The Yemen horror began after the UN recognized the election of Saudi stooge Hadi as Sunni president in a rigged election in which he was the only candidate. So Hadi is accepted as Mr YEMEN, the official Yemeni State, though ever since he has lived in Saudi, while the US and UK rake in billions and sell military support to genocide the revolutionary shia Houthi movement in Nth Yemen.

UN halts war crimes investigation in Yemen

The Council voted 21-18 against a resolution to continue the probe by the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen for two years.

In a statement, the experts group called the vote a “major setback for all victims who have suffered serious violations.”

Afrah Nasser, Yemen researcher at U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch, said in a statement: “Saudi Arabia, a leading party to the conflict in Yemen accused of serious violations including likely war crimes, together with its coalition allies, is engaging in a tireless lobbying campaign to deter states at the Human Rights Council from renewing the (inquiry) mandate.”

It remains unclear how much the vote was affected by Saudi financial lobbying and Sunni solidarity, and how much by a perception of the UN as biased and counterproductive.

Radhya Almutawakel, chairperson of the independent Yemeni activist group Mwatana for Human Rights, said she was deeply disappointed by the result.

The vote reflects international rejection of the pro US and Saudi position of the UN which still designates exiled Hadi’s group in Saudi as the legitimate government. All UN moves to end the war have failed.

The United Nations’ (UN) Human Rights Council on Thursday narrowly voted to end its investigation of war crimes in Yemen.

During the debate, Bahraini ambassador Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri said that the international group of investigators had “contributed to spreading misinformation about the situation on the ground” in Yemen.

“The negative vote taken yesterday by Council members further underlines the Group’s assessment that there is a lack of political will to address the situation in Yemen,” the group said.

UN halts war crimes investigation in Yemen

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict has claimed more than 233,000 lives.

The mission had issued successive reports documenting a horrific series of human rights violations and abuses committed by all parties of the conflict, including indiscriminate shelling, targeting civilians, indiscriminate attacks, child recruitment, enforced disappearance, detention, and extrajudicial torture.

The U.S. did not have a vote on the resolution because it is currently engaging with the council as an observer.

The UN Refugee Agency says that over four million Yemenis have been displaced since the beginning of the crisis.Human Rights Watch said in a statement that failing to renew the mandate would be “a stain on the credibility of the Council and a slap in the face to victims.”

Heba Morayef, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said in a statement that the vote was “an abandonment of the people of Yemen who are today suffering under one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.”

“Countries that voted against or abstained should be ashamed for having abandoned the Yemeni people in their time of need,” Morayef said.

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Council of Europe issues press freedom alert after UK blacklists site over Yemen coverage

UK Ministry of Defence under fire for blacklisting Declassified UK over its criticism of Yemen war

from the MiddleEastEye shared with thanks By Areeb Ullah

UK Ministry of Defence under fire for blacklisting Declassified UK over its criticism of Yemen war. The UK and US continue a depraved policy of support for the Saudi Arabian regime’s colonial, religious and endless genocidal war against Northern Yemen in a blatant exchange for multi billion arms deals.

Declassified UK said it was questioned by the UK’s Ministry of Defence over its stance on the war in Yemen (AFP)

Censorship concerns are mounting in Britain after the Council of Europe issued a level-two press freedom alert over a UK Ministry of Defence decision to blacklist Declassified UK, a military and foreign policy news website.

Declassified UK discovered on 25 August that had it had been blacklisted by the MOD because of its coverage of the war in Yemen. It had just submitted a request for comment on the arrest the day before of British-Yemeni soldier Ahmed al-Babati for his protest in London against UK arm sales to Saudi Arabia.

Later, when Declassified UK asked why it was not provided the same comment given to the Telegraph over Babati’s arrest, the MOD said: “My understanding from the office is that we no longer deal with your publication.” 

During the exchange, a press officer from the MOD asked Declassified UK journalist Phil Miller what “sort of angle” the publication took on the war in Yemen.

British soldier says UK has Yemeni ‘blood on its . hands’ over Saudi arms sales Ahmed al-Babati arrested after holding one-man protest against UK support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.. Read More

The UK in early July resumed licensing new arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which is leading a coalition fighting against rebel Houthis in Yemen.

Millions of Yemenis ‘marching towards starvation’, UN food chief warns Read More »

The Council of Europe’s level-two press freedom alert means the UK government must provide a formal response to why it blacklisted Declassified UK over its coverage of the war in Yemen. 

Yemen WarYemen: Scores killed as fight for northern city of Marib intensifi

The 47-member Council of Europe, which is distinct from the European Union, has the stated aim of upholding human rights, the rule of law and democracy in Europe.

Mark Curtis, the editor of Declassified UK, said the “Council of Europe’s alert is significant, since it now highlights international concern, from a respected body, about the MOD’s stance towards an independent media organisation”.

He told Middle East Eye: “Declassified is being blacklisted because we are consistently revealing what UK government policies actually are. This is unusual for a British media organisation, and the MOD is used to dealing with compliant, client journalists.

“The UK national media routinely parrot information coming from the MOD, in return for maintaining access. We’re not playing that game, since the public deserves to know the truth about British policies.” 

 

Curtis said the MOD stopped providing comments to Declassified UK after it published a story on how Britain’s security services had been training intelligence officers from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. 

The MOD did not respond to multiple requests for comments from Middle East Eye at the time of writing. 

The National Union of Journalists and the International Press Institute also wrote to the UK Ministry of Defence and the Secretary of State for Defence asking them to clarify why it had provided a comment to the Telegraph and not to Declassified UK.

see also

UN Human Rights Council ‘fails’ Yemen in vote to end war crimes investigation