The Marquess of Lothian – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they made representations to the UN Human Rights Council in September for the establishment of an international investigation into the conduct of the conflict in Yemen, in the light of the recommendation for such an investigation by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

A resolution on Yemen was adopted by consensus at the last session of the UN Human Rights Council on 2 October. The Human Rights Council has no mandate to call for investigations into breaches of International Humanitarian Law, but the resolution does contain mechanisms for monitoring the human rights situation in Yemen. It calls on the UN to provide technical assistance to the Government of Yemen, assist the Yemeni National Independent Commission of Inquiry, and report back to the next session of the Human Rights Council. We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Yemen and continue to work with all parties to find a political solution to the conflict. This will help create the conditions for the legitimate government to improve its capacity to protect human rights. The UK welcomes Yemen’s commitment to cooperate with the UN on protection of human rights.