UN Authority Figures

UN General Assembly Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), Vice-Chair: Saudi Arabia

At least 20 people, mostly women and children, were killed when an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a wedding party in northern Yemen. In more than three years of war in Yemen, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed, tens of thousands have been wounded, and 22 milllion people require humanitarian assistance. Image: Doctors treating victims of the Saudi air strikes.
Source: The Independent, April 24, 2018

Mission of UN General Assembly Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization): "The Special Political and Decolonization Committee deals with a variety of subjects which include those related to decolonization, Palestinian refugees and human rights, peacekeeping..." (General Assembly - Special Political and Decolonization website, "Fourth Committee")

Term of office: 2018-2019

Saudi Arabia's Record on "refugees and human rights":
"The most significant human rights issues included unlawful killings, including execution for other than the most serious offenses and without requisite due process; torture; arbitrary arrest and detention, including of lawyers, human rights activists, and antigovernment reformists; political prisoners;... The country continued air operations in Yemen as leader of a military coalition formed in 2015 to counter the 2014 forceful takeover of the Republic of Yemen's government institutions and facilities by Houthi militias and security forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen resulted in civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure on multiple occasions,... The government did not recognize the right of Saudi citizens to petition for access to asylum or refugee status in third countries. In several cases the government prosecuted and penalized Saudi citizens who sought asylum in third countries, according to multiple sources... Refugees and asylum seekers were generally unable to work legally..."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2017, Saudi Arabia)

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