[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch [advocacy websites] (HRW) issued a joint statement [text] on Wednesday calling for the removal of Saudia Arabia from the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) [official website]. The groups are urging the General Assembly to invoke a provision of Resolution 60/251 [text, PDF] allowing for suspension of membership in the HRC for states who have committed “gross and systematic violations of human rights.” HRW and AI allege that Saudi Arabia has committed “systematic violations of human rights during its time as a Council member,” including “numerous attacks [in Yemen] that have violated international humanitarian law, including indiscriminate and disproportionate airstrikes,” which have resulted in significant civilian casualties. The statement comes after supposed failure by a national commission of inquiry to address human rights violation occurring in the on-going conflict. Both groups have also accused Saudi Arabia of threatening to withdraw funds from UN programs, in an attempt to remove the country from the “List of Shame” after killing and injuring children during attacks directed at schools and hospitals in Yemen.

The rapidly deteriorating situation in Yemen has sparked significant international concern. In March UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein criticized [JURIST report] the Saudi Arabian coalition forces in Yemen for the more than 3,000 civilian casualties resulting from the conflict in just the past year. Also in March, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned [JURIST report] that the use of cluster bombs by the Saudi-led coalition against neighborhoods in Yemen may amount to a war crime. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said [JURIST report] that the civilian death toll in Yemen had reached nearly 2,800. In January the UN World Food Programme appealed to all the parties involved in the Yemen conflict to allow the safe passage of food [JURIST report] to the city of Taiz. In October Amnesty International called for [JURIST report] an independent investigation into possible war crimes surrounding the destruction of a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Yemen.