On
Yemen,
Amnesty For
Saleh Hit by
Human Rights
Committee,
Dodged by SC
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 29 --
Yemen was
addressed by
the UN
Security
Council
and the UN
Human Rights
Committee on
Thursday. The
former, with
power,
declined to
comment on Ali
Saleh's
impunity. The
latter,
without power,
said that the
Amnesty Law
should be
repealed.
On
March 14,
Inner
City Press reported on
an
ill-attended
Human Right
Committee
session
at which
Yemen's new
Human Rights
Minister
Hooriah
Mashour said,
among other
things, that
there had been
"two thousand
martyrs"
during the
uprising
against Saleh,
and that the
US had killed
civilians with
drones at
Majala. Click
here for
Inner City
Press'
March
14 report.
On
March 29 when
the Human
Rights
Committee
released its
"concluding
observations"
on Yemen,
Inner City
Press asked
Commissioners
Krister Thelin
and Lazhari
Bouzid what
they had done
with the 2000
casualty
figure, much
high than that
used for
example by the
UN, on
Saleh's
impunity and
the US drone
issue.
Thelin
said that
"each
government is
responsible
for what
happens" on
its
territory.
Apparently
they will not
be reviewing
the US drone
strikes, even
as the UN
itself under
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
"The
Drone" Ladsous
is moving
toward using
unmanned
surveillance
vehicles, as
first exposed
by Inner City
Press last
week.
On
amnesty,
Thelin
directed Inner
City Press to
Paragraph 6 of
the concluding
observations,
which says
"The State
party should
repeal Amnesty
Law No. 1 of
2012."
By
contrast, when
Inner City
Press asked
outgoing
Security
Council
president Mark
Lyall
Grant about
Saleh, he
replied that
he did not
want to
discuss any
particular
individual:
Inner
City
Press: On
Yemen, in the
Presidential
Statement,
where it says
those who
violated human
rights should
be held
accountable.
How
should people
read that with
regard to Ali
Saleh, the
former
President,
who’s been
widely charged
with human
rights
violations,
and on Mali
it’s said that
these ECOWAS
Presidents
couldn’t fly
in, that they
were blocked
at the
airport, the
town of Kidal
is about
to fall. Does
the
Council.... do
you expect
during your
Presidency to
take up Mali
again, is that
your
information,
and what’s
happening
in terms of
the Council
and this coup
d’état
in Mali?
Amb
Lyall
Grant: I don’t
want to
comment on
latest
developments
in Mali
because I’ve
been in the
Council all
morning so I’m
not abreast
of the latest
developments
on that. On
the question
of
accountability,
yes, the
Presidential
Statement made
clear that all
those guilty
of crimes
against
humanity for
acts of
terrorism
should
be held
accountable.
That is the
principled
view of all
Council
members and it
is included in
the
Presidential
Statement
because we
believe it
should apply
in all cases.
I don’t want
to comment
though on
particular
individuals in
the case of
Yemen. Thank
you."
So
when will the
Human Rights
Committee take
up Mali? This
session, it
considered
Cape
Verde which
has not filed
any report in
18 years.
Thelin noted
that
the Cape Verde
Permanent
Representative,
a fixture
around the UN,
did
come to the
session, but
couldn't
answer the
questions. The
session
was open, but
how many
people or
journalists
attended?
Footnote:
On
Turkmenistan,
Inner City
Press asked
Thelin if the
UN's
projection
that opening a
regional
center in the
country would
help to open
it
up, and if
UNDP programs
on human
rights lead to
improvements
the
Committee can
see. He called
Turkmenistan
still a closed
society, and
said that UNDP
programs have
"no direct
effect" on the
human rights
issues the
Committee
reviews. Your
tax dollars at
work.
, 
