UNITED NATIONS — A “disproportionate amount” of attacks on civilians in Yemen’s conflict appear to be carried out by the Saudi-led and U.S.-supported coalition, the United Nations human rights chief said Tuesday.
Zeid Raad al-Hussein spoke to a rare public session of the U.N. Security Council on the conflict that the U.N. says has killed at least 5,884 people since March, when airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition began.
The conflict pits Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the coalition against Iran-supported Houthi rebels and supporters of the country’s longtime former president.
U.N.-sponsored peace talks on Yemen, the first such face-to-face talks, collapsed on Sunday in Switzerland but are scheduled to reconvene Jan. 14. Fighting continues despite a cease-fire agreement in place until at least Dec. 28.
U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed warned of “deep divisions” and said the path to peace would be long and difficult.
Tuesday’s open meeting was organized by the United States, the current council president. The gathering gave the 15 council members and U.N. officials a chance to put pressure on all parties to bring the conflict to a close.
A notable absence was Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s powerful northern neighbor, which was not on the list of speakers.
Human rights groups have repeatedly blamed the Saudi-led coalition for killing civilians and destroying health centers and other infrastructure with airstrikes.
A statement by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday criticized the Security Council for “remaining almost silent on coalition abuses.”
Looking ahead to the meeting, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters Monday evening that the U.S. has repeatedly urged Saudi Arabia to fully comply with international humanitarian law. “Those conversations have happened at really every level,” she said. The United States has backed the coalition with arms sales.
On Tuesday, Power said the U.S. will “continue to urge the Saudi coalition to ensure lawful and discriminate targeting.”
The U.N. is supposed to provide technical assistance to Yemen’s government to look into human rights abuses, but Zeid said member states’ approval for needed U.N. personnel is pending.
Zeid also said a “failed state” in Yemen would almost certainly give space for further growth of extremist groups like the Islamic State.
The U.N. deputy humanitarian coordinator, Kyung-wha Kang, said millions of people in what was already the Arab world’s poorest country are malnourished and that the country’s health system is “close to collapse.” Aid delivery to most of the country remains difficult, and some council members called for a lifting of blockades to allow access.
