAE decided not to support the renewal of the mandate of the Group of Experts last year.
Gargash added that “another report that will not achieve our shared objective to strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights in Yemen”
Gargash also claimed that the UAE supports the High Commissioner’s mandate and appreciates its role and the continuing cooperation with Member States and other stakeholders to address the challenges associated with human rights in all regions of the world, including Yemen.
In an effort to discredit the UAE regime of crimes committed in Yemen, Gargash claimed that the conflict in Yemen and the human suffering in many parts of the country is a direct result of the violent and illegal coup by the Houthi militias against the legitimate government in Yemen in 2014.
Gargash attached his letter with a detailed assessment of the report of the expert group which was published in 2018. The report was prepared over several years, based on a careful and comprehensive study of the report and its methodology and principles related to international law.
The UAE has been accused by the UN team and several international organizations of using armed militias and committing abuses, including murder, torture, and imprisonment in secret prisons in Yemen, which is a charge Abu Dhabi denies.
From time to time, ministers in the Yemeni government are sharply critical of Abu Dhabi’s interference in Yemen’s internal affairs which is trying to impose a fait accompli by adopting and supporting terrorist groups listed on US and UN terrorist lists.
