by Stephen Lendman

America is a rogue state of unparalleled pure evil, masquerading as a democracy, run by bipartisan criminals, fascist neocons, serving powerful monied interests and their own.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s vilest regimes, a fascist police state, partnering with America’s regional aggression, supplying chemical and other terror weapons to ISIS and other takfiris, ruthlessly waging war on Yemen, committing horrendous high crimes - Obama’s war, planned and orchestrated in Washington, the US and Riyadh complicit in creating a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions.

Obama administration officials applauded Riyadh’s outrageous appointment to head a five-member UN Human Rights Council (HRC) panel - charged with reporting on abuses worldwide, mocking the legitimacy of the initiative, exposing the HRC as a sham group, fundamentally against what it claims to support.

In its new capacity, Riyadh went all-out to block a Netherlands proposed HRC investigation into war crimes and other human rights abuses in Yemen since conflict began last March.

It called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to “dispatch a mission, with assistance from relevant experts, to monitor and report on the human rights situation in Yemen.”

Human rights groups strongly endorsed the proposal, citing appalling high crimes committed, no accountability mechanisms in place to challenge them, civilians most of all being harmed, over 80% of the population in dire need of humanitarian aid - mostly prevented from reaching suffering Yemenis by the US/Saudi blockade, a major war crime along with daily terror bombing.

Riyadh and other Gulf states lobbied ferociously (with US/UK tacit support) for the ousted, US-Saudi-backed, despotic Hadi regime to establish a commission of inquiry on Yemen - effectively letting Washington and Riyadh whitewash their horrendous war crimes, blaming Houthis alone for what’s happening.

Human Rights Watch criticized the move, saying Yemeni authorities neither investigated or held anyone accountable for serious high crimes since 2011 - “nor has (Riyadh) investigated possible war crimes by its forces.”

Deputy HRW director Philippe Dam said “(b)y failing to set up a serious UN inquiry on war-torn Yemen, the Human Rights Council squandered an important chance to deter further abuses.”

“Such a mechanism would have been crucial to confront continued impunity for crimes committed in the country…”

“The increasingly desperate Yemeni population should not be ignored by the world’s preeminent human rights body. It's all been about Saudi Arabia protecting itself from an international probe, really.”

Putting the US/Saudi-controlled ousted Hadi regime in charge of investigating war crimes and other human rights abuses in Yemen is no different from letting a serial killer serve as prosecutor, judge and jury at his own trial.

The outcome is predetermined. Other parties will be blamed - in this case, the Houthis serving as chumps.

The battle for Yemen’s soul continues. Millions of lives are at stake. Nothing in prospect suggests an end to their suffering any time soon. US/Saudi aggression could continue for years.

How many more Yemenis will be terror bombed to death? How many perishing from starvation or unavailable medical care for untreated wounds or illnesses. How many dying from world indifference to help them?

Yemen is being raped and destroyed while the whole world turns a blind eye to millions of suffering people - victims of imperial viciousness.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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