34th Human Rights Council

ICSFT – Side event, 13 March 2017

“Genocide in Yemen and the International Silence’

(From left to right: Dr Abdulhameed Dashti, Dr. Hizam Alsahrif, Mr. Abdulsalam Alzahib, Dr Fouad Ibrahim, Mr. Ahmed Almoayad, Dr. Jamil Jayash, Mrs. Kim Sharif)

On Monday, 13th March 2017 the side event on “Genocide in Yemen and the International Silence” was held by the International Council Supporting Fair Trial and Human Rights in partnership with Khiam Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture. Following the moderator Dr Foad Al Ibrahim’s remark, Dr. Jamil Jayash, human rights activist gave his presentation on the consequences of the Saudi-led coalition atrocities in Yemen, that led to the killing of more than 3,799 civilians and more than 6,711 injured, in particular more than 2.2 million children suffering due to extreme malnutrition and famine. His speech was followed by Mr. Ahmed Almoayad, Executive director of Saba Organization for Democracy and Human Rights, who stated that crimes against Yemeni people are premeditated by the Saudi-led coalition to destroy the country for their own political agenda. Mr. Abdulsalam Alzahibi and Mrs. Kim Sharif, both Human Rights Activists continued to address the presence of terrorist groups in Yemen. Mrs. Kim Sharif emphasized particularly, that the war and the genocide in Yemen are exceeding the atrocities of WWII and that the event is a Holocaust that has to be stopped now. During the side event, the panellists emphasized the brutality and atrocity of Saudi-led coalition war crimes in Yemen. After 5 months of Saudi-led coalition attacks, over 12’000 civilians were killed and over 40’000 civilians were wounded. Not even children are safe from these crimes. Contrary, they are the ones suffering the most from the continued indiscriminate bombing and blockade by the coalition. The blockade is having a disproportionate impact on civilians, by stopping life-saving medication being flown in, and preventing 20,000 Yemenis accessing specialist medical treatment abroad. Domestic and international aid is difficult since hospitals and other major infrastructures are being raided and destroyed. The humanitarian situation in Yemen is unprecedented. To illustrate, due to the Saudi-led coalition’s attacks, a child under five dies every 10 minutes of preventable causes and around 14 million people are struggling to stay alive because of lack of food supplies. The messages of the speakers are unanimous. International institutions should stand up against these inhuman war crimes and stop these barbaric, politically driven operations in Yemen. ICSFT urges the international community, especially the UN and the Human Rights Council to send a clear message to the Saudi-led coalition to immediately stop these attacks and human rights violations against civilians in Yemen as such. The issue of Yemen should not be kept under item 10, which on its own is a mockery of the rule of law. The dire human rights situation in Yemen deserves to be under item 4 of the council's agenda, and the international independent inquiry must be established with our further delay to investigate the war crimes being committed by the Saudi-coalition. We denounce in the strongest terms the genocide in Yemen and will stand for the right to life of every human being.

Panellists:

Dr. Jamil Jayash, Human Rights Activist

Mr. Ahmed Almoayad, Executive director of Saba Organisation for Democracy and Human Rights

Dr. Hizam Alsahrif, Human Rights Activist Mr. AbdulsalamAlzahibi, Human Rights Activist

Mrs. Kim Sharif, Lawyer and Human Rights Activist

Moderator:

Dr. Fouad Ibrahim, Deputy President of ICSFT