--- title: "CIHRS at the United Nations Human Rights Council – 39th Session: UN renews historic investigations into Yemen war crimes despite Saudi threats" slug: "cihrs-at-the-united-nations-human-rights-council-39th-session-un-renews-historic-investigations-into-yemen-war-crimes-despite-saudi-threats" post_type: "post" published_at: "2018-10-05T14:50:32+01:00" modified_at: "2026-04-30T08:32:20+01:00" author: "CIHRS" url: "https://cihrs.org/cihrs-at-the-united-nations-human-rights-council-39th-session-un-renews-historic-investigations-into-yemen-war-crimes-despite-saudi-threats/?lang=en" category: - "International Advocacy Program" - "United Nations Human Rights Council" causes_and_rights: - "Accountability" - "Protection of Civilians" - "Segregation and racial discrimination" country: - "Gulf Cooperation Council countries" - "Libya" - "Palestine" - "Saudi Arabia" - "United Arabian Emirates" - "Yemen" - "Gulf Cooperation Council countries" --- # CIHRS at the United Nations Human Rights Council - 39th Session: UN renews historic investigations into Yemen war crimes despite Saudi threats # CIHRS at the United Nations Human Rights Council - 39th Session: # UN renews historic investigations into Yemen war crimes despite Saudi threats The 39th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council was held September 10-28, 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) engaged with the Council on five countries: Yemen, Palestine, Libya, Syria and Egypt. The advocacy of CIHRS and its Yemeni partner organization, Mwatana for Human Rights, contributed to a renewed mandate for the Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) on Yemen, representing a significant step towards justice for Yemeni victims of war crimes and human rights abuses. The mandate’s renewal will allow the GEE to continue conducting impartial and independent investigations into violations of international law by all parties to the conflict in Yemen. As part of its advocacy for a renewed and strengthened GEE, CIHRS co-sponsored two side events: “Yemen: Millions of Civilians at Risk: Human Rights Council must Renew and Strengthen the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen,” and “Accountability and the Need to End Impunity for Human Rights Violations in Yemen: Human Rights Defenders including Bloggers, Internet Activists and Journalists at Extreme Risk of Persecution.” On Palestine and Libya, CIHRS’ advocacy underscored the need for perpetrators of violations to be held accountable and for civilians and victims of violations to be protected in both countries. CIHRS joined Palestinian partner organization Al-Haq to emphasize the need for action on the UN[ Database](https://cihrs.org/re-release-un-database-businesses-operating-israeli-settlements/?lang=en) on businesses operating in Israeli settlements, established three years ago. CIHRS also urged the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) established last year to focus on identifying individuals culpable for the killing of hundreds of unarmed protesters during the 2018 protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. With hundreds of civilian casualties in Libya in the last few months alone as a result of the ongoing fighting between militias, CIHRS addressed the Council about the need to do more to deter violations of international law in what has been described by the OHCHR as a lawless state. CIHRS continued to engage with states to ensure the human rights crisis in Egypt was again raised strongly by governments before the Council. Several countries raised attacks against human rights defenders and other serious violations in Egypt within their interventions before the Council, including a European Union statement highlighting the repression of freedom of expression, association, assembly and attacks against human rights defenders. --- # Yemen --- During the 39th Human Rights Council, CIHRS in collaboration with Yemeni partner organization Mwatana for Human Rights, advocated for the renewal and strengthening of the existing mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) on Yemen. The GEE was established last year to conduct independent and impartial investigations into violations of international law by all parties to the ongoing conflict in Yemen. The situation in Yemen remains “the [worst](https://news.un.org/en/focus/yemen) humanitarian disaster in the world” and in some areas, the situation in Yemen is [worsening](http://mwatana.org/en/worsening-tragedy/). In response, 55 civil society organizations jointly published a [statement](https://cihrs.org/yemen-the-need-for-the-un-human-rights-council-to-renew-and-strengthen-the-mandate-of-the-group-of-eminent-experts/?lang=en) prior to the beginning of the Council session, highlighting the need for continued investigations in Yemen and the need to end the culture of impunity enjoyed by all parties to the conflict. This message was echoed through **a joint oral intervention** by CIHRS and Mwatana for Human Rights in a general debate with the High