By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 18 -- While the UN's envoy on Yemen has been reticent to speak of
the impact of the airstrikes of the Saudi-led coalition as war crimes, a
new report just issued by UNICEF has this to say: "Nearly 400 schools have been damaged due to shelling or airstrikes since the end of March, including 95 that have been completely destroyed."
Such
attacks on schools are war crimes. But this is not heard from the UN's
replacement envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. More from UNICEF, now more generic:
“This
conflict is a particular tragedy for Yemeni children. Children are
being killed by bombs or bullets and those that survive face the growing
threat of disease and malnutrition. This cannot be allowed to
continue,” UNICEF's Representative in Yemen Julien Harneis said about
the report, Yemen: Childhood Under Threat.
The
numbers, which in the statement do not ascribe responsibility: Yemen:
Childhood Under Threat outlines the different dimensions of the crisis
facing children including at least 398 children killed and 605 injured
as a result since the conflict escalated in March; children recruited or
used in the conflict has more than doubled – from 156 in 2014 to 377 so
far verified in 2015; 15.2 million people lack access to basic health
care, with 900 health facilities closed since March 26; 1.8 million
children are likely to suffer from some form of malnutrition by the end
of the year; 20.4 million people are in need of assistance to establish
or maintain access to safe water and sanitation due to fuel shortages,
infrastructure damage and insecurity; and nearly 3,600 schools have
closed down, affecting over 1.8 million children."
“We
urgently need funds so we can reach children in desperate need. We
cannot stand by and let children suffer the consequences of a
humanitarian catastrophe,” UNICEF's Harneis said.
The UN
Secretariat's
bungling of
Yemen
mediation has
become ever
more clear,
according to
multiple
sources and
documents
exclusively
seen by Inner
City Press,
see below. Now
things have
hit a new low.
The
UN-announced
"humanitarian
pause" was
entirely
ignored by the
Saudi-led
coalition,
which
continued
airstrikes
including most
recently one
killing dozens
of civilians
in Mocha.
Just
after that,
the Saudis
themselves
announced a
five day
pause. UN
envoy Ismail
Ould Cheikh
Ahmed as
exposed by
Inner City
Press has been
on vacation,
as has his
deputy Gluck,
so the UN is
uninvolved in
this pause.
But, Inner
City Press
asked in a
July 25
article,
how long until
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon issues
a statement
welcoming and
implicitly
taking some
credit for the
announcement?
More than 24
hours after
that, Ban did
in fact issue
a statement,
welcoming the
Saudi announcement
- already
being violated
- while
referring only
obliquely to
"reports of civilian
deaths in
Mokha on
Friday
evening." But
who might have
caused those,
more than 48
hours earlier?
Here's Ban's
statement:
"The
Secretary-General
welcomes the
announcement
by the
Saudi-led
Coalition of a
unilateral
five-day,
renewable
humanitarian
pause set to
commence on
Sunday, 26
July, at 23:59
(GMT+3).
He urges the
Houthis, the
General
People’s
Congress and
all other
parties will
agree to and
maintain the
humanitarian
pause for the
sake of all
the Yemeni
people, and
that all act
in good faith
throughout the
pause. The
growing number
of civilian
casualties,
including the
disturbing
reports of
civilian
deaths in
Mokha on
Friday
evening, in
the unfolding
humanitarian
catastrophe
make a pause
and an
eventual
extension an
imperative.
"The Secretary-General calls on all parties to the conflict to suspend military operations during the pause and refrain from exploiting the pause to move weapons or seize territory. He appeals to all parties to exercise maximum restraint in cases of isolated violations and to avoid escalation.
"The Secretary-General urges all parties to facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance to all parts of Yemen, as well as rapid, safe, and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to reach people in need of humanitarian assistance, including medical assistance.
"The Secretary-General calls on the parties to the conflict to comply fully with their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and to urgently work with the United Nations and humanitarian aid organizations to bring assistance to millions in need throughout the country.
"The Secretary-General calls on all parties to the conflict to suspend military operations during the pause and refrain from exploiting the pause to move weapons or seize territory. He appeals to all parties to exercise maximum restraint in cases of isolated violations and to avoid escalation.
"The Secretary-General urges all parties to facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance to all parts of Yemen, as well as rapid, safe, and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to reach people in need of humanitarian assistance, including medical assistance.
"The Secretary-General calls on the parties to the conflict to comply fully with their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and to urgently work with the United Nations and humanitarian aid organizations to bring assistance to millions in need throughout the country.
On the dozens
killed in
Mocha, Inner
City Press linked here to this video -- Ban
waited 48
hours to
vaguely
reference
them, despite
having in the
past quickly
condemned the
killing of two
Saudi police
officers. The
UN has become
more and more
irrelevant on
Yemen, and
subject to
protest as
"betrayers" in
Sana'a.
