Human Rights Watch calls upon Yemen to investigate former regime

Human Rights Watch has called upon the Yemeni government to create a commission of inquiry to investigate the gross violations of human rights by the former regime and to prosecute those responsible.” The New York-based watchdog said in the group’s World Report for 2014 on Monday that the Yemenis should also adopt legislation to stop child marriage and reform laws that discriminate against women.

“Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has failed to fulfil his promises to pass transitional justice laws and to form a commission of inquiry to investigate the former regime’s abuses during the 2011 uprising,” alleged HRW. The president also still needs to put in place other mechanisms to hold those responsible to account for their actions so that they will not happen again, insisted the organisation. The Yemeni parliament granted immunity to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his aides before they fled the country.

The director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, Sarah Leah Whitson, accused President Hadi and his government of “ignoring the people’s demands for the past two years”. They have been calling for and deserve justice, she added.