After
Saudi Puts
Blockade
on
Yemen, ICP
Asks UN
Where's Envoy
IOCA, Drafted
If-Asked
By Matthew
Russell Lee,
Photos
UNITED NATIONS,
November 6 – Days after an
airstrike on a hotel in Sa'ada,
Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition
killed 31 civilians, Houthi TV
bragged about the ballistic
missile they had shot at the
King Khalid International
Airport in Riyadh. Amidst a
flurry of arrests, including of
major Citigroup and Twitter
shareholder Alwaleed bin Talal -
we're still waiting to hear from
the US Federal Reserve, which is
supposed to regulate Citigroup,
on this one - the Saudi
leadership unleashed major
strikes on Yemen's capital. Then
they announced,
for their coalition, the
"closure of all ports of Yemen
air, sea and land." That's a
full blockade, amid starvation
and cholera. On November 6 Inner
City Press asked UN Deputy
Spokesman Farhan Haq, who
replied archly that UN envoy
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was
involved in the writing of what
was only an if-asked statement.
From the UN transcript:
Inner City Press: On the
blockade of all entry in and
out, the envoy, Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed, this would seem to
be among his jobs to try to
defuse this. Has he had
any communications with either
side? Where has he been on
this? And, number two,
what's the basis of the UN
saying that you believe that you
can get your flights in?
Is the UN just trying to get its
own flights in? Or does it
have a statement on the the
compliance with international
humanitarian law of the
announcement? Deputy
Spokesman: ...we would
like also to express concern
about the announcement by the
Saudi-led Coalition that [it] is
temporarily closing all of
Yemen's air, land and sea
ports. This may hamper the
delivery of humanitarian aid to
the country's population.
Because they have said it's
temporary, it's on that basis
that we're hopeful that those
ports will not continue to be
closed. And, therefore, we
expect our flights, as well as
those of others, to
resume. We hope it will
not take too long. Inner City
Press: the envoy, it would seem
like his job would
involve, not only just reaping
out after such an announcement,
but maybe being in the
loop. Has he spoken
to them? Did they tell him
in advance, we're about to
announce a blockade of the
country for which you're the UN
envoy? You're saying
people should somehow intuit
that he's part of the statement,
but we haven't seen anything
from him. Deputy
Spokesman: I've just said
that he was part of the
statement. And he was
involved in the writing of
this. He's been in touch
with all the various parties."
It wasn't a statement - is was
an if-asked response. Earlier on
November 6, Inner City Press
asked UK Ambassador Jonathan
Allen, from the UK transcript:
Inner City Press: On Yemen, the
Saudi coalition has announced
they’re closing all the borders
I guess in response to the
reported missile. What’s the
Council intend to do? Amb Allen:
I’ve seen those reports as well.
We’re trying to find out exactly
what’s happening on that
question. We support the Saudis’
legitimate security concerns
after the events over the
weekend, but at the same time,
have consistently called for
full humanitarian access into
Yemen, and, of course, for all
parties to the conflict to
follow international law in
every aspect. So at this stage,
it’s one where I think we need
to gather more information."
Inner City Press then asked
France's Francois Delattre, who
called it a hard question and
said he'd get back with an
answer. Video here.
We're still waiting. Where is
the United Nations Secretariat
and envoy on this? Secretary
General Antonio Guterres is in
Lisbon, on the public dime; his
envoy on Yemen Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed said nothing about
the slaughter in Sa'ada. From
Sana'a, Jaime McGoldrick issued
a statement on November 5, about
killings on November 1 and 3 but
not (yet?) the blockade. He
said, increasing the Sa'ada
death count from 29 to 31: "On 1
November, 31 people, including
six children, were killed and 26
others were wounded by an air
strike that struck a busy night
market in Sahar district in
Sa’ada governorate. Field
reports indicate that on 3
November another air strike hit
a house in Baqim district in
Sa’ada governorate, killing a
whole family of seven people,
including two children and two
women.I am equally horrified by
the continued indiscriminate
shelling occurring in Taizz
city. On 2 November, shelling in
a residential area in Al Onsowa
neighborhood in Taizz city
killed five children and injured
two others. All the children
killed or injured were between
seven and 15 years old." Will
the UN speak about the blockade
or even the missile? The Organization
of Islamic
Cooperation
has, in "strong condemnation of
the launching of a ballistic
missile at Riyadh on Saturday
evening, 4th November 2017, by
the Houthi and Saleh militias.
OIC Secretary General, Dr.
