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Wednesday, 29 June 2016
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  • UN: Suspend Saudi Arabia from Human Rights Council

    Feature
    Duration : 36s
    (New York, June 29, 2016) – The United Nations General Assembly should immediately suspend Saudi Arabia’s membership rights on the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. A two-thirds majority of the General Assembly may suspend the membership rights of any Human Rights Council member engaged in “gross and systematic violations of human rights.” Saudi Arabia, as the leader of the nine-nation coalition that began military operations against the Houthis in Yemen on March 26, 2015, has been implicated in numerous violations of international humanitarian law. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have documented 69 unlawful airstrikes by the coalition, some of which may amount to war crimes, killing at least 913 civilians and hitting homes, markets, hospitals, schools, civilian businesses, and mosques. The two organizations have also documented 19 attacks involving internationally banned cluster munitions, including in civilian areas. Saudi Arabia should be suspended from the Human Rights Council until it ends unlawful attacks in Yemen and conducts credible investigations that meet international standards or agrees to and cooperates with an independent international inquiry. 
     
    Recent Human Rights Watch multimedia publications on the war in Yemen:
    Yemen: Saudis Using US Cluster Munitions
    Yemen: War Crimes Not Addressed
    Yemen: US Bombs Used in Deadliest Market Strike
    Yemen: Embargo Arms to Saudi Arabia
    Yemen: Cluster Munitions Wounding Civilians
    Yemen: Coalition Fails to Investigate Unlawful Airstrikes
    Yemen: New Houthi Landmine Use
    Yemen: Houthis Shell Civilians in Southern City
    Yemen: Houthis Used Landmines in Aden
    Yemen: Cluster Munition Rockets Kill, Injure Dozens
    Yemen: Houthi Artillery Kills Dozens in Aden
    Yemen: Coalition Strikes on Residence Apparent War Crime
    Yemen: Unlawful Airstrikes Kill Dozens of Civilians
    Yemen: Cluster Munitions Harm Civilians
    Yemen: Cluster Munition Rockets Kill, Injure Dozens
     
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