[29/09/2018 02:21]

GENEVA-SABA
Minister of Human Rights Mohammed Askar said the division in the UN Human Rights Council will undermine the effective of its future resolutions.

Askar made the remarks in a statement to Saba on Friday as he referred to the Dutch resolution that extended the mission of the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, which was voted for by less than half of the UNHRC members.

"Everyone noticed the division that appeared clear today during the UNHRC's approval of the resolution presented by a number of western countries and passed by less than half of the council's members," he said.

He said the countries that voted for the division of the UNHRC are to blame for this division of the UNHRC.

He also expressed surprise over those countries' ignorance of Yemen's keenness for arriving at a unanimous UNHRC resolution that reflects the international coherence over Yemen's situation.

"We, and the Arab Group (in the UNHRC), have been committed to a draft resolution we tabled under the UNHRC's Agenda Item 10 which calls on the OHCHR to continue providing technical assistance and capacity building for the government particularly the National Commission for Enquiry. That draft had been unanimously approved by the UNHRC's members," he said.

"When the Panel of Experts issued their report, the human rights ministry set up a special team to prepare a reply of 18 pages," he continued, "the government's reply proved that the report was biased … and that it deliberately turned a blind eye to the serious and major atrocities of the Houthi militia."

He said that the government's delegation, throughout the period of its participation in the 39th session of the UNHRC, has been conveying the facts of the report's bias to the international community.

He said that the government has taken its decision to refuse the extension of the Experts' mission.

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