Two leading human rights groups urged UN member-states today to suspend Saudi Arabia from the UN Human Rights Council over the killing of civilians in Yemen and repression at home. 
 
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said they would begin lobbying the UN General Assembly to hold a vote on suspending Saudi Arabia from the Geneva-based council, even though they admitted this was a long shot. 
 
&quot;Over the past few months, Saudi Arabia has gone beyond the pale and does not deserve anymore to sit on the Human Rights Council,&quot; said HRW deputy director Philippe Bolopion. 
 
Human Rights Watch accused Riyadh of targeting civilians in the war in Yemen, using cluster bombs banned by international conventions and laying siege to ports to prevent basic goods from reaching Yemen. 
 
The joint appeal again put the spotlight on Saudi Arabia, which has been leading an Arab coalition carrying out air strikes against Huthi rebels and their allies who seized much of Yemen. 
 
The coalition is supporting Yemen&#39;s President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in a war that the UN says has killed more than 6,400 people, about half of them civilians since March 2015. 
 
&quot;Saudi Arabia is in a league of its own,&quot; Bolopion told a news conference, adding that the kingdom is &quot;getting away with murder in a way that no other country has been able to do.&quot; 
 
The rights groups charged that Saudi Arabia had used its position as a council member to block an independent international investigation of war crimes in Yemen. 
 
Riyadh pressured UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to remove the coalition from a blacklist of child rights violators by threatening to withdraw funding to UN aid programs. 
 
Saudi Arabia has denied using pressure tactics and insists the coalition is not deliberately targeting civilians in Yemen. 
Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir dismissed the accusations as &quot;outrageous.&quot; 
 
&quot;The coalition is very cautious in selecting targets. We do not harm civilians,&quot; the minister told reporters in Paris.Amnesty International said the Saudi government had brutally cracked down on dissent at home and resorts to executions for offenses that under international law are not punishable by the death penalty. 
 
Since 2013, all prominent human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia have been either thrown into prison, threatened into silence or have fled the country, said Richard Bennett, Amnesty`s UN director. 
 
Saudi Arabia was elected by the assembly in 2013 to sit on the 47-member council and a two-thirds majority would be needed to remove it from the body, which the rights groups and UN diplomats admitted would be unlikely. 
 
Libya is the only country ever to suspended from the council by a vote held in 2011 to protest Moamer Kadhafi`s violent crackdown on protesters. 
 
The rights groups said Saudi Arabia had managed to get away with such violations because of support from the United States and Britain. 
 
HRW&#39;s director for the Middle East, Sarah Leah Whitson, said the United States and Britain had &quot;crossed the threshold to be part of this war&quot; in Yemen by supplying weapons and supporting operations. 
 
The rights group is asking the Pentagon to provide information on how it is supporting the coalition with the choice of targets, said Whitson. 
 
This form of military assistance would make the United States complicit in war crimes, she said. 
 
(AFP)

The groups accuse Riyadh of targeting civilians in the Yemen war & laying seige to the country's ports, blocking basic goods from getting in

Two leading human rights groups urged UN member-states today to suspend Saudi Arabia from the UN Human Rights Council over the killing of civilians in Yemen and repression at home. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said they would begin lobbying the UN General Assembly to hold a vote on suspending Saudi Arabia from the Geneva-based council, even though they admitted this was a long shot. "Over the past few months, Saudi Arabia has gone beyond the pale and does not deserve anymore to sit on the Human Rights Council," said HRW deputy director Philippe Bolopion. Human Rights Watch accused Riyadh of targeting civilians in the war in Yemen, using cluster bombs banned by international conventions and laying siege to ports to prevent basic goods from reaching Yemen. The joint appeal again put the spotlight on Saudi Arabia, which has been leading an Arab coalition carrying out air strikes against Huthi rebels and their allies who seized much of Yemen. The coalition is supporting Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in a war that the UN says has killed more than 6,400 people, about half of them civilians since March 2015. "Saudi Arabia is in a league of its own," Bolopion told a news conference, adding that the kingdom is "getting away with murder in a way that no other country has been able to do." The rights groups charged that Saudi Arabia had used its position as a council member to block an independent international investigation of war crimes in Yemen. Riyadh pressured UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to remove the coalition from a blacklist of child rights violators by threatening to withdraw funding to UN aid programs. Saudi Arabia has denied using pressure tactics and insists the coalition is not deliberately targeting civilians in Yemen. Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir dismissed the accusations as "outrageous." "The coalition is very cautious in selecting targets. We do not harm civilians," the minister told reporters in Paris.Amnesty International said the Saudi government had brutally cracked down on dissent at home and resorts to executions for offenses that under international law are not punishable by the death penalty. Since 2013, all prominent human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia have been either thrown into prison, threatened into silence or have fled the country, said Richard Bennett, Amnesty`s UN director. Saudi Arabia was elected by the assembly in 2013 to sit on the 47-member council and a two-thirds majority would be needed to remove it from the body, which the rights groups and UN diplomats admitted would be unlikely. Libya is the only country ever to suspended from the council by a vote held in 2011 to protest Moamer Kadhafi`s violent crackdown on protesters. The rights groups said Saudi Arabia had managed to get away with such violations because of support from the United States and Britain. HRW's director for the Middle East, Sarah Leah Whitson, said the United States and Britain had "crossed the threshold to be part of this war" in Yemen by supplying weapons and supporting operations. The rights group is asking the Pentagon to provide information on how it is supporting the coalition with the choice of targets, said Whitson. This form of military assistance would make the United States complicit in war crimes, she said. (AFP)