Yousef A. Al-Othaimeen,
emphasized that this outrageous
attempted assault on Riyadh
affirms undoubtedly the
insistence of the Houthi and
Saleh militias on its criminal
acts aiming at undermining
security and stability in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in
implementation of conspiratorial
plans against the Kingdom, its
citizens and residents. The
Secretary General reiterated the
OIC’s support for and full
solidarity with the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia as leadership,
government and people, in all
steps and measures it takes to
safeguard the country’s security
and stability. Al-Othaimeen
praised the vigilance of the
Saudi air defense forces as they
intercepted the missile before
falling on civilian populated
areas." And will the UN Security
Council, where the UK holds the
pen, issue a press staatement?
When the UN Security Council
held its last Yemen meeting on
October 10, Inner City Press
asked UK Ambassador Matthew
Rycroft if the Saudi-led
Coalition now being on the UN's
Children and Armed Conflict
"blacklist" would change UK arms
sales to Saudi Arabia. Video here.
It seems not. And Yemen is not
listed on the Council's agenda
for November, although Inner
City Press on November 1 asked
new Council president Italy
about it, here.
At noon on November 1, Inner
City Press asked UN Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric about 29 more
deaths by Saudi airstrike, this
time in Sahar in Sa'ada, UN
transcript here,
and below. On November 2 Inner
City Press asked UK Rycroft, as
Security Council penholer on
Yemen, about it, and he spoke of
the Saudis doing an
investigation. Well, now the
Saudi-led coalition has said
that they consider it a
legitimate military target, that
they targeted a gathering point
for some armed Houthis. So it's
legitimate to bomb a motel or
hotel with civilians? Does the
Saudi logic apply to airports?
From the November 2 UK
transcript: Inner City Press: In
Yemen, 29 people were killed.
Jamie McGoldrick said it’s a
terrible thing. It sounds like
this month there is only going
to be a humanitarian briefing in
the Security Council. What’s the
plan of the Council to address
what seems to be continued death
from the air? Amb Rycroft: I
think the Council continues to
be extremely concerned about the
situation in Yemen, both the
humanitarian, which, as you
imply, is bad and getting worse
with the absence of food and
medicines getting into the
country, and now the cholera
outbreak, and the political
track as well, which is at a
dead end. There is no meaningful
political process going on, and
we call on the parties to get
back into talks with the UN
Special Envoy that will
ultimately lead to a power
sharing agreements and a more
stable, prosperous Yemen. Inner
City Press: Does the UK
understand that Saudis were
going to investigate this
strike? Amb Rycroft: "So what
normally happens in an incident
like this – and we’ll check on
the specifics of this one – but
what normally happens is the
Saudis do an investigation and
we would support them doing that
if that’s what needed at this
time." From the UN's Nov 1
transcript: Inner City Press: I
want to ask you about
Yemen. There are these
reports of a Saudi-led airstrike
killing over 20 — some people
say 29 or 26 — in Sahar in
Sa’ada. And I wanted to
know, one, if the UN is aware of
it and, two, if there's any
comments from the
Secretary-General, this being
the day after his report was
presented, which said that the…
Saudi Arabia's taking all steps
or some steps to prevent… many
of the people in this hotel that
was hit were children. So,
what's his comment?
Spokesman: We've seen…
we've seen the reports that an
airstrike by the Saudi-led
Coalition took place in Sa’ada,
as you mentioned, including the
report of 26 deaths and many
more injured. As a general
comment, we remain deeply
concerned that civilians,
including children, continue to
bear the brunt of the
conflict. We underscore
that all parties to the conflict
must abide by their obligations
under international humanitarian
law — including the fundamental
rule of proportionality,
distinction, and precaution — to
protect civilians and civilian
infrastructure against
attack. The
Secretary-General, I think, was
very clear as was… was Ms. Gamba
in her preparation… in her
statement yesterday. And I
think the report that the
Secretary-General issued also
makes his position clear.
What we're continuing to see in
Yemen, very unfortunately, is
the continuing suffering of the
civilian population, of men,
women, and children, whether
it's from attacks or whether
it's from a denial of access to
humanitarian aid. And this
only redoubles our… our efforts
to finding a political solution.
Inner City Press: it's said that
most of these people that were
killed were in a either hotel or
motel or kind of internally
displaced people, and it's right
next to a public market.
So, it becomes… in terms of the
steps being taken, it's hard to
imagine a legitimate military
target that's next to a public
market and a
hotel…Spokesman: We're not
arguing. I'm not here to
defend… whether it's… I'm not
here to speak on behalf of the
Coalition, the Houthis or anyone
else. What we're
witnessing here is a continued
killing of civilians." On
October 13, Inner City Press
asked UN spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: on the Yemen,
there have been quotes from I
guess it's called the Yemeni
Government. The Yemeni
Government in exile has said
that they don't have any
information about the initiative
that Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed
said that he has.
