[JURIST] UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon [official website] on Saturday invited [official statement] Yemen President Abd Rabou Mansour Hadi to send a delegation to the UN sponsored Yemen consultation set to begin in Geneva on June 14th. The Secretary General has called on all parties to participate in good faith and without an preconceived notions for the interest of all Yemeni people. He stated that he “hopes that the meeting in Geneva will restart a peaceful, orderly, inclusive and Yemeni-led transition process” based on Security Council resolutions. The need for a peaceful resolution is even more important, it was noted, with the conflict continuing to increase dramatically. The Secretary General has asked the international community to continue to contribute to the UN’s efforts in helping the Yemeni people and reducing civilian suffering.

The rapidly deteriorating situation in Yemen [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] has sparked significant international concern. In April Human Rights Watch condemned the targeting [JURIST report] of the Ibn Khaldun Hospital in Yemen by combatants. Also that month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged Yemeni combatants [JURIST report] to report attacks resulting in civilian casualties so that they can be investigated and international human rights law can be upheld. Also in April the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) [advocacy websites] filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] on behalf of US citizens still in Yemen against the US State Department and the Department of Defense for allegedly failing to launch an evacuation plan. The same week, in a unanimous vote, Pakistani lawmakers passed a resolution [JURIST report] to stay out of the conflict in Yemen, despite pleas from Saudi Arabia for aid in the form of warships, aircraft and ground troops. Earlier in April, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons Chaloka Beyani urged [JURIST report] the international community to prepare itself for the “massive displacement and humanitarian crisis” that could come as a result of civilians fleeing the fighting in Yemen, stating that they must prepare for a worst case scenario.