Saudi gave free pass to bomb schools and hospitals in Yemen

MNA International Desk: According to reports, Saudi gave free pass to bomb schools and hospitals in Yemen. On Thursday last week, the UN secretary general listed Saudi Arabia responsible for killing children, bombing hospitals and schools.

This places Saudi Arabia and the coalition it leads in the dubious company of ISIS, the Taliban, al-Shabaab and the Lord’s Resistance Army in the blacklist of organizations violating children’s rights in a conflict area.

Saudi Arabia had been removed them from the list on Monday, erasing much of the UN’s credibility when it comes to defending human rights.

This unexpected improvement is hard to justify. The indication that the Saudi-led coalition is bombing civilian areas in towns and cities in north Yemen is compelling.

The UN rapporteurs had found that the alliance was directly accountable for 60% of child fatalities from the fighting last year, counting the deaths of 510 children from bombing campaigns. They confirmed 49 bombings of schools and hospitals by Saudi Arabia in Yemen in 2015.

In spite of having this evidence, the Saudis seem to have been given a free pass. Unlike the usual suspects who feature on the secretary general’s annual report on children affected by armed conflict, the Saudis have powerful friends including the UK and the US both permanent members of the Security Council.

They also have other points of effect at the UN based on their funding of key UN agencies, including UNICEF the body responsible for encouraging the acceptance of the UN agreement of the rights of the child.

The role of the UK in supporting the coalition is particularly disturbing. Since 2010, over £7bn British weapons have been sold to Saudi Arabia. The listing of the Saudi coalition in the UN report would have made it extremely difficult for the UK to continue to resist calls for an arms embargo.

In the face of all this pressure, the secretary general appears to have blinked first, betraying the most vulnerable people on the planet the children whom this process is designed to protect.

The official UN position is that the listing was removed pending an investigation. I’m concerned this investigation could become a smokescreen to cover a retreating UN office, rather than a genuine attempt to hold Saudi Arabia to account.

The UN appears to be acting as a club for the rich and powerful, pointing the finger at rebel groups and obscure militia but covering up for the violations committed by its member states.

For War Child, which works so hard to keep children safe in the most dangerous circumstances, it is further evidence that we cannot rely on the UN to do the right thing and stand with those most at risk.

Whether the coalition is blacklisted or not but the facts are plain. Saudi bombing is killing hundreds of children and abolishing the schools and hospitals on which children rely. This bombing must stop and other avenues explored to bring peace to Yemen.