RES/27/19 Technical assistance and capacity-building for Yemen in the field of human rights

GE.A/HRC/27/44. 4-17826 (E)



Human Rights Council Twenty-seventh session

Agenda item 10

Technical assistance and capacity-building

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council

27/19

Technical assistance and capacity-building for Yemen in the field of

human rights

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights and the relevant human rights treaties,

Recalling Security Council resolutions 2014 (2011) of 21 October 2011 and 2051

(2012) of 12 June 2012, and Human Rights Council resolutions 18/19 of 29 September

2011, 19/29 of 23 March 2012, 21/22 of 27 September 2012 and 24/32 of 27 September

2013,

Recognizing that the promotion and protection of human rights are key factors in

ensuring a fair and equitable justice system and, ultimately, reconciliation and stability for

the country,

Welcoming the progress in the political transition process, based on the Gulf

Cooperation Council initiative and its implementation mechanism, and looking forward to

the successful implementation of the recommendations made in the outcome document of

the National Dialogue Conference, to further progress in the drafting of the new

Constitution and to subsequent stages of the transition, and noting also in that regard the

10-point speech made by the President on 28 July 2014,

Welcoming also the ongoing implementation of the confidence-building measures

contained in the 20 and 11 recommendation points contained in the reports on the

preparation and the first phase of the National Dialogue Conference, in particular the

measures to address the grievances of the citizens of Southern Yemen and Sada’a,

Welcoming further the commitment of the Government of Yemen to fully promote

and protect human rights,

Welcoming the approval by the Cabinet of the ratification of the International

Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and noting the

intention of the Cabinet to accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,

while recalling the recommendation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights calling for a swift approval by Parliament to become party to those instruments,

Recalling Security Council resolution 2140 (2014) of 26 February 2014,

Aware of reports by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that the

existing humanitarian emergency affects the enjoyment of social and economic rights,

1. Takes note of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for

Human Rights on the human rights situation in Yemen1 and of the debate held during the

twenty-seventh session of the Human Rights Council, as well as the statement and

comments made by the Government of Yemen on the report and its willingness to

cooperate with the United Nations and the Office of the High Commissioner;

2. Notes with appreciation the efforts made by the Government of Yemen to

implement Human Rights Council resolutions 18/19, 19/29, 21/22 and 24/32;

3. Takes note with concern of the armed violence in, inter alia, Dhale’a, Amran,

Al Jawf, Ma’rib and Sana’a, and in particular the recent escalation of violence, and calls

upon all parties to respect their obligations under international human rights law and, as

applicable, humanitarian law, and to ensure humanitarian access to the affected population,

and in that connection calls for an investigation into all cases of violations and abuses of

human rights and cases of violations of international humanitarian law;

4. Welcomes the Peace and National Partnership Agreement of 21 September

2014, and calls upon all parties to cooperate and implement the Agreement without delay

and also to cooperate constructively in implementing the outcome document of the National

Dialogue Conference;

5. Also welcomes the active cooperation of the Government with the Office of

the High Commissioner in the field of technical assistance;

6. Urges the competent State organs of Yemen, in particular the Parliament, to

ensure the early adoption of the draft law establishing an independent national human rights

institution, in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for

the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), adopted by the General

Assembly in its resolution 48/134 on 20 December 1993, and welcomes the commitments

of the Government and the steps taken in that regard;

7. Notes that the appointment of the members of the committee to investigate

allegations of violations of human rights in 2011, established by Republican Decree No.

140 of 2012, as invited by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 24/32, has not yet

been finalized by the President, also notes the High Commissioner’s concern at the

continuous delay, and calls for the implementation of the pertinent recommendation of the

High Commissioner in that regard to name its members and provide the committee with all

facilities to carry out its task, which is needed to secure the viability of that national

mechanism;

8. Welcomes the recommendation of the National Dialogue Conference that a

transitional justice law be adopted that addresses victims’ rights to remedies for human

rights violations and without impediments, and calls upon the Government to ensure the

early adoption of a law on transitional justice and national reconciliation that is in

accordance with the international obligations and commitments of Yemen and consistent

with best practices, and recalls in that regard the recommendation to cooperate with the

Office of the High Commissioner;

9. Calls upon the Government to release persons arbitrarily detained and to end

any practice of unlawful detention of persons, and recalls Cabinet decision No. 180 (2012)

to release all those imprisoned for their participation in the events of 2011;

