Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK will support an independent, international investigation into alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen at the Human Rights Council.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are pleased that we could reach a strong consensus Yemen resolution at the Human Rights Council. It is vital that the international community continues to be active in supporting efforts to improve the human rights situation in Yemen.

The Government is not opposing calls for an international independent investigation, but, first and foremost, we want to see the Saudis investigate allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) which are attributed to them; and for their investigations to be thorough and conclusive. Saudi Arabia has publicly stated that it is investigating reports of alleged violations of IHL, and that any lessons learned will be acted upon.