Text of the Oral Intervention delivered by the Cairo Institute in cooperate with FIDH and SAF to the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Yemen and Sudan

Delivered by: Ms. Amal Basha

Thank you Madam President,

CIHRS, FIDH and Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF) urgently calls on the Human Rights Council to convene a Special Session on Yemen to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate grave rights violations and allegations of crimes against humanity and to put in place a permanent monitoring mechanism to prevent further human rights abuses and to realize the rule of law in the absence of independent judiciary system, transparent and accountable institutions as indicated in the Office of High Commissioner Mission Report on Yemen. Since Sunday over 115 people, including women and children, were killed and more than 300 seriously injured when security and military forces opened fire on civilians reportedly using sniper rifles, machine guns, artillery and other heavy weaponry.

Reports of the return of President Saleh to Yemen this morning further aggravate the situation. The government has been given every opportunity to heed peaceful demands for smooth and peaceful power transition, and has instead chosen a path that escalates the existing human rights and humanitarian crises in the country. This Council must take its responsibility and act urgently to deter further bloodshed and avert the growing risk of civil war due to excessive use of lethal weapons and collective punishments, including water, power, and fuel supply cuts, turning Yemen into a big prison isolated from the world.

CIHRS, FIDH, the Al Khatim Adlan Centre for Enlightenment and Human Development (KACE) and African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies call for the continuation of the mandate of the Independent Expert on Sudan and the establishment of an Independent Expert on South Sudan. Recent reports by the UN on potential crimes against humanity committed by Sudanese security forces in South Kordafan attest to the dire human rights and humanitarian situation that continues to persist in Sudan. Moreover, the newly established state of South Sudan faces large challenges in the promotion and protection of human rights and requires the assistance by the United Nations in this regard.

Thank you.