UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein [official profile] on Monday reiterated a call for an international investigative body in Yemen to handle allegations of violations of international human rights laws [press release]. following an attack on a funeral over the weekend. Zeid expressed frustration in his message as he has pushed the UN Human Rights Council [official website] for the last two years to establish such an investigative body due to the consistent attacks and violations of human rights in the country. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] supported the call, stating that this investigative body could create accountability for “appalling conduct.” While it is unclear how many were attending the funeral, the Al Kubra hall has a capacity of up to 1,000 people, and witnesses described a full crowd including military leaders and top officials. Officials also believe that this attack was one of many conducted by the Saudi-led coalition. Hussein told all States to reevaluate any contribution to the situation in Yemen, asking for all parties to move towards a ceasefire. After documents were released on Monday showing the US went ahead with an arms deal [JURIST report] with Saudi Arabia last year, the US will be looked at to adjust their continued contribution to the country.

The rapidly deteriorating state of human rights in Yemen has sparked significant international concern. Last week the UN expert on freedom of religion or belief condemned [JURIST report] Yemen for the nation’s arbitrary arrest and detention of people belonging to the Bahá’í religious community. Last month international human rights groups issued a joint letter [JURIST report] to the permanent representatives of member and observer states of the UN Human Rights Council urging them “to support the High Commissioner’s call for an international, independent investigation into civilian deaths and injuries in Yemen.” The letter pointed out that nearly 3,800 civilians have been killed and more than 6,700 wounded since March 2015. In August the UN High Commissioner for human rights called on the global community [JURIST report] to establish an independent international body for conducting comprehensive investigations of human rights violations in Yemen. According to a report from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released that same month, the civilian death estimate was at 2,800 [JURIST report] in January, which would mean that approximately another 1,000 have died in as little as nine months.