The United Nations condemns the UAE for committing war crimes and violating human rights in Yemen
The United Nations has condemned the UAE for committing war crimes and violating human rights in Yemen, stressing that there is “reasonable evidence” that the Saudi-Emirati coalition has committed human rights violations against Yemeni civilians.
The United Nations monitored the UAE violations in the third report of the Commission of the Human Rights Council to the United Nation which includes events in Yemen during the period July 2019-June 2020.
The UN report sheds light on the war crimes committed by individuals (officers-soldiers) from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which constitute the main structure of the coalition in the war in Yemen.
The report stated that 112,000 people have been killed in the war in Yemen to date, 12,000 of them civilians, noting that despite all the efforts of the Special Envoy to Yemen, no significant progress has been achieved in the political solution, and the Stockholm Agreement on Yemen is no longer appropriate.
The report stated that the UAE still has a military presence in Yemen, and that its air force attacks are still continuing. It added that although Sudan withdrew several thousand of its soldiers from the coalition in Yemen, the UAE is present there and has provided support to 90,000 Yemeni fighters.
The report indicated that the Emirati ground forces, the Presidential Guard Command and the Special Forces have joined 15 task forces with more than 15,000 soldiers in various Yemeni cities and governorates. The UAE Air Force also carried out more than 130,000 sorties and more than 500,000 flight hours, while the UAE Navy participated in 3 maritime work teams across more than 50 warships and more than 3,000 personnel.
The report indicated that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Yemeni government, the Houthis, and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council are responsible for grave human rights violations, including crimes of depriving the right to life, arbitrary detention, sexual violence and torture.
It stated that all parties in Yemen, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE, violated human rights, stressing that there is “reasonable evidence” that the parties have committed war crimes in Yemen.
The UN report indicated that all parties to the conflict in Yemen have violated international law, and that “no party has clean hands,” stressing that the violations were committed by the Yemeni government, the Houthis, the Southern Transitional Council, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and that some air strikes were carried out without observing the principles of civil protection, and they are considered war crimes according to international law.
