An end to independent monitoring of the conflict in Yemen puts millions of lives at additional risk

As the war in Yemen heads into its seventh year, millions of people in Yemen continue to suffer through the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis. To date, the UN estimates that 233,000 Yemenis have been killed as a result of the fighting and the humanitarian crisis.

The recent vote by members of the Human Rights Council to reject renewal of the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (GEE), the only international, independent and impartial mechanism to monitor violations by all parties to the conflict, puts millions of already vulnerable lives at further risk.

This is the first time the Human Rights Council has rejected a draft resolution since its establishment in 2006.

The rejection of the renewal of the mandate while violations of international law continue in the country sends the message that those violating the rights of the Yemeni people can act with impunity with no one to hold them accountable. It has also severed the only pathway to international justice for victims of the conflict.

Accountability requires impartial documentation of violations by all parties to a conflict and the GEE’s continued mandate was essential to show the people of Yemen that the world is watching and will work to support the victims of the conflict.