While the
party of
former
president
Saleh meets
with the
United Arab
Emirates and
others, the UN's
replacement
envoy to
Yemen, Ismail
Ould Cheikh
Ahmed, after
his failed
humanitarian
pause, is not
involved. He
had, as Inner
City Press was
exclusively
told and
report, gone
on vacation.
On
July 24, Inner
City Press asked UN
Associate
Spokesperson
Eri Kaneko:
Inner
City Press:
There have
been a lot of
reports and
quotes about a
process taking
place between
the party of
former
President [Ali
Abdullah]
Saleh and the
[United Arab
Emirates),
[United
States],
[United
Kingdom] and
Cairo. I
wanted to
know: Is the
UN aware of
that? Is
the UN in any
way taking
part in
that?
And how does
it relate to
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed's
trip to
Riyadh?
Associate Spokesperson Kaneko: I had the same question myself. My understanding is that we were not involved in those talks, but we've seen the same reports you have and we would welcome any type of dialogue that would bring the… that would bring the parties closer together towards discussions to resume dialogue on a democratic transition.
Associate Spokesperson Kaneko: I had the same question myself. My understanding is that we were not involved in those talks, but we've seen the same reports you have and we would welcome any type of dialogue that would bring the… that would bring the parties closer together towards discussions to resume dialogue on a democratic transition.
So, the UN's
envoy was not
involved, just
as he was not
involved in
Oman other
than to write
them a
desperate
letter. To
this has the
UN fallen.
After
publishing its
multi-sourced
story, Inner
City Press on
July 22 asked
the UN's
Associate
Spokesperson
about new APC
and weapons in
Aden, and if
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed
is on
vacation. Video here. She replied that she
would check -
but did not
revert with
any response
either way.
So on July 23,
amid reports
that without
Cheikh Ahmed
or any UN
presence talks
were occurring
about Yemen in
Cairo, Inner
City Press
asked:
Inner
City Press: on
Yemen,
yesterday
you'd said you
would check on
Mr. Ould
Cheikh Ahmed,
whether, in
fact, he is on
vacation at
this
time.
Did you?
Associate Spokesperson: No.
Inner City Press: You said leave is a good thing. In the transcript, you said, I'll check on his vacation. But yes, people do take leave, it is a good thing, although there are people in Yemen who say, given that the humanitarian pause failed, it seemed a strange time to do it. So I just wanted to know, factually, is it, in fact, the case?
Associate Spokesperson: Is it the fact…?
Inner City Press: That he's on vacation after the failure of the humanitarian pause.
Associate Spokesperson: I don't know specifically for the Special Envoy, but I can tell you that, you know, most people at that level at the UN, all people at that level at the UN continue to work on their portfolios wherever they are and whatever they're doing. These are portfolios that you can't just drop. And I'm sure that's the case also with the Special Envoy. As far as leave goes, you know, I'm not going to get into a “who's on leave when”, blah, blah, blah, with you. I just… I don't want to do that…
[cross talk]
Inner City Press: I'm just saying because yesterday, you said, "I'll check".
Associate Spokesperson: Because as you mentioned… as you mentioned yourself, you know, leave is part of working life.
Inner City Press: Okay. Was he also on leave when UN staff had to leave Libya and he was the deputy SRSG in Libya? Because that's what I'm told by the people…
Associate Spokesperson: He was also on leave when what…?
Inner City Press: On leave when the people were evacuated from Libya that were the staff members of the UNSMIL mission.
Associate Spokesperson: Well, I just said I'm not going to go and check his attendance sheet.
Associate Spokesperson: No.
Inner City Press: You said leave is a good thing. In the transcript, you said, I'll check on his vacation. But yes, people do take leave, it is a good thing, although there are people in Yemen who say, given that the humanitarian pause failed, it seemed a strange time to do it. So I just wanted to know, factually, is it, in fact, the case?
Associate Spokesperson: Is it the fact…?
Inner City Press: That he's on vacation after the failure of the humanitarian pause.
Associate Spokesperson: I don't know specifically for the Special Envoy, but I can tell you that, you know, most people at that level at the UN, all people at that level at the UN continue to work on their portfolios wherever they are and whatever they're doing. These are portfolios that you can't just drop. And I'm sure that's the case also with the Special Envoy. As far as leave goes, you know, I'm not going to get into a “who's on leave when”, blah, blah, blah, with you. I just… I don't want to do that…
[cross talk]
Inner City Press: I'm just saying because yesterday, you said, "I'll check".
Associate Spokesperson: Because as you mentioned… as you mentioned yourself, you know, leave is part of working life.
Inner City Press: Okay. Was he also on leave when UN staff had to leave Libya and he was the deputy SRSG in Libya? Because that's what I'm told by the people…
Associate Spokesperson: He was also on leave when what…?
Inner City Press: On leave when the people were evacuated from Libya that were the staff members of the UNSMIL mission.
Associate Spokesperson: Well, I just said I'm not going to go and check his attendance sheet.
So
much for
checking.
