Oil, gas and arms deals allow the Saudis to murder they way out of Yemen
The council’s treatment of Yemen contrasts sharply with Syria, where the United States and its Western and Arab allies have sponsored resolutions demanding the Syrian government and armed rebels provide access to relief workers. Washington and its allies have also pushed for an International Criminal Court investigation into Syrian atrocities. But when New Zealand urged the Security Council this year to adopt a resolution demanding access for humanitarian aid workers in Yemen, it encountered stiff resistance.
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The scale of violence escalated in March 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition — backed by U.S. logistics and intelligence support — launched an air war to defeat the Houthis and their allies and restore Hadi to power. The conflict has been marked by egregious violations of the laws of war, killing more than 6,400 people, about half of them civilians, and displacing more than 2.8 million, according to the United Nations.
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While both sides have committed war crimes, the Saudi-led coalition, with its superior firepower, has committed the most abuses, according to U.N. estimates.
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The United States and Jordan also derailed an effort to send a Security Council envoy to meet with representatives of Yemen’s warring parties.
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That plan garnered broad support in the 15-nation council, including from America’s allies Britain and France, as well as from rivals like Russia and China, according to council diplomats. But the United States registered reservations, and Jordan, then serving as the lone Arab government on the council, formally blocked the proposal.
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Abuses by Houthi separatists required less stringent verification than those committed by the coalition, which typically demanded ground proof.
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And reporting on the coalition’s use of cluster munitions has proved especially contentious. Last year, the panel received extensive documentation of the coalition’s use of cluster munitions, including photos, GPS coordinates, and video detailing exploded U.S.- and Brazilian-made cluster munitions. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has also documented the alleged use of cluster munitions by the coalitionin Yemen’s Hajjah province and the towns of Hairan and Bakel al-Meer. But, in January, the panel included in a 51-page report only a paragraph on cluster munitions, which are banned by 118 countries because they disproportionately harm civilians.