Amnesty, Human Rights Watch want Saudi Arabia off UN Human Rights Council

The number of Afghans internally displaced byconflict&nbsp;has &quot;dramatically&quot; doubled to 1.2 million in just three years, Amnesty International said today, warning that a lack of basic services was putting people on the brink of survival.

The rights group said that situation of people uprooted from their homes in&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;has deteriorated in recent years as global attention and aid money have been diverted to other crises.

&quot;While the world&#39;s attention seems to have moved on from&nbsp;Afghanistan, we risk forgetting the plight of those left behind by the&nbsp;conflict,&quot; said Champa Patel, South Asia director at Amnesty International.

&quot;Even after fleeing their homes to seek safety, increasing numbers of Afghans are languishing in appalling conditions in their own country, and fighting for their survival with no end in sight,&quot; she said in a statement.

The insurgency in&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;has gained strength since the withdrawal of international troops from combat at the end of 2014 and the Taliban are stronger than at any point since they were driven from power by U.S.-backed forces in 2001.

The Taliban launched a spring offensive in&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;last month, vowing to drive out the Western-backed government in Kabul and restore strict Islamic rule.

Amnesty said displaced Afghans lacked proper shelter, food, water, access to healthcare, employment and education.

&quot;Even an animal would not live in this hut, but we have to,&quot; Amnesty quoted a 50-year old woman living in a camp in the western Afghan city of Herat as saying.

&quot;I would prefer to be in prison rather than in this place, at least in prison I would not have to worry about food and shelter.&quot;

With food being scarce, some people were struggling to have a one meal per day, Amnesty said.

&quot;We mostly live off bread or spoiled vegetables from the market,&quot; Raz Muhammad, a community leader in Kabul&#39;s Chaman-e-Barbak camp, told Amnesty.

Access to healthcare was limited to mobile clinics operated by charities or the government, which were only available occasionally, forcing displaced people to seek private care which they could hardly afford.

&quot;If we are ill, then I have to beg and find some money to go to the private clinics,&quot; a 50-year-old woman in Herat told Amnesty. &quot;We have no other choice.&quot;

The rights group said the international community and the Afghan government must address the needs of the displaced people &quot;before it&#39;s too late&quot;.

A number of Afghans displaced by conflict has increased over the past three years.

The number of Afghans internally displaced byconflict has "dramatically" doubled to 1.2 million in just three years, Amnesty International said today, warning that a lack of basic services was putting people on the brink of survival. The rights group said that situation of people uprooted from their homes in Afghanistan has deteriorated in recent years as global attention and aid money have been diverted to other crises. "While the world's attention seems to have moved on from Afghanistan, we risk forgetting the plight of those left behind by the conflict," said Champa Patel, South Asia director at Amnesty International. "Even after fleeing their homes to seek safety, increasing numbers of Afghans are languishing in appalling conditions in their own country, and fighting for their survival with no end in sight," she said in a statement. The insurgency in Afghanistan has gained strength since the withdrawal of international troops from combat at the end of 2014 and the Taliban are stronger than at any point since they were driven from power by U.S.-backed forces in 2001. The Taliban launched a spring offensive in Afghanistan last month, vowing to drive out the Western-backed government in Kabul and restore strict Islamic rule. Amnesty said displaced Afghans lacked proper shelter, food, water, access to healthcare, employment and education. "Even an animal would not live in this hut, but we have to," Amnesty quoted a 50-year old woman living in a camp in the western Afghan city of Herat as saying. "I would prefer to be in prison rather than in this place, at least in prison I would not have to worry about food and shelter." With food being scarce, some people were struggling to have a one meal per day, Amnesty said. "We mostly live off bread or spoiled vegetables from the market," Raz Muhammad, a community leader in Kabul's Chaman-e-Barbak camp, told Amnesty. Access to healthcare was limited to mobile clinics operated by charities or the government, which were only available occasionally, forcing displaced people to seek private care which they could hardly afford. "If we are ill, then I have to beg and find some money to go to the private clinics," a 50-year-old woman in Herat told Amnesty. "We have no other choice." The rights group said the international community and the Afghan government must address the needs of the displaced people "before it's too late".

Number of Afghans uprooted by violence doubles, a million "on brink of survival"- Amnesty

amnesty

Amnesty, News on Amnesty, stories on Amnesty, articles on Amnesty, Amnesty stories at Wion, Amnesty news, Amnesty latest news