MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the UN Human Rights Council backed a Saudi bid for Yemen to create a national inquiry into human rights violations amid the long-standing conflict between the current government and the Houthi opposition political faction.
"Since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen, all parties have been accused of committing serious violations of human rights and the laws of war. It is shameful that members of the Human Rights Council…failed today to establish an international independent mechanism to investigate breaches of these laws," Oxfam Country Director Sajjad Mohammad Sajid said, as quoted by the charity.
A Saudi-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes in Yemen at the request of President-in-exile Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi since March, in an attempt to push the Houthis out of the areas they control.
According to Human Rights Watch, Yemeni authorities and the Saudi-led coalition have not investigated or prosecuted possible war crimes committed by its forces during the conflict.
The Yemeni conflict has killed 2,355 civilians, and left 80 percent of Yemen's population in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
