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UNSC Warns Sanctions to Support Yemen’s Political Transition

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 27 2014 (IPS) - The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) Wednesday adopted a resolution that expresses its support for Yemen’s movement toward a political transition and threatens sanctions against any actor which seeks to obstruct or undermine the process.

“Today the Security Council sends a clear and strong message to Yemenis,” said  Jamal Benomar, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Adviser on Yemen. “With this resolution, the Council is supporting the legitimate aspirations of the Yemenis, including the youth, who fought and continue to fight for deep and meaningful change.”

Since February 2012, when the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, resigned under pressure from widespread protests, Yemen has been undergoing a political transition. Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference, which began on March 18, 2013 and lasted until its successful conclusion in late January 2014, brought political and social actors together to construct a new constitution. Yemen is the only nation of those involved in the “Arab Spring” to have completed such a process.

“What does it mean, then, to organise elections or have any political process if people are still suffering from humanitarian needs?” said Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, at a press conference in early February.

Political stability must go hand in hand with development, Ahmed emphasised. In order to avoid jeopardising the gains made so far in the Yemeni political process, they must be translated into changes in the lives of Yemen’s population, and the international community must provide its support.

As of early February, the UN has identified 25 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 13 million who do not have access to safe drinking water, and nearly 250,000 registered refugees, as well as almost 400,000 internally displaced persons, issues over which Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), has stated deep concern.

Additionally, in recent months, as the Yemeni National Dialogue concluded, political success has been marred by reports of attacks by Yemen’s armed forces in Al Dhale Governorate, which have reportedly killed more than 40 persons since December, including at least 6 children.

Pillay, has also expressed concern over these attacks, the most recent of which occurred on February 18, 2014, leaving seven dead and eight injured.

“Claims by Yemen’s armed forces that they were fired upon by armed groups or that their bases were attacked can never justify the use of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks,” stated Pillay.

 
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