Press briefing notes on Yemen

Acting Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Ravina Shamdasani
Location: Geneva
6 December 2011

We condemn the continuing attacks on civilians, particularly in Taiz where we are seeing reports that more than 20 people have been killed by shooting and shelling since Thursday last week, including three children.

The continued use of disproportionate force by part of the Government security forces, despite commitments made to investigate serious human rights violations, is extremely disappointing. The killings must stop immediately and we urge all sides to halt the use of violent force.

We call on the Yemeni authorities to cooperate with the UN human rights office, as they have pledged to do on numerous occasions, and to grant immediate access into the country for staff to be able to assess the human rights situation on the ground. We have been asked to report on the human rights situation in Yemen to the Human Rights Council at its next session in March.

ENDS

For more information or media requests, please contact Ravina Shamdasani (+ 41 22 917 9310 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org) or Xabier Celaya (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org).

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