Commissioner. --- ▸Oral intervention: Impunity must end in Yemen- UN Human Rights Council: 39th Session - Agenda Item 2: General Debate - Oral Intervention: Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies - 11 September 2018 **Delivered by: Radhya Al-Mutawakel** Thank you Mr. President, This statement is delivered on behalf of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and Mwatana for Human Rights. We welcome the High Commissioner’s opening statement and echo her call that “above all it is crucial that there be continued international independent investigations into violations of international law in Yemen, particularly in light of the apparent inability of parties to the conflict to carry out impartial investigations.” The establishment of the Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) last year was a moment in the history of the Human Rights Council when the well-being of people on the ground was put before political games and short-sighted financial interests. With strong guidance from the Office of the High Commissioner, governments around the world agreed that the lives of millions of Yemenis meant more than appeasing any party to the conflict. While the report of the GEE has already highlighted serious violations of international law by all parties to the conflict in Yemen, investigations must continue in order to advance meaningful accountability and deter future violations. A failure to extend the independent, investigative mandate of the GEE this session – when there is a clear need to do so – will seriously undermine the relevance of this Council. Any weakening of the GEE will promote and reward impunity in Yemen and encourage the Saudi and Emirati led coalition, Houthis, and all other parties to the conflict, to commit further crimes against Yemeni civilians. Distinguished member states, We call on you to strongly support the High Commissioner’s call for continued international and independent investigations in Yemen. We also call on the High Commissioner to continue reminding States of the imperative need to extend the mandate of the GEE – as we will continue to do. Thank you, Mr President. --- --- ▸Oral intervention: Human rights violations in Yemen- UN Human Rights Council: Thirty-Ninth session - Oral Intervention: Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and Citizenship for Human Rights - September 26, 2018 Mr. President, I present this intervention on behalf of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and Citizenship for Human Rights. Since last September, Yemenis have lived another exhausting year as the human tragedy there has assumed greater proportions. Your esteemed council must send the right message to the victims that their suffering matters, and it must tell those responsible for violations that they will not escape punishment. The council can send this message with a simple, yet important step: by renewing and strengthening the remit of the team of experts and supporting its work. In this way, the team can continue to investigate grave allegations of human rights abuses by all parties. In September 2017, this council took a small step toward vindicating the rights of Yemeni victims by forming a team of experts to investigate violations by all parties to the conflict in Yemen. The team successfully met many challenges in a brief period, but despite the important accomplishment of its first report, it still has much work to do. The council must lend its full support to the committee so it can continue its mission and stand up to the intimidation campaigns of human rights violators, which aim primarily to undermine and threaten the work of UN instruments and hinder their mission. Mr. President and honorable members of the council, Throughout my decade of fieldwork with victims in Yemen, I have seen close up the fear of victims and their families. Since August 17, 2018, when the expert group’s report was released, for the first time I saw those responsible for human rights violations afraid. This must continue until the violations stop. Thank you, Mr. President. --- The [report](https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=23479&LangID=E) of the GEE, published on 28 August 2018, pointed to the fact that all parties to the conflict in Yemen may be responsible for war crimes and other serious crimes under international law. The GEE report also highlighted the little time that it had in monitoring and documenting violations on the ground in Yemen. ![Image](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Yemen-Millions-of-Civilians-At-Risk2-copy-2.jpg) In a side-event, entitled “*Yemen: Millions of Civilians at Risk. Human Rights Council must Renew and Strengthen the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen*,” the chairperson of the GEE, Mr Kamel Jendoubi, spoke on panel and confirmed the need for further time to look into all crimes committed in Yemen starting September 2014 as per its [mandate](https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/YemenGEE/Pages/Index.aspx). In the same side-event, the Office of the High Commissioner confirmed its strong support for the Group of Eminent Experts and the need for them to continue their work.