Meanwhile, the rebels said that
he's biased. So I guess
I'm just wondering, since it's a
recent article, what has he done
since he came? He came and said,
I'm presenting to both sides,
and now, both sides… one side
that he's presumably in contact
with says they have nothing from
him, and the other side won't
talk to him. So…
Spokesman: I think… he is
in touch with the parties, and I
don't think it will be… those
contacts will not be done
through the media." Where? On
October 10, when the UN's
largely failing envoy on Yemen
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed came to
the stakeout and claimed that he
is about to meet the Houthis
soon, UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan
Haq handpicked in advance who
could ask questions. Inner City
Press waited to the end, out of
respect, then asked quite
audibly on what basis the envoy
claimed the Houthis would meet
with them. He did not answer.
Video
here. Nor did French
Ambassador Francois Delattre,
president of the Security
Council for October - he said he
wouldn't comment on what IOCA
said, even after a long closed
door consultation. This is the
UN. When a Yemen meeting during
the UN General Assembly week was
held at 8 am on September 22,
new UN Relief Chief Mark Lowcock
introduced as speakers the
foreign ministers of Sweden and
the Netherlands, representatives
of Japan and the UAE, and the
UN's envoy Ismael Ould Cheikh
Ahmed. While billed as a
humanitarian meeting, the UAE
spoke without irony about
outside interference. (Yemen's
representative spoke in Arabic;
Inner City Press streamed
Periscope video).
On September 28, Inner City
Press asked Lowcock whether he
thought the meeting had a
sufficiently humanitarian
character. He pointed to his
concluding statements, which
Inner City Press had not heard
(see below), saying that the
focus should be on humanitarian
access, and later lamenting the
continuing failure to deploy
cranes. The reason Inner City
Press was unable to get these
views, and others, on September
22 is, in a phrase, UN
censorship. To get to the
meeting, held in UN Conference
Room 5, Inner City Press unlike
other no-show reporters like
Egypt's Akhbar al Yom was
required to get a UN escort or
minder, who told Inner City
Press it could not ask questions
or speak with anyone. This
despite UN OCHA staff telling
Inner City Press it could wait
outside and speak to people as
they left. So the UN's
retaliatory eviction of Inner
City Press 19 months ago for
covering the now conflicted UN
corruption by Macau based
businessman Ng Lap Seng through
then PGA John Ashe now results
in it, unlike the Saudi and
pro-Saudi media in the meeting,
being unable to speak to the
participants. This has been
raised, so far without any
response, to Lowcock's fellow
Brit, the head of DPI Alison
Smale, here.
This is today's UN. We hope to
report more on Lowcock's views,
including hoping that OCHA
releases transcripts of what
Lowcock says. While Canada joins
The Netherlands at the UN in
Geneva in calling for an
investigation of possible war
crimes in Yemen including the
Saudi-led coalition's killing of
civilians, Canada has continued
a $15 billion arms deal with
Saudi Arabia. When Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
held a press conference at the
UN on September 21, Inner City
Press went early, intending to
ask him to explain this
incongruity or seeming
hypocrisy. Trudeau's spokesman
announced that the questioners
had been “pre-determined,” but
did not explain how. So in a
lull after what the spokesman
called the last question - would
Trudeau be a mediator on
Venezuela - Inner City Press
asked about Canadian arms sales
to Saudi while calling for a
probe. At first Trudeau said he
was happy to answer the
question. Then he said no, he
would not reward “bad behavior,”
and instead reached out for
question in French about day
care. (Inner City Press notes
that pre-determining questioners
is bad behavior. Apparently the
CBC journalist who was given the
first question agreed to it; the
organization only the day before
sent an Egyptian state media
correspondent as the lone “pooler”
in Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' meeting with General
Sisi.) Eearlier on September 21
when UK minister Alistair Burt
came in front of the UN Security
Council to speak about
accountability for Daesh in
Iraq, Inner City Press deferred
to a timely question about the
referendum in Kurdistan. Then
during lull - identical to
that in which it put its
question to Trudeau - Inner City
Press asked Burt about his
quote, about accountability for
the bombing of civilians in
Yemen by the Saudi-led Coalition
with UK bombs, that "Our view is
that it is for the Coalition
itself, in the first instance,
to conduct such investigations.
They have the best insight into
their own military procedures
and will be able to conduct the
most thorough and conclusive
investigations.” Inner City
Press asked how he can say this,
given that the Saudis have
investigated less than five
percent of the killings. Video here.
Burt's answer focused on the
peace process - what peace
process? At least Burt answered,
and did not like Trudeau try to
call merely asking the question
in a lull "bad behavior" - we'll
have more on this.
***
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