A confidential draft United Nations report has blacklisted the Saudi-led coalition for killing and maiming children during its military campaign against Yemen, a report says.
A confidential draft United Nations report has blacklisted the Saudi-led coalition for killing and maiming children during its military campaign against Yemen, a report says.
“In Yemen, the coalition’s actions objectively led to the listing for the killing and maiming of children, with 683 child casualties attributed to this party, and, as a result of being responsible for 38 verified incidents, for attacks on schools and hospitals during 2016,” said the draft explanation seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
The report is subject to change and needs to be approved by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. It will then be referred to the UN Security Council to be discussed by the 15-member body on October 31.
The draft – produced by UN children and armed conflict envoy Virginia Gamba and issued in Guterres’ name – does not subject the blacklisted parties to any UN action.
The new draft report also lists a series of children rights violations by militants loyal to the former Yemeni government, fighters of Yemen’s Ansarullah groups and Takfiri al-Qaeda terrorists.
The coalition was briefly added to the blacklist in 2016, but was removed shortly afterwards by then UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who accused Saudi Arabia of exerting “unacceptable” pressure on the international body and threatening to cut its UN funding.
