KSA has eased Yemenis’ sufferings, says Saudi ambassador

GENEVA: Saudi Arabia said it will continue its efforts to enhance and protect human rights emanating from the principles of Islamic Shariah.

Addressing the 36th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Saudi envoy at the UN in Geneva, Abdul Aziz bin Mohammed Al-Wasil, said a call for the globalization of human rights does not mean imposition of principles and values contradicting Islamic values.

Al-Wasil expressed the Kingdom’s desire to continue and enhance cooperation with the UN Human Rights Commission (HRC), adding that the memo of understanding signed with the HRC is an important step in this direction. He said the programs, which were implemented with the HRC, aim to build national capacities for the enhancement and protection of human rights.

He said the latest aid provided by the Kingdom to Yemen came through the allocation of $66 million to fight cholera in Yemen, in addition to other humanitarian and material assistance. He expressed deep regret over the emergence of cholera and the urgent need for food and medicine in some parts of the country.

The Saudi envoy said areas controlled by the Houthis are those where cholera is spreading, and the need for humanitarian assistance is pressingly arising as the Houthi militia have seized humanitarian aid for resale to fund their war work.

He called on international organizations operating in Yemen to put pressure on the coup militias to facilitate and deliver humanitarian assistance to the intended beneficiaries.

Al-Wasil said Bahrain has suffered, and still suffering, from foreign interference trying to destabilize domestic security and divide national unity. Bahrain is exerting concrete and genuine efforts to protect human rights in the framework of its sovereign right to defend its security and stability against any external interference or terror acts, he said.

On Palestine, he said that for more than six decades, the Palestinian people have been constantly subjected to gross human rights violations.

In this context, he renewed the call on the international community to live up to its responsibility and take the necessary arrangements to end the sufferings of the Palestinian people.

He also reaffirmed the right of the Palestine people to self-determination and establishment of their independent state with Al-Quds as its capital.