10. Welcomes the measures of the Government of Yemen to end the recruitment

and use of children, and looks forward to the implementation of those measures, including

the action plan signed with the United Nations in May 2014, without further delay;

11. Demands that armed groups end the recruitment and use of children and

release those who have already been recruited, and calls upon all parties to cooperate with

the United Nations and other qualified groups for their reintegration into their communities,

taking into consideration the relevant recommendations made by the Secretary-General in

his report on children and armed conflict;2

12. Calls upon the Government of Yemen to investigate cases of violence against

journalists and review cases of detention of journalists, in accordance with its international

obligations to respect the freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association;

13. Notes with appreciation the considerable representation of women in the

National Dialogue Conference, welcomes the recommendations on women’s rights made in

the outcome document of the National Dialogue Conference, and encourages the

Government of Yemen to ensure that the 30 per cent quota for women in its governmental

bodies recommended by the National Dialogue Conference is met and that women are able

to participate in public life, free of discrimination and intimidation, including through the

drafting process of the Constitution;

14. Calls upon the Government of Yemen to uphold the rights of all non-

nationals, including by becoming party to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish

Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations

Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, by enacting an anti-trafficking law that

is in accordance with international standards, by ensuring that law enforcement agencies

actively investigate and prosecute perpetrators of crimes against migrants and refugees, and

by ensuring protection of trafficking victims;

15. Welcomes the establishment of a Yemeni business and human rights forum in

2014;

16. Encourages the Government of Yemen to continue to implement the

accepted recommendations contained in the reports of the High Commissioner3 with the

support of her Office, and calls upon the Government to address the recommendations

contained in the report of the High Commissioner submitted to the Human Rights Council

at its twenty-seventh session; 1

17. Reiterates the commitments and obligations of the Government of Yemen to

promote and protect the human rights of all individuals within its territory and subject to its

jurisdiction, and in that connection recalls that Yemen is a party to the International

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on

the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Covenant

on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment

or Punishment, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols on the

involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and

child pornography thereto, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;

2 A/67/845-S/2013/245 and A/68/267.

3 A/HRC/18/21, A/HRC/19/51, A/HRC/21/37 and A/HRC/24/34.

18. Looks forward to the Government continuing its efforts to promote and

protect human rights;

19. Welcomes the establishment of a national committee for the preparation of a

national human rights strategy, and encourages the Government of Yemen to ensure the

development of a national human rights action plan in accordance with the pertinent

Handbook on National Human Rights Plans of Action produced by the Office of the High

Commissioner;

20. Stresses that the work of the Panel of Experts established by the Security

Council in its resolution 2140 (2014) is important in relation to the improvement in the

human rights situation and plays an important role in the improvement in accountability for

violations and abuses of human rights in Yemen;

21. Calls upon the Government of Yemen to ensure, in the framework of

scrupulous respect for due process-related rights, fair trial guarantees, including in cases

involving the death penalty, and to continue to ensure that the death penalty is not applied

to minors, in conformity with commitments undertaken by the Government, including

during its universal periodic review in 2009, and in conformity with the outcome document

of the National Dialogue Conference, and notes in that connection the work of the

Specialized Forensic Technical Committee and the accelerated efforts of the Government to

improve birth registration with international assistance;

22. Welcomes the recommendation of the National Dialogue Conference calling

for the establishment of a minimal age for marriage and the criminalization of early, forced

marriages, also welcomes the efforts by the Government of Yemen to promote and protect

the rights of children, and calls upon the Government to ensure the early adoption of the

Child Rights Bill and rapid progress in putting in place appropriate legislative,

administrative, social and educational measures to eliminate the occurrence of child, early

and forced marriages;

23. Invites all bodies of the United Nations system, including the Office of the

High Commissioner, and Member States to assist the transitional process in Yemen,

including by supporting the mobilization of resources to tackle the economic and social

challenges faced by Yemen, in coordination with the international donor community and

according to the priorities set by the Yemeni authorities;

24. Calls upon the international community to provide financial support for the

Yemen humanitarian response plan for 2014;

25. Requests the High Commissioner to provide technical assistance and to work

with the Government of Yemen, as needed, to identify additional areas of assistance to

enable Yemen to fulfil its human rights obligations;

26. Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to present to the Human

Rights Council, at its thirtieth session, a progress report on the situation of human rights in

Yemen and on the follow-up to the present resolution and Council resolutions 18/19, 19/29,

21/22 and 24/32.

39th meeting

25 September 2014

[Adopted without a vote.]