UN Rejects Saudi Request for Yemen Sources over Child Killings
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The UN refused a request from Saudi Arabia to reveal sources of information that put the kingdom to the blacklist of child killers.
United Nations Spokesman Stephane Dujarric made it clear on Wednesday that the sources of information for its report on violations of children's rights during the Saudi aggression against Yemen would not be revealed to Riyadh, Reuters reported.
"Protecting the sources of information that are used in this report, or any other report, is paramount, especially in a conflict area," Dujarric said. "But we obviously welcome any information that the Saudi-led coalition may want to share with us."
The UN report on children said the coalition was responsible for 60 percent of child deaths and injuries in the Yemen conflict last year, killing 510 and wounding 667 children.
Last Thursday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he temporarily removed the US-backed coalition from the blacklist for violating child rights after the kingdom and its allies threatened to cut off funding to UN programs.
The announcement sparked international outcry and 20 prominent human rights groups urged the UN chief to put Riyadh back on the blacklist.
In a letter, signed by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Oxfam among others, the rights groups accused Ban of giving in to “political manipulation” by the oil-rich kingdom.
Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been launching deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
Nearly 9,400 Yemenis, including 4,000 women and children, have lost their lives in the deadly military campaign.