On Thursday, October 7, 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) will vote on a resolution under agenda item 2 to renew the mandate of the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (GEE) for two-years in the context of the ongoing 48th HRC session.
What is at stake?
- Some delegations, who are involved in the conflict in Yemen, want to undermine the GEE by calling on states to vote against its mandate. The GEE is the only international, independent and impartial avenue to examine human rights violations in Yemen and is essential in supporting accountability efforts for millions of victims in Yemen.
- The work of the GEE has been instrumental in monitoring and addressing human rights violations by all parties to the conflict in Yemen. It plays a vital role in gathering information, publicly reporting recent patterns of violations and abuses, and providing timely recommendations to the international community concerning the situation in Yemen. In this year’s report to the Human Rights Council entitled “A nation abandoned: A call to end Yemen’s suffering” the GEE exposed again violations by all parties to the conflict and the lack of political will to put an end to the “pandemic of impunity” in Yemen.
Why is it critical to renew the mandate of the GEE?
- After seven years, the conflict in Yemen, shows no sign of abating and as documented by the GEE all parties to the conflict continue to commit egregious human rights abuses. Failing to support the renewal of the GEE mandate this session will have a devastating impact on the credibility of the HRC.
- It will also have a devastating impact on the lives of millions of Yemeni citizens. The ongoing conflict has ravaged the country, inflicting immense suffering on its people. At least 233,000 people have lost their lives, including 102,000 as a direct result of hostilities and 131,000 from indirect causes, such as conflict-related famine, and destruction of health services and infrastructure, to name a few. Today, over 400,000 Yemeni children are at risk of dyingof starvation and malnutrition, and 16.2 million people face acute food insecurity. This is not incidental. There is compelling evidence that the warring parties are deliberately starving Yemenis as a method of warfare. Impunity for war crimes and other violations of international law have fuelled the conflict in Yemen, creating the world’s “largest man-made humanitarian catastrophe.”
- The GEE has been instrumental in building the foundation for future accountability and redress efforts in Yemen. GEE continues to play a vital role in gathering information, publicly reporting recent patterns of violations and abuses, and providing timely recommendations to the international community concerning the situation in Yemen.
- The GEE is the only international, independent and impartial mechanism on Yemen working to monitor and combat violations by all parties to the conflict and provide visibility and deterrence for such violations. Allowing for this body to be done away with would be a green light to continue such violations, and, in effect, condemn millions in Yemen to "unremitting violence, death and constant fear".
Call for Action: call on your government to support accountability for Yemen
The resolution renewing the mandate of the GEE was circulated to UN member states by the Core Group[1]of states leading the resolution. There is still time to call on your respective governments to support the resolution ahead of the vote in the UN Human Rights Council on October 7, 2021. Let’s act now!
What can you do?
This resolution needs all the support it can garner. Encourage your friends and colleagues throughout the world to mobilize their networks. In particular, we seek support from human rights movements in Africa and Asia to place pressure on their governments, particularly voting states at the Human Rights Council[2], to support the renewal for 2 years of the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (GEE).
- Based on the information provided, write to your foreign ministry calling on it to support the resolution and the renewal of the GEE mandate. A list of contact information for foreign ministries can be found here[3].
- Send a copy of the correspondence to your country’s ambassador in Geneva. Contact information can be found here[4].
- Use social media to tweet at your representatives and @UN_HRC with #SupportGEE to raise awareness about the vote on the resolution.
What is the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (GEE)?
On 29 September 2017, the Human Rights Council established the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen.
Since then, the GEE has reported extensively on violations, some amounting to international crimes, by the Saudi/UAE-led coalition, the Yemeni government, Ansar Allah and other warring parties. It has addressed in its reporting a pandemic of impunity, where warring parties continue to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law, which are drivers of the current conflict.
[1]Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Ireland.
[2] https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/hrc/pages/membersbygroup.aspx
[3] http://www.ediplomat.com/dc/foreign_ministries.htm
[4] https://www.ungeneva.org/sites/default/files/blue-book/pdf/blue-book.pdf
