[02/06/2017 12:04]

ADEN-SABANET

Twenty six civil society organizations have slammed Mwatana organization chairperson's "biased" briefing to the UN Security Council Tuesday on the war in Yemen.

Mwatana chairperson presented alongside the UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh.

"We regret a lot that Mwatan's briefing was obviously biased and blind to the atrocities of (Houthi-Saleh) militia," said the CSOs in a collective objection statement.

"An armed militia that usurped power by the firepower of arms, unseated an elected president, reversed a national dialogue going on between Yemenis, mortar shelled unsuspecting civilians and committed countless other crimes: tortures; extrajudicial killings; arbitrary detention; hostage taking; kidnapping; forceful recruitment of child soldiers; ransacking; highway robbery; forcibly removing civilians from their houses; intimidating people by show of violence; bombing houses and mosques; murdering journalists; preventing humanitarian aid agencies from reaching civilians in need; and the list goes on and on."

The statement said: "We regret a lot that the briefing was far from impartiality and professionalism, and failed to represent the civil Yemeni society as a whole, in a manner that serves peace and justice according to the constitutional framework and in line with the pertinent resolutions of the UN Security Council."

More excerpts from the objection statement:

"We hope the esteemed UN Security Council will be careful to choose independent and professional organizations that cover enough parts of Yemen in their activity, with decades-long history of participation in the UN programs.

Limiting the representation (of Yemen) to organizations from a certain geographic enclave may block important facts from your council, at the expense of the victims."

"We hope that the UN's criteria of professionalism, independence and competency are considered when selecting participants to the UNSC sessions. "

"The undersigned organizations express their big concern (and suspicion) about certain CSOs that emerged, all of a sudden, in the country, after the coup with an apparent mission of providing a cover-up for the militia's atrocities and violations of the International Humanitarian Law and the International Human Rights Law. These organizations that seek, by expressions, to make the victim and executioner, or the aggressor and the defendant, look equal. (They) turn a blind eye to the stark violations of the rebel militias against the civilians.

Hence, we are sure that the UNSC will admit only reliable professional participant organizations in its coming sessions and will now allow the rebels' victims to have their voice heard.

In this regard, we also call the UNSC permanent members and the G-10 countries to exercise pressure on the party that rejects the UNSC resolutions and to support the UN special envoy's efforts."


Signatories
1- Hood for Rights and Freedooms
2- Raqeeb for Human Rights
3- Yemeni Organization for Economic Rights
4- Sah Institution for Human Rights
5- Local Monitors
6- Social Peace Organization
7- Kholud Society of Wounded and Martyr's Families
8- Humanitarian Center for Rights and Development
9- Yemen Legal Center
10- Justice and Equity'
11- Center for Transitional Justice
12- Wethaq for Rights and Freedoms
13- Ayn for Human Rights – Albeidha
14- Watha'eq for Freedoms and Rights
15- Ayn for Human Rights-Albeidha
16- Aljawf for Freedoms and Human Rights
17- Wethaq for Civil Orientation
18- Contemporary Democratic Forum
19- Diversity for Rights and Freedoms
20- Alnnas Center for Human Rights
21- Karamah for Human Rights
22- Monitoring Organization for Rights and Freedoms-Ibb
23- Yemeni Organization for Economic Rights
24- Maeen for Community Development
25- Karamah for Human Rights – Aden branch
26- Dignity Organization - Ibb

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