HRW, Amnesty to Suspend KSA from UNHRC

Local Editor

Human rights watchdogs Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch wrote in a joint letter addressed to the United Nations organization on Wednesday that: "Saudi Arabia has committed gross and systematic violations of human rights during its time as a Council member, and it has used its position on the Council to shield itself from accountability for its violations in Yemen."

They were referring to the actions of the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni conflict that resulted in numerous casualties among civilians.

In addition, the two organizations said they documented "69 unlawful airstrikes by the coalition, some of which may amount to war crimes," that took lives of at least 913 civilians and hit homes, markets, hospitals, schools, civilian businesses, and mosques.

The human rights NGOs further stressed that the Saudi-led aggression used internationally banned cluster munitions in 19 strikes, some of which also targeted civilian areas.

Relatively, the organizations urged the UN General Assembly to suspend Saudi Arabia from the Human Rights Council until it ends its "unlawful attacks" and conducts credible investigation into all cases of alleged human rights violations or agrees to cooperate with an independent and impartial international inquiry.

"Saudi Arabia has amassed an appalling record of violations in Yemen while a Human Rights Council member, and has damaged the body's credibility by its bullying tactics to avoid accountability," Philippe Bolopion, deputy director for global advocacy at HRW, commented.

His words were echoed by Richard Bennett, Head of Amnesty International's UN Office, who said that "the credibility of the UN Human Rights Council is at stake, as "to allow [Saudi Arabia] to remain an active member of the Council, where it has used this position to shield itself from accountability for possible war crimes, smacks of deep hypocrisy."

In parallel, the organizations blasted other countries that continue to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia despite its poor human rights record.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team