A "disproportionate amount" of attacks on civilians in Yemen's conflict appear to be carried out by the Saudi-led and U.S.-supported coalition, the United Nations human rights chief said Tuesday, December 22, the Associated Press reports.
Zeid Raad al-Hussein spoke to a rare public session of the UN Security Council on the conflict that the UN says has killed at least 5,884 people since March, when airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition began.
The conflict pits Yemen's internationally recognized government and the coalition against Iran-supported Houthi rebels and supporters of the country's longtime former president.
UN-sponsored peace talks on Yemen, the first such face-to-face talks, collapsed on Sunday in Switzerland but are scheduled to reconvene Jan. 14. UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed warned of "deep divisions" and said the path to peace would be long and difficult.
Tuesday's open meeting was organized by the United States, the current council president. The gathering gave the 15 council members and UN officials a chance to put pressure on all parties to bring the conflict to a close.
A notable absence was Saudi Arabia, Yemen's powerful northern neighbor, which was not on the list of speakers.
Human rights groups have repeatedly blamed the Saudi-led coalition for killing civilians and destroying health centers and other infrastructure with airstrikes. A statement by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday criticized the Security Council for "remaining almost silent on coalition abuses."
The UN is supposed to provide technical assistance to Yemen's government to look into human rights abuses, but Zeid said member states' approval for needed UN personnel is pending.