[\[1\]](https://twitter.com/sabelmo/status/1042406550797725696) ![Image](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/اليمن-الملايين-من-المدنيين-في-خطر1.jpg)A mapping of the main actors in the conflict in Yemen was published in the GEE report, with a view towards international accountability. Meaningful and effective accountability for perpetrators of crimes in Yemen will only be achieved with the extension of the GEE’s mandate, and with strengthening it further in the future. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were particularly [opposed](https://www.apnews.com/e6d2e6235e1e4170aeeeb16bde21e2a7) to the renewal of the existing GEE’s mandate. Accordingly, the Arab Group, which has penmanship over the Yemen resolution establishing the GEE last year, stripped away any reference to the GEE’s mandate and its renewal in an edited draft resolution. The text only took note of the GEE report. This prompted a “core group” of five States,[\[1\]](#_ftn1) which had pressured Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to establish the GEE last year, to submit [a parallel draft](https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/saoedi-s-zetten-nederland-onder-druk-om-jemen-resolutie~baec34eb/) resolution renewing the existing mandate of the GEE, allowing it to continue its vital work. In the adoption of this resolution, the HRC voted in favor of extending the GEE’s mandate, with a strong majority of 21 yes votes, and only 8 states voting against. While Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates opposed this resolution, many States stood strong in defense of the HRC’s legitimacy to protect victims of human rights abuses and voted in favor of the resolution – these including the Netherlands, Canada, Belgium, Ireland and Luxemburg. In light of this decision, it is important that all stakeholders engage in good faith with the GEE and allow them to continue their work towards accountability for alleged war crimes in Yemen. [\[1\]](#_ftnref1) The “core group”: Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. ![Image](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/اليمن-الملايين-من-المدنيين-في-خطر3.jpg) CIHRS co-sponsored a side-event on the protection of human rights defenders in Yemen and elsewhere entitled “Accountability and the Need to End Impunity for Human Rights Violations in Yemen: Human Rights Defenders including Bloggers, Internet Activists and Journalists at Extreme Risk of Persecution.” Reprisals are taken seriously by the UN, as per a [statement](https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23591&LangID=E) of an assistant to the secretary general. Human rights defenders and representatives of civil society organizations that participated in the Human Rights Council must be protected both before and following their engagement with the Council, particularly when repressive governments such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are involved. With the renewal of the GEE’s mandate, eyes will be on all parties to the conflict in Yemen, particularly with regards to their targeting of human rights defenders and civilians. --- ▸Urgent need to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and its impact on the most vulnerable populations- United Nations Human Rights Council - 39th session - 26th September 2018 - Item 10, Technical assistance and capacity building – ID on HC report on Yemen Joint oral statement by Save the Children and 17 Civil Society Organizations **Urgent need to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and its impact on the most vulnerable populations** **A call for renewal and strengthening of the mandate for the Group of Eminent Experts** Mr. President, This statement is made on behalf of Save the Children and 17 civil society organisations, including organisations with current operations in Yemen. Fighting around Hodeidah city has increased since early September and throughout the country, the welfare of at least 8.4 million people on the brink of starvation, including at least 4.2 million children, is at stake. This year alone we expect some 400,000 children under five to suffer from severe acute malnutrition. Humanitarian access remains extremely challenging with more than 1.4 million people in need of assistance living in districts with high access constraints.[1](https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/20180806_humanitarian_update_final.pdf) Parties to the conflict continue to deny or delay basic humanitarian services, access to essential supplies into and within the country. We have repeated on many occasions that the humanitarian situation has escalated to an unacceptable level of widespread violations and abuses of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Since June, at least 425 attacks on and military use of schools and hospitals have been documented and verified.