Yemeni rights minister says Houthis show bad faith over peace talks

Iran-backed rebels also accused of using human shields at arms caches

Yemen’s minister of human rights on Thursday raised doubts about the Houthis’ participation in Geneva peace talks, accusing them of deception and a lack of goodwill.

Mohamed Askar said the Houthis were still using people as human shields and said a report on abuses was being prepared by his ministry for publication next week.

Mr Askar said: “Our delegation is in Geneva. These militias, as usual, have proven in front of the international community that they don’t take heed of respected international organisations.”

He also disputed rebel media reports that the Houthi delegation

We call on all parties to respect international rights and adopt measures to avoid [such] incidents.” MOHAMED ASKAR Yemen Human Rights Minister

was denied permission to travel to Geneva.

The rebel delegation was expected to arrive in Geneva on Wednesday for the first round of UN peace talks in almost three years, in an attempt to build confidence between the warring sides. UN special envoy Martin Griffiths said the Houthis wanted to attend talks and that he would make sure they did.

As of Thursday, only the Yemeni government delegation had arrived and meetings were postponed until Friday.

The Yemeni government report on human rights announced by Mr Askar will follow a critical appraisal by the UN in which it said war crimes were possibly carried out by all parties in the Yemen conflict, which broke out in 2015.

The Yemeni government and the Arab Coalition rejected the UN report, saying it contained inaccuracies.

Mr Askar said his government was being criticised as a result of the UN document: “This report is not neutral, it’s not objective, [there is a lack] of accuracy.”

He acknowledged, however, that human error was a reality of war but stressed the need to inspect the actions of all sides.

The minister said the Iranbacked Houthis had been using people as human shields in areas used for storing arms, putting them in harm’s way of coalition air strikes.

One such incident was an air strike in August on Houthi rebels in Saada province that led to the death of 26 children travelling in a school bus.

“Saada is very painful,” Mr Askar said. The Arab Coalition on Thursday said there may have been collateral damage and civilian casualties and that its joint forces command had now completed a review of the strikes.

Mr Askar said: “The alliance has said that, yes, this has occurred and now they are talking about compensation.

“If we look at this war and its time frame and the planes used, we find that the rate of mistakes are very low,” the minister said. “We call on all parties to respect international rights and adopt measures to avoid [such] incidents.”

Mr Askar took time to thank the UAE and Saudi Arabia for their role in restoring peace to Yemen.

“We cannot deny the assistance of the UAE in Yemen. They are a very effective partner, since the first day they stood by the civilians,” he said.

“Without this pivotal role played by our brothers ... we wouldn’t be able to have this kind of peace in our temporary capital, Aden.

“It is a favour that we will never forget.”