NEW YORK: The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has criticized Saudi Arabia for carrying out a “disproportionate amount” of attacks on civilian areas in Yemen.
Zeid Raad al-Hussein made the comments during the first public session of the UN Security Council on Yemen on Tuesday.
Hussein said he has observed heavy shelling from the ground and air in areas of Yemen with a high concentration of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and schools.
He added that a disproportionate amount appeared to be the result of airstrikes carried out by Saudi warplanes.
Saudi Arabia started military attacks against Yemen in late March purportedly to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and bring fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power.
The rising death toll and dire humanitarian situation in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country has raised concerns among human rights groups as Yemeni sources say more than 7,500 people have been killed and over 14,000 others injured.
Hussein, meanwhile, urged the council to do everything in its power to help restrain the use of force by all parties and to urge all sides to abide by the basic principles of international humanitarian law.
According to diplomats, Tuesday’s meeting was aimed at shedding more light on the conflict and pressuring all sides to seek an end to the crisis via negotiations.
A renewable seven-day ceasefire under UN auspices was agreed between warring parties in Yemen and began on December 15, but it has been repeatedly violated.
A first round of peace negotiations adjourned on Sunday while the UN’s envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said the two sides would meet again on January 14, 2016.
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