[2](https://www.unicef.org/yemen/YEM_sitreps_Jun2018.pdf). 450 civilians have lost their lives in the first nine days of August alone.[3](http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2018/8/5b8503637/unhcr-calls-protection-civilians-fleeing-yemens-al-hudaydah.html) We call on Member States to take immediate action to hold all parties to the conflict to account for violations of international law. In particular, we urge Member States to: - Call on all parties to the conflict to comply with their obligations under international law, and take immediate measures to prevent and end violations against civilians, notably children, including by supporting all authorities in Yemen to implement the Safe Schools Declaration and associated *Guidelines for Protecting Schools and University from Military Use during Armed Conflict*; - Urgently renew and strengthen the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen; - Suspend the sale or transfer of arms, munitions and related materials to all parties to the conflict; and - Engage all parties to the conflict to find an inclusive peaceful, sustainable and implementable political solution that involves women, youth, children, minority groups and civil society. Thank you. Signed by: - Adventist Development and Relief Agency - Action contre La Faim - Danish Refugee Council - Defence for Children International - Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies - CARE International - CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation - INTERSOS - The International Rescue Committee - Islamic Relief - International Federation for Human Rights Leagues - Médecins du Monde - Mercy Corps - Oxfam International Relief International War Child UK - ZOA --- --- --- # Palestine --- ![Image](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Human-Rights-Council-special-session-on-the-situation-in-Palestine.jpg)Human Rights Council special session on the situation in Palestine :Photo by [UN Geneva](https://www.flickr.com/photos/unisgeneva/) CIHRS joined Al-Haq this HRC session in an **oral intervention** in the general debate under agenda item 7. The oral intervention focused primarily on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the need for them to move forward with work on the UN Database on businesses operating in Israeli settlements. It has been three years since the resolution establishing the UN Database – it is therefore essential for the OHCHR to transmit its information publicly through an interactive mechanism, including the names of those corporations that blatantly disregard international law and choose to continue their operations in the settlements. Transparency is required for this mechanism to be effective. ▸Oral intervention: UN database on businesses operating in and with Israeli settlements- 39th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council - Item 7 – Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories - Oral Intervention by: Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Man and Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies - 24 September 2018 Thank you, Mr. President. For 70 years, Israel has implemented an aggressive colonial enterprise in Palestine, denying Palestinians their right to return, appropriating Palestinian private and public lands, and applying discriminatory planning and zoning to prevent Palestinian development. Since 1967, Israel has created more than 230 illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Businesses operating in Israel’s settlements incentivise the unlawful transfer in of Israeli settlers and exploit natural resources over which Palestinians retain the right to self-determination and permanent sovereignty. Recognising the role corporations play in facilitating Israel’s confiscation of Palestinian land, this Council adopted Resolution 31/36, creating a database listing those operating in or affiliated with Israeli settlements, Mr. President, Al-Haq and Cairo Institute are deeply concerned over the unnecessary and continuing delays in releasing the list of businesses publicly. As Israel prepares to raze the Palestinian village of Khan Al-Ahmar to allow for further settlement construction, it is a matter of urgency that businesses do not benefit from Israel’s illegal settlements. Accordingly, our organisations call for the immediate release of the database and an end to corporate complicity in Israel’s occupation. Thank you. Following an oral update by the recently appointed chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (CoI), Mr Santiago Canton, CIHRS delivered an [**oral intervention**](https://cihrs.org/end-impunity-and-open-investigation-on-palestine/?lang=en) urging the CoI to focus in its investigations on identifying individuals, both in command and at a lower level, responsible for policies and practices that resulted in the killing of hundreds of unarmed protesters ▸Oral intervention: Protests in the OPT- UN Human Rights Council: Thirty-Ninth session – - Agenda Item 7: Interactive Dialogue