Dubai: The UAE is committed to cooperating with the United Nations to resolve the conflict in Yemen but Iran should be held accountable for its violations of international law there, the UAE’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York said during a Security Council meeting on Tuesday in New York.
An open debate session tackling the protection of civilians in armed conflict was attended by Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh and chaired by the foreign minister of Poland, Jacek, Czaputowicz.
- Lana Zaki Nussaibah | UAE’s Permanent Representative to UN
Nusseibeh emphasised that as a member of the Coalition Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen, the UAE takes its own responsibility for upholding international humanitarian law and for protecting civilians very seriously.
The failure of the Security Council to enforce their own resolutions is partly the cause for the poor protracted nature of conflicts, she said, adding that Al Houthis and their Iranian backers were to blame for the Yemeni conflict.
The UAE will continue working closely with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid to affected areas and with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, in his efforts to create a roadmap for sustainable peace.
Furthermore, she noted the problems non-state actors pose in the Middle East and around the world, citing Al Houthis as an example.
“More often than not, it is the civilian populations of these states these groups have infiltrated that suffer the consequences,” she noted.
“This moral hazard is magnified when these groups receive state support.”
Ambassador Nusseibeh condemned Iran’s arming of various non-state actors in order to avoid sovereign accountability for its actions, thereby putting the region at greater risk.
She called on the Council to take creative and bold steps towards countering the threats posed by non-state actors to better address 21st century challenges.
She stressed that this should include stopping state financiers and supporters of these groups, adding that states should no longer be absolved of responsibility when they provide support to non-state actors that then defy international law.
Nusseibeh said that the failure of the Council to respond decisively to conflict around the world has exacted a profound human toll, and called for a re-energised unity of purpose within the Council and renewed action to maintain international peace and security.
She echoed Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres’ statement that the most effective way to protect civilians is to prevent conflicts and to end them.
“In my own region - with the conflict in Syria now entering its 8th year - we are experiencing the challenge of multiple armed conflicts that have severe implications for civilian communities,” Nusseibeh said.
“These conflicts have in many instances been worsened and prolonged by the Security Council’s failure to act.”
She underlined that ignoring the root causes of this conflict would inevitably lead to further bloodshed.
She highlighted that Israel’s recent actions at the Gaza border, which include attacks on doctors and paramedics, violated the protections for medical personnel assisting wounded civilians guaranteed under the Fourth Geneva Convention and customary international law.
She called on Israel to abide by its responsibilities as the occupying power to extend basic human rights and protections to Palestinians.
On the issue of Syria, Nusseibeh decried the lack of humanitarian assistance there and blamed it on the inaction of the Security Council to pass any resolutions.
She called for the unobstructed delivery of aid to those in need and for accountability for all chemical attacks against civilians in Syria which are in clear violation of international humanitarian law.
