NEW YORK: The United Nations said on Monday that it had removed the Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting in Yemen from a child rights blacklist pending a joint review by the world body.
The decision follows a massive uproar in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states after the UN report, released on Thursday, blamed the coalition for “60 percent of child deaths and injuries (in Yemen) last year.”
Abdullah Al-Moallami, the Saudi envoy at the UN, heavily criticized the report, claiming that the findings were “misleading” and “incorrect.”
The envoy said that the report contained a double standard, citing Israel’s exclusion from a UN list.
Last year, the UN released a list of children’s rights violators and did not include Israel, despite an outcry over the death of more than 500 children during the Gaza war the year before.
He said the report overlooked Saudi role in reinstating “legitimacy” in Yemen.
Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Amro, the Shoura Council’s secretary-general, said in a statement the report issued by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was based on wrong information and comes as the UN has failed to take action against the Houthis and forces loyal to deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh for overthrowing the legitimate Yemen government and other abuses.
The Shoura called on the UN to seek information from official sources, either from the legitimate government led by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi or the Arab coalition command.
Al-Amro said that the Houthis were responsible for the coup in Sanaa, attacking and killing children, besieging cities, starving people and shelling hospitals. He said the Shoura was confident that the Arab coalition command was doing the right thing to restore the legitimate government to power.
The six-nation Gulf bloc stated that it would call for an urgent meeting with Ban to demand the report’s withdrawal. This comes as Ban’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said the secretary-general stood by the report, according to a press report on Monday.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s ambassador to the UN Khalid Al-Yamani condemned UN’s silence for the crimes Houthis are committing in Taiz.
Al-Yamani said the silence allows Houthis to ignore international humanitarian laws, and thus the UN is participating in the aggression.
The GCC’s United Nations’ ambassadors held a meeting at the mission’s headquarters in New York on Sunday, where they lambasted the multilateral organization for compiling a report that they said was not based on correct data.
Al-Mouallimi said the GCC ambassadors would deliver written reports from the GCC’s leaders to Ban on the war in Yemen, and show that the coalition has never targeted civilians or children, and that attacks were carried out with precision.
He said the GCC delegation would also meet with Leila Zerrougui, special representative of the secretary general for children and armed conflict, to clarify the facts. Al-Mouallimi said the GCC countries were also unhappy that the report does not reflect the aid they provided for the country.
“We will leave the evaluation of Ban Ki-moon to experts and analysts. We have good relations with the secretary general, which we try to nurture at all times,” said Al-Mouallimi. However, he said the United Nations were acting unfairly for not blacklisting Israel, which was responsible for repeated violations of children’s rights in Gaza.
He said the Yemen report depends on oral testimony and reports published on social media sites by journalists. “We want the secretary general to correct the report because we believe the information is wrong and expresses the opinion of the secretary general ...”
Yemeni foreign minister and head of the Yemeni delegation to the Kuwait talks, Abdul Malik Al-Mikhalafi, said the report depended on fake reports from certain organizations favoring the Houthis. He said the United Nations does not have contact with people in all areas of Yemen, including the capital Aden. It also does not have links with civil or government organizations in Taiz, he said.
The media official for the resistance council in Taiz, Rashad Al-Sharabi, said that the Houthis have consistently broken the cease-fire first announced in April. They have also continued to commit crimes in Taiz, Al-Jouf, Marib and Naham in east Sanaa, he said.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Yamani also criticized Ban Ki-moon for not naming Houthis explicitly in his statement regarding the attacks on Al-Moktaza Market in Taiz on Friday.
Ban’s statement condemned the attacks of Taiz, which were carried out with heavy weapons, including rockets, mortars and artillery, but didn’t mention the Houthis. It simply said: “Attacks directed against civilians and populated areas, including markets, are strictly prohibited.”
Al-Yamani said that the report is not accurate and unbiased because the UN receives its information from a number of cooperating personnel in Sanaa. He explained that their reports cannot be trusted.
The diplomat defended the Saudi-led coalition saying it relies on modern technologies used in military to accurately target locations of the militias loyal to Iran.
Al-Yamani denied any information that the coalition targeted civilians or children. He added that Houthis want to achieve victory over international laws after their countless defeats in the field. Furthermore, he considered the people of Yemen a victim of a sectarian coup.
Talks in Kuwait have been suspended with the Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, regarding the targeting of civilians in Taiz.
There has also been little progress on the fate of detainees, with the Houthis also creating “fake” lists of people who were killed during raids.
Meanwhile, the recent shelling of residential neighborhoods in the southwestern city of Taiz has killed and wounded 73 civilians, including 14 children and nine women, Yemen’s national committee investigating claims of human rights violations reported on Sunday, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
The committee, which was formed by the internationally recognized government of Hadi last year, described these figures as initial, with an investigation underway. It also denounced shelling of residential areas in Taiz, urging for the immediate cessation of hostilities and to allow medical aid and support to those injured.
On Sunday, Al-Arabiya News Channel said anti-government militias in Yemen resumed their shelling of residential neighborhoods in Taiz, prompting people to protest against the attacks.
The protesters demanded the immediate cessation of violations by both the Iran-backed Houthi militia and Saleh’s loyalists. The Houthis and the loyalists are in an alliance against Hadi’s government. The channel said the two groups have been shelling parts of the city for days but did not report any death toll.
Intermittent clashes have also been reported on several fronts along the southern borders of Taiz province after the militia group continued to target eastern districts in the city including Kalaba and Thaabat neighborhoods with missile attacks.
