[JURIST] A pair of UN officials on Tuesday condemned the “virtual silence” with regards to the increasing impact on civilians of the escalating conflict in Yemen. On Monday the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein communicated to the UN Human Rights Council [official website] that his office has discovered that there are nearly 2,000 casualties and more than 4,000 injured in Yemen. Hussein also mentioned that amid these allegations of human rights violations, all parties involved must be closely examined by an independent body. The Special Advisers added that “recent developments are likely to lead to escalation of the violence in central Yemen.” Moreover the officials recommended that leaders from all sides avoid manipulating religious identities for political reasons. As a result the officials expressed negative thoughts towards the Yemeni branch of Iraq and al Qaeda’s use of sectarian language in the Arabian Peninsula.

The violent situation in Yemen [BBC backgrounder] has been a significant international concern the past year. Earlier this week the president of Yemen backed out of talks [JURIST report] arranged by the UN with Shiite rebels. Last month the fighting in Yemen between Huthi militias and anti-Huthi armed groups indiscriminately killed and wounded civilians with unlawful airstrikes in civilian neighborhoods, according to a report [JURIST report] issued by Amnesty International [advocacy website]. In June the UN arranged for a Yemen peace talk [JURIST report] in Geneva, to which the Yemeni president sent a delegation. In April Human Rights Watch condemned the targeting [JURIST report] of the Ibn Khaldun Hospital in Yemen by combatants.