Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon indicated Tuesday that the Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen won’t be returned to a United Nations blacklist for violating child rights despite his “very strong concerns” about the protection of children in the war-torn country.
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Ban reported to the Security Council on his controversial decision to temporarily remove the coalition from the United Nations list of shame pending a review, triggering an outcry from rights groups. Riyadh denies the accusations.
Despite the removal of the coalition from the blacklist, Ban reiterated his “very strong concerns” about protecting Yemen’s children from its airstrikes. A truce declared by the U.N.in April has been repeatedly breached by both sides.
In a rare move, Ban – who steps down at the end of the year after a decade in the top United Nations job – publicly slammed Saudi Arabia for exerting unacceptable pressure on the world body over the children and armed conflict report.
On Tuesday, human rights groups pressed the United Nations leader to stand up to the Saudis and put the country back on the blacklist.
Since 2014, Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, which is the country’s main opposition force. Diplomatic sources told Reuters in June that Riyadh suggested a fatwa – an Islamic legal opinion – could be placed on the world body.
Making an address at the meeting, Saudi ambassador to the UN, Abdullah Al Mouallimi, said the kingdom puts the interest and safety of children at the top of its priorities.
The offensive, backed by a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Arab states, pushed the militants out of several cities, including Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramawt, but Al Qaeda fighters have since regained some ground.
“We will continue our engagement to ensure that concrete measures to protect children are implemented”, he told a council debate on children and armed conflicts.
“The content of the report stands”, Ban said. “Let me be clear: the report and its annexes may cause discomfort, but that is not the goal in itself”.
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“They are willing to continue to be engaged, they formally accept worldwide humanitarian law, and give all sorts of info useful to avoid and prevent future incidents affecting children”, said the source.