with CoI on Protests in the OPT - Oral Intervention, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies - 24 September 2018 Delivered by: Mona Sabella Thank you Mr. President, We very much welcome the appointment of the Commission of Inquiry experts and their investigative team. Since the special session last May, within the ongoing context of the Great Return March, Palestinians living under dire circumstances in the Gaza Strip have continued protesting in large numbers for their right of return and for the most fundamental of human rights following seven decades of expulsion, dispossession and half a century of military occupation. In response, the Israeli military – that is required to protect the rights of the people it occupies – has instead continued to use excessive force and target civilians who pose no immediate threat or danger. Israeli officers in command, responsible for such policies, continue to enjoy impunity for their actions. As a result, more than 50 unarmed protestors have been killed by live fire since the end of May and more than 3700 have been injured.[\[1\]](#_ftn1) In August, 22-year-old volunteer medic, clearly identifiable by his clothing, Abdallah Al-Qutati was shot with a live bullet in the chest while providing medical aid in eastern Rafah. On the same day, Ali Al-Aloul - another volunteer in the protests wearing a white coat for distinction – was shot and killed with live fire in the chest 50 meters away from the fence where Israeli soldiers were located. In the first week of this month, two 16-year-old children, Bilal Khafaja and Ahmed Abu Tyour, were shot with live fire and killed during protests in east Rafah.[\[2\]](#_ftn2) In view of the heavy toll of civilian casualties, we cannot stress enough the need for the Commission of Inquiry to focus in its investigations, as per its mandate, on identifying Israeli army officers in command and in lower rank, responsible for the killing and injuring of civilians so that they can be investigated and held accountable for their actions. Thank you. [\[1\]](#_ftnref1) Statistics provided by Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights [\[2\]](#_ftnref2) Cases provided by Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights --- --- # Libya --- ![Image](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43680012325_61b0b0b34b_k.jpg)Human Rights Council 39th regular session :Photo by [UN Geneva](https://www.flickr.com/photos/unisgeneva/) CIHRS engaged on Libya during the 39th session of the HRC. Following an oral update by the High Commissioner on the situation in Libya, CIHRS addressed the Council with concern that more could have been done by the Council this year in attempts to deter further violations of international law on the ground in Libya. These past few months have seen hundreds of civilians killed or injured due to ongoing fighting between militias in what has been described by the OHCHR as a lawless State. ▸Oral Intervention: human rights violations perpetrated in Libya- United Nations Human Rights Council: 39th Session - Item 10: ID on Libya - Oral Intervention - Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) - 26 September, 2018 Thank you Mr. President, The Cairo Institute and 13 Libyan civil society organizations would like to highlight the continued grave human rights violations perpetrated in Libya since the last Council session. Fighting between militias in Tripoli this month alone have led to the killing and injuring of hundreds of civilians, as well as the disappearance of dozens of individuals and displacement of thousands. The human rights situation in Libya continues to worsen for both Libyans and migrants. Extra-judicial executions, torture, rape, arbitrary arrests, indiscriminate attacks on civilian neighborhoods and attacks on state institutions are widespread and ongoing. The Libyan Presidency Council (PC) has failed to abide by its international legal obligations related to the protection of human rights. In reality, the Presidency Council has financed and empowered militias in the western region of Libya – where they now fight each other in civilian areas. The Libyan national justice system remains unable to conduct proper investigations and impunity prevails for ongoing human rights violations and abuses in the country. Mr President, The Human Rights Council could have done much more in its previous session to deter such violations. The resolution adopted on Libya last March focused only on technical assistance and disregarded the urgent need for increased monitoring and investigations. It disregarded the need for a Commission of Inquiry to examine avenues for improving the Libyan judiciary, while working to identify perpetrators for ongoing crimes. This Council must act to end impunity in Libya. Failing to do so will only feed the cycle of violence and encourage groups to reject or violate peace agreements, leading to further instability in the country. Thank you. --- --- Main photo: Human Rights Council 39th regular session UN Geneva © on flickr.