Amman – Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdul Malik al-Mekhlafi met on Tuesday with the representative of the UN Higher Commissioner for Human Rights, Alobaid Ahmed Alobaid, to discuss the situation in the country, in particular “crimes and violations perpetrated by militias since the coup.”

Yemen’s official news agency reported that Mekhlafi met with Alobaid in the Jordanian capital, where talks touched on “the massive violations committed by the militias against human rights in Yemen.”

This included acts of murder, abduction, forced disappearances, violation of freedom of opinion and expression, house bombings, recruitment of children and use of schools and hospitals for military purposes.

The Yemeni foreign minister underlined efforts exerted by the National Committee to investigate allegations of human rights violations in Yemen and document crimes and violations in a “professional, impartial and objective manner”.

He also stressed the importance of maintaining cooperation with the High Commissioner for Human Rights to enhance the Committee’s role and help it fulfill its tasks in accordance with international standards, resolutions and recommendations of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Mekhlafi urged the UN representative to visit the Yemeni governorates in order to understand the situation on the ground, especially in Taiz, which has been under a blockade for nearly three years and has been suffering from “arbitrary bombardment of residential areas, daily killings of civilians and the looting of humanitarian and relief assistance.”

He noted that the deteriorating situation in the country has led to the spread of diseases and epidemics and a severe shortage of medicine, food and medical services.

For his part, Alobaid stressed the UN Commission’s intention to cooperate with the Committee and adopt activities to improve its work.

He revealed that the Commission was planning to visit the temporary capital of Aden soon to discuss the annual report on human rights in Yemen, which is published by the Committee. He also expressed thanks to the Yemeni government, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for its cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner in Yemen and for facilitating its tasks.