The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday approved a resolution presented by Saudi Arabia on human rights issues in Yemen. The UN vote called for Yemen to receive "technical assistance" on improving human rights. It welcomed an inquiry to be carried out by Yemen's government into human rights violations since September 2014. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels along with troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh took over Yemen's capital Sanaa in September 2014. The new resolution calls upon all parties in Yemen to implement fully the UN Security Council resolution 2216 (2015), which calls for the rebels to lay down arms and withdraw from areas that they captured. The council also demanded that armed groups end the recruitment and use of children and release those who have already been recruited, and called upon all parties to cooperate with the UN for their reintegration into their communities. The resolution calls upon the Yemeni government to take measures to protect civilians, and to take appropriate measures to ensure the effective investigation into all cases of violations and abuse of human rights and of violations of international humanitarian law. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Yemen's internationally recognised government, headed by president Abdrabu Mansour Hadi, denied a television report on Friday that it had decided to break off diplomatic relations with Iran. "The cabinet has not discussed until now the matter of severing diplomatic relations with Iran and no decision was taken," spokesman Rajeh Badi said, commenting on the unsourced report from state-owned Aden television. Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces, which have been battling the Houthis for the past six months to try to restore Mr Hadi to power, said on Wednesday that had seized an Iranian fishing boat loaded with weapons intended for the Houthis.
