Yemen Report - Group Of Eminent Experts
/
2:37
/
MP4
/
193.4 MB

Edited News | UNITED NATIONS

Yemen Report - Group Of Eminent Experts

Fresh war crimes fears highlighted in new Yemen report

The war in Yemen continues to ravage the country and its people, senior UN-appointed rights investigators said on Wednesday, as they called for the first time for an international criminal probe into suspected war crimes and sanctions against perpetrators.

“Yemen has been ravaged in ways that should shock the conscience of humanity,” said Melissa Parke, member of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen (GEE). “Yemen has now experienced some six years of unremitting armed conflict, with no end inside for the suffering of the millions of people caught in its grip.”

She added that for the third year running since the Human Rights Council set them to work, the experts had found “reasonable grounds to believe that the parties to the conflict have committed and continue to commit serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law. Some of which may amount to war crimes.”

In a statement accompanying their latest findings, the experts insisted that “all parties continue to show no regard for international law or the lives, dignity, and rights” of the civilians who are suffering.

Fighting intensified across Yemen in 2015 between a Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally-recognized Government, based in the south, and the Houthi armed movement, known as Ansar Allah, with still controls the capital Sana’a, together with their allies.

There were “no clean hands” in the violence which has likely killed well over 100,000 people, destroyed vital public infrastructure and created a humanitarian catastrophe affecting many millions, they said, the responsibility for this resting “with all parties to the conflict”.

The conclusions are part of the investigators’ third report in which they underscore that violations have been committed by the Government of Yemen, the Houthis and the Southern Transitional Council (STC).

“For too many people in Yemen there is simply no safe place to escape the ravages of war,” Ms Parke insisted. “There is for instance no safe place for those near the front lines who face the risk of indiscriminate attacks, for children playing in fields in which landmines have been planted, for schoolchildren at risk of being recruited into armed forces or groups, or for human rights advocates or journalists who are targeted because of their work.”

Responsibility for violations covered in the experts’ report for the period from July 2019 to June 2020 “rests with all the parties to the conflict”, Ms Parke continued. “Namely the Government of Yemen, de facto authorities, the Southern Transitional Council and members of the Coalition, in particular Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.”

Verified human rights violations covered in the report include arbitrary deprivation of life, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, gender-based violence, including sexual violence, torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the recruitment and use in hostilities of children, as well as denial of a fair trial.

The GEE also concluded that some of the airstrikes conducted by the Coalition “appear to have been undertaken without proper regard to principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution to protect civilians and civilian objects”.

Indiscriminate attacks had also been carried out by the Coalition and the Houthis, inflicting harm on civilians and civilian objects, they noted.

The report explained that disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks constitute war crimes under customary international law, and that the experts had also investigated the effects of landmines that were unlawfully planted by the Houthis.

In a first, the experts also called for a more in-depth, criminal probe into the perpetrators of the worst abuses in the Yemen conflict, supported by the UN Security Council and Member States.

This mechanism could be similar the one created by the UN General Assembly in 2016 to investigate abuses in the Syrian conflict, known as the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM).

Its mandate involves compiling case files to support a criminal prosecution “at national or international levels”, GEE member Ardi Imseis told journalists via videoconference.

“We urge the international community to seriously consider other mechanisms that go beyond merely reporting what we do: human rights violations,” he said. “We need to take criminal accountability and individual criminal responsibility seriously and therefore we do hope that our recommendations in this regard are taken up by the Human Rights Council and the Security Council and third states in particular.”

Given the scale of abuses reported by the Group of Experts, it was no longer possible for the international community to say that it was unaware of the dire situation in the war-wrecked country, they said.

“Yemen remains a tortured land, with its people ravaged in ways that should shock the conscience of humanity,” said Kamel Jendoubi, GEE chairperson.

Despite this, weapons continue to flow into the conflict, the experts continued.

“We are particularly concerned with the fact that third States continue to supply arms to the parties to the conflict in Yemen,” Mr. Imseis said. “There are a few leading players in that: the United States, France, the United Kingdom and this year we added Canada because there has been an uptick in arms sales by the Canadians in 2019.”

Since the beginning of the conflict, some 112,000 people have died as a direct result of hostilities, including around 12,000 civilians, the experts said.

They cited the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) which has documented at least 7,825 civilians killed (including at least 2,138 children and 933 women) and 12,416 civilians injured (including 2,898 children and 1,395 women) as a direct result of the armed conflict between March 2015 and June 2020.

These figures do not include many thousands more who have died as a result of the worsening socio-economic, health and humanitarian conditions, the experts said.

  • Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a beautiful day.
  • SOUNDBITE (English) — Melissa Parke, member of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen (GEE): “Yemen has been ravaged in ways that should shock the conscience of humanity. Yemen has now experienced some six years of unremitting armed conflict, with no end inside for the suffering of the millions of people caught in its grip.”
  • Exterior medium shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying
  • SOUNDBITE (English) — Melissa Parke, GEE member: “For too many people in Yemen there is simply no safe place to escape the ravages of war. There is for instance no safe place for those near the front lines who face the risk of indiscriminate attacks, for children playing in fields in which landmines have been planted, for schoolchildren at risk of being recruited into armed forces or groups, or for human rights advocates or journalists who are targeted because of their work.”
  • Exterior wide shot, flag alley entrance, Palais des Nations, UN Geneva.
  • SOUNDBITE (English) — Melissa Parke, GEE member: “For the third year running, the group of experts has found reasonable grounds to believe that the parties to the conflict have committed and continue to commit serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law. Some of which may amount to war crimes.”
  • Exterior wide shot, Place des Nations and Palais des Nation main entrance
  • SOUNDBITE (English) — Melissa Parke, GEE member: “Responsibilities for these violations rests with all the parties to the conflict; namely the Government of Yemen, de facto authorities, the Southern Transitional Council and members of the Coalition, in particular Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.”
  • Exterior medium shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying
  • SOUNDBITE (English) — Ardi Imseis, GEE member: “We urge the international community to seriously consider other mechanisms that go beyond merely reporting what we do: human rights violations. We need to take criminal accountability and individual criminal responsibility seriously and therefore we do hope that our recommendations in this regard are taken up by the Human Rights Council and the Security Council and third states in particular.”
  • Medium-wide shot, UN Land Rover passing in front of shot at Palais des Nations, UN Geneva.
  • SOUNDBITE (English) — Ardi Imseis, GEE member: “We are particularly concerned with the fact that third States continue to supply arms to the parties to the conflict in Yemen. There are a few leading players in that: the United States, France, the United Kingdom and this year we added Canada because there has been an uptick in arms sales by the Canadians in 2019.”
  • Exterior medium-wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, a beautiful day.

Similar Stories

Widespread starvation in Gaza – IPC, UN Women 29 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNWOMEN

Widespread starvation in Gaza – IPC, UN Women 29 July 2025 ENG FRA

Aid agencies echoed wider warnings of growing signs of widespread starvation in Gaza on Tuesday, as UN-partnered international food security experts released their most dire assessment yet of the situation in the wartorn enclave.

Sudan displaced return – IOM, UNDP, UNHCR 25 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | IOM , UNDP , UNHCR

Sudan displaced return – IOM, UNDP, UNHCR 25 July 2025 ENG FRA

Sudan: urgent help needed as more than 1.3 million war-displaced people begin to return home

As conflict rages on across parts of Sudan, pockets of relative safety have emerged in the past four month, spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to make their way home, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). A further 320,000 cross-border refugees have come back to Sudan since last year, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, to assess the current situation before deciding to return to their country for good.

Gaza crisis update UNRWA – WHO 22 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNRWA , WHO

Gaza crisis update UNRWA – WHO 22 July 2025 ENG FRA

Gaza: SOS messages describe people fainting from hunger; UN health worker detained

Worrying alerts from United Nations staff in Gaza who have been fainting from hunger and exhaustion over the past 48 hours have increased fears for people’s survival in the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Funding cuts impact on aid access - UNHCR Dominique Hyde - 18 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNHCR , UNOG

Funding cuts impact on aid access - UNHCR Dominique Hyde - 18 July 2025 ENG FRA

Over 11.6 million refugees risk losing aid access due to funding cuts, says UNHCR

Approximately one in three refugees and other vulnerable individuals normally supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are expected to lose out from funding cuts, it said on Friday.

UN Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani on opening mission in Bangladesh

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani on opening mission in Bangladesh ENG FRA

Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following announcement on the Office’s opening of a new mission in Bangladesh.

UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on returns of Afghans

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on returns of Afghans ENG FRA

The surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan this year is creating a multi-layered human rights crisis requiring the urgent attention of the international community,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.  

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on violence in Suweida, Syria

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on violence in Suweida, Syria ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday called for accountability and justice for the killings and other gross human rights violations and abuses in the southern city of Suweida. 

Syria Sweida violence OHCHR – UNHCR 18 July 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR

Syria Sweida violence OHCHR – UNHCR 18 July 2025 ENG FRA

Syria: hundreds killed in Sweida, ‘widespread’ violations as civilians flee for their lives

Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Ukraine

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Ukraine ENG

At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell made the following statement on the latest number of civilian casualties in Ukraine.

UN Human Rights Briefing on West Bank

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Briefing on West Bank ENG FRA

The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday called for investigations into hundreds of killings of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Israeli security forces and settlers, warning against ongoing forced mass displacement of the Palestinian population.

Gaza And Occupied West Bank Update - OHCHR, UNRWA  15 July 2025

1

1

2

Edited News | OHCHR , UNRWA

Gaza And Occupied West Bank Update - OHCHR, UNRWA 15 July 2025 ENG FRA

Nearly 900 people have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks trying to fetch food, with most deaths linked to private aid hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on escalating gang violence  in Haiti

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on escalating gang violence in Haiti ENG FRA

The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the UN Human Rights Office have today released a report detailing the evolution of violent gang incidents beyond the capital Port-au-Prince since October 2024 up to June 2025, and the resulting loss of life and mass displacement.