UK leaders want to throw Saudi Arabia out of Human Rights council over abuses
Saudi Arabia has been involved in air strikes, beheadings and mass execution in Yemen.
London: Expressing concern over human rights violations in the Arab world’s poorest country, Yemen, UK campaigners and politicians have urged Prime Minister Theresa May to vote against Saudi Arabia retaining its chairmanship of Human Rights Council.
On Friday, on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, UK leaders have urged May to intervene ahead of UN vote on whether Saudi should remain in its post or be thrown out, according to a report in the Independent.
Saudi Arabia has been involved in air strikes, beheadings and mass execution in Yemen.
UK leaders appeal comes in the wake of recent conflict has killed more than 9,000 people, displaced 2.4 million, and destroyed much of the already limited infrastructure in the violence-hit country.
Critics have said that the crucial vote on September 13 would be a golden opportunity for Theresa May's government to show the world that UK values and respects human rights.
Rights groups and UN agencies have expressed concern that even if the fighting is brought to an end, the country will still grapple with a brutal legacy of unexploded munitions, including bombs dropped by Saudi-led warplanes in and around the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and in the Houthis’ northern heartland.
They say most of the deaths to date have been caused by the Saudi-led airstrikes, and blame the United States and Britain for supplying weapons and providing logistical support for the bombings.
In Yemen and in other conflict zones, children have been known to stumble upon undetonated balls or mistake them for toys, claimed Amnesty International.
A report assessing the cost from damage to infrastructure and economic losses in Yemen's civil war stated that the loss is more than $14 billion so far that highlights the effort needed to rebuild the country, where more than half the population is suffering from malnutrition.