Brussels, 03/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 2 December, the EU ambassador to Yemen, Bettina Muscheidt, called for an end to the armed conflict in Yemen and for the urgent return to negotiations.
“It's extremely urgent - there must be an end to the armed campaign. The parties must be put around the negotiating table and have a substantial discussion for the first time”, she said at a debate on the situation in Yemen at the European Parliament's sub-committee on human rights. In Muscheidt's view, if discussions do not take place or move forward swiftly, the situation could escape all control.
While several attempts at dialogue have taken place unsuccessfully, Muscheidt believed that this time the parties seemed much more serious as regards the United Nations proposal to hold new talks. She asked the few MEPs at the meeting to give their support to the UN and to push their governments to engage strongly so that the negotiations might start.
Belkis Wille from Human Rights Watch stated that the conflict, and especially the raids of the Saudi Arab-led coalition, had thus far claimed 2,600 civilian lives, with 60% of these being due to bombs. In Wille's view, the coalition has carried out dozens of attacks in violation of the laws of war. She thus called on the coalition to investigate the air strikes that have not reached their military target, and for their commanders to be held responsible. She condemned the use of cluster bombs. Wille also wants the states that sold bombs to the coalition countries - including France and the UK - to investigate how the bombs are used, and she gave the example of a British bomb that had been used in an attack on a civilian factory.
Wille spoke about the catastrophic human rights situation in Yemen. Of Yemen's 26 million inhabitants, 21 million need assistance. There are 11.6 million who need humanitarian assistance and 14.4 million whose food needs are not being met. There are 14 million who do not have access to medical care either.
Although the conflict has made the situation in the country worse, Muschedit said that the state of Yemen was already weak before. “The Yemeni institutions have reached breaking point” she said, stating that a UN report published two years ago showed that the lawcourts were having to close due to a lack of resources and judges.
Muscheidt and Wille also spoke about both past and present human rights violations in Yemen - a country that authorises child marriage and the death penalty for under-18 year olds. Wille called for an extraordinary meeting of the UN Council for human rights, hoping it would result in a resolution calling for an investigation into the violation of human rights in Yemen. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)