UN rights council seeks greater monitoring of Yemen abuses
GENEVA The United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a resolution calling for greater UN monitoring of rights abuses in war-torn Yemen, while shrugging off calls from the U.N. human rights chief and others for an independent investigation of abuses.
The 47-member Geneva council approved by consensus the resolution backed by Arab states, which contained some late revisions on Thursday that calls for UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein's office to deploy more staffers to Yemen to investigate abuses and "coordinate" with a national Yemen rights panel that has been criticized for inadequate and one-sided conclusions.
The revisions came only after the European Union floated a rival text seeking greater UN oversight. That EU text was subsequently dropped, paving the way for the consensus vote. The resolution that passed is expected to free up over $1 million for the larger U.N. role in Yemen, diplomats said.
John Fisher, head of the Geneva office of Human Rights Watch, said the vote marked a "significant step forward in recognizing the seriousness of the human rights and humanitarian situation in Yemen." The council, marking its 10-year anniversary this year, has repeatedly come under criticism for its alleged ineffectiveness, and Fisher acknowledged its credibility was on the line with the Yemen resolution.
