The second and third days of the 36^th session of the Human Rights Council were held at the UN in Geneva on the 12 and 13 September 2017.

The second day started with President of the Human Rights Council Mr Joaquín Maza Martelli giving back the floor to member states to continue the General debate on item 2. Saudi Arabia stated that it continues to protect Human Rights under Sharia law and that the government places a high importance on Human Rights protection. However, this statement is inconsistent with the reality on the ground as indeed, human rights defenders are persecuted and detained. Similarly, women continue to be silenced and have no voices in civil society.

Saudi Arabia noted that the Commissioner’s characterisation of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is incorrect. Indeed, Saudi Arabia noted that the number of civilian casualties are highly exaggerated as they alleged that armed groups in Yemen conduct hostilities in plain civilian clothes. Again, this is a gross misstatement by Saudi Arabia as several international groups have reported that the Saudi-led coalition bombs public infrastructures such as schools and hospitals thereby killing thousands of civilians.

Jordan also took the floor to denounce the continued Human Rights violations in the occupied Palestine territory. Similarly, Syria took the floor to call the international community and the Human Rights Council to put an end to the impunity, the hypocrisy and selectivity.

At the end of the General debate, the President Mr. Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli gave the floor to the SR on Contemporary forms of Slavery, including its causes and consequences Ms. Urmila Bhoola who provided a report on her recent visits to Mauritania, Niger and Paraguay. She also expressed her aim of ending the use of child soldiers as well as child labour.

The President then gave the floor to the Chairperson of the WG on Arbitrary detention who reported on his visits to Azerbaijan and the USA. He noted that migrants and asylum seekers are often at risk of arbitrary detention. The UAE is a clear example, where migrant workers are put at risk and are denied their most basic rights. He also expressed his concern that people detained in some countries have no access to a lawyer or are not afforded effective legal representation.

In Bahrain, Human Rights defenders continue to be detained arbitrarily without access to a lawyer for simply expressing their opinion or peacefully gathering to demand their rights to be respected. By detaining human rights defenders and charging them with terrorism offences, the government is trying to silence whoever fights for the promotion and protection of human rights in the kingdom.

On the third day, President of the Human Rights Council Mr. Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli opened the session by giving the floor to the Secretary General of ASEAN H.E. Mr. Le Luong Minh. He then gave the floor to the Yemeni Minister of Human Rights, H.E. Mr Mohammed Muhsen Aska.

The Yemeni Human Rights Minister talked about the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the growing tensions. He noted that the conflict is not due to diverging political views and that the armed group who instigated the coup refuse to be a legal and political component of the country.  He explained that the armed groups believe in false religious political model which it uses to call the death of others. He admonished these armed groups and reminded the Human Rights Council that this erroneous religious view is against Islam which he claims calls for tolerance. He also reported that armed groups have been recruiting child soldiers and planting land mines which are violations of international laws and conventions. He sought the assistance of the international community to help the Yemeni government to clean these land mines and to legitimate the government. He also called on the Human Rights Council and relevant stakeholders to hold accountable those responsible for the indiscriminate attacks carried out against civilians.

The Saudi-led coalition has continuously targeted civilians and bombed public infrastructures. ICSFT calls the Human Rights Council to take action and end the suffering of the Yemeni civilians.

ICSFT attended two events. The first one titled “The war in Yemen” was organised by KHIAM Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Torture. Mr. Robert Perkins who is a researcher for Control Arms discussed the ATT who seeks to impose assessment requirement on countries who deal with Human Rights Abusers. He noted that the UK is a member and fails to abide by its international obligations as it continues to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia who engages in violation of International Humanitarian Law. He also reminded that the US is the largest weapon seller to the Saudi kingdom, making it a complicit in the war crimes perpetrated by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

ICSFT also attended a side event organised by Al-Salam Foundation titled “Women Human Rights Defenders: at the forefront of the struggle for Human Rights”. The panellists of the event where women Human Rights defenders who seek to improve the Human Rights situation in the GCC countries. The event started with Amal Basha, who talked about her experience working on human rights issues in countries which are very discriminatory against women. She noted that she has been involved in a number of projects including, promoting the International Criminal Court as well as the Rome Statute.  The second panellist was Asma Darwish, a Bahraini Human Rights defender. She narrated her life’s work including her arrest and detention of her husband at the hands of the Bahraini government for their peaceful protesting. She also explained that she had been arrested during a peaceful sit-in at the UN building in Bahrain. She has since fled to France but has been charged during her absence for acts which she could not have committed since she has been residing in France for the past two years. The third panellist was Sima Walting, from Amnesty International. who explained that often women Human Rights defenders fall into this line of work because their loved ones have been arrested and tortured. She praised the courage of several women human rights defenders who have been arrested during their activities, such as Ebtisam Elsaegh who was recently detained and falsely charged with terrorism without being given a fair trial. The final panellist was Tara O’Grady from HR Sentinel, who noted that it is essential to connect women Human Rights defenders to ensure that they are not silenced by the government.

ICSFT was active during the Human Rights Council, where it participated by giving oral interventions. On Tuesday 12, President of ICSFT Dr Abdulhameed Dashti took the floor under Item 2 General Debate, where it condemned Saudi Arabia’s war crimes in Yemen and urged the United Nations to take immediate action and establish an independent commission of inquiry to hold Saudi and all complicit countries accountable. Under Item 3, clustered interactive dialogue with the WG on Arbitrary Detention and the SR on contemporary form of slavery, including its causes and consequences, ICSFT urged Saudi and Bahrain to cooperate with the WG on arbitrary detentions and to give access to prisons in order to investigate human rights violations such as torture and other cruel treatments. On Wednesday 13, ICSFT gave an oral intervention under Item 3, clustered interactive dialogue with the WG on the use of mercenaries and the SR on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. ICSFT raised concern on the increasing number of mercenaries used by Saudi in the war on Yemen and urged the Human Rights Council to act upon it.

ICSFT will be following the #HRC36 during the entire session. Follow @ICSFT for live tweets.