20th September 2011, Geneva; The Maldives today responded to reports on the human rights situations in Yemen and Syria by calling for an immediate end to violence against protesters, and accountability and justice for human rights violations committed in both countries. Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, of which the Maldives is a member, H.E. Ms. Iruthisham Adam also called on the international community to play a more active role in accordance with its responsibility to protect.
On Syria, Ambassador Adam drew attention to the report of the UN fact-finding mission was concluded that: "At the time of writing, the Mission had received more than 1,900 names and details of persons killed in the Syrian Arab Republic since mid-March 2011".
Ambassador Adam reminded the Council that ''each of those names has a story, each person who has been killed had parents, brothers, sisters, friends. Each of those people had hopes and ambitions. Each took to the streets believing in a better future".
She called for "the names and stories of each and every one of those 1,900 people to be read to the Council. Perhaps such a step would remind us why we are here, and remind those in the international community who defend or make excuses for the government of President Bashar al-Assad that we are not here to discuss abstract ideals or to protect friendly governments, but rather to uphold the UN Charter and the international covenants. We are here, in other words, to defend individual human beings, not to protect governments".
"It is an unfortunate but unavoidable fact that the government of Syria has no intention of stopping the gross and systematic violation of human rights - violations which may amount to crimes against humanity. This is despite strong and increasingly widespread condemnation by the international community.
In this regard, the Maldives agrees with the High Commissioner's assertion that each individual State has the responsibility to protect its population from crimes against humanity and other international crimes, and that when a State is manifestly failing to protect its population from serious international crimes, the international community has the responsibility to step in by taking protective action in a collective, timely and decisive manner".
On Yemen, the Council heard a report from the Office of the High Commissioner which presented compelling evidence that serious human rights violations have been and continue to be committed in Yemen, including the killing of peaceful protesters, arbitrary detention, torture and restrictions to access to basic services. Even as the report was presented, dozens more protesters were reported killed in the country.
In reply, Ambassador Adam said: "The Maldives supports the recommendations of the High Commissioner's mission, especially the end of excessive use of force against civilians, the release of those arrested for protesting, the conduct of impartial investigations into serious human rights violations, and the maintenance and continuation of basic services to the population.
We also call on those responsible for the serious human rights violations in Yemen to the held accountable for their actions. In this regard, we welcome the offer of the Government of Yemen to conduct transparent independent investigations into allegations of violations of human rights in accordance with international standards. We also support its stated commitment to bring the perpetrators of such violations to justice and provide compensation to those affected. The international community should support these processes to ensure that they are credible and effective. If they are not, then international accountability mechanisms must be brought to bear."
ENDS