68 Restrictive measures against the regime
in Yemen
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny
|
| Document details | Council Decision and Council Regulation on amendments to existing restrictive measures
|
| Legal base | (a) Article 29 TEU; unanimity
(b) Article 215 TFEU; QMV
|
| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
|
| Document numbers | (36936), — (36937), —
|
Summary and Committee's conclusions
68.1 The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington) explains that:
— on
14 April 2015 the United Nations Security Council adopted Security
Council Resolution 2216 (2015) in view of the situation in Yemen;
— the resolution imposes an arms embargo
against two individuals under the Yemen sanctions regime —
the leader of the Houthi rebel group, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, and
the former President of Yemen's son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh
— as well as the three individuals previously designated
under UN Security Council resolution 2140 (2014);
— that earlier Resolution imposed an asset
freeze and travel ban against individuals and an asset freeze
against entities designated by the UN Sanctions Committee as engaging
in, or providing support for, acts that threaten the peace, security
or stability of Yemen;
— Resolution 2216 (2015) further extends
the travel ban and asset freeze measures to Abdulmalik al-Houthi
and Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh; and
— also extended the scope of the designation
criteria set out in resolution 2140 (2014), underscoring that
acts that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Yemen
may also include violations of the arms embargo, or obstructing
the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Yemen or access to,
or distribution of, humanitarian assistance in Yemen.
68.2 The Minister recalls that an EU Council Decision
and Regulation ("the principal Decision and Regulation")
implementing the asset freeze and travel ban into EU law were
adopted on 18 December 2014; and explains that the EU Council
Decision and Regulation, adopted on 8 June 2015, update the Decision
and Regulation of 18 December 2014, thereby also implementing
the arms embargo into EU law and extending the designation criteria
68.3 As the two UN statements issued when these
UNSCRs were adopted illustrate (see "Background"), the
international response is not altogether united. The country's
history is complex.[ 486]
After three decades of rule, President Saleh finally ceded
power in November 2011, after months of protests; his successor,
President Hadi, then fled the capital in February 2015 after Houthi
Shia rebels seized control. This situation is now even further
complicated by what many observers regard as a proxy battle between
the Sunni and Shia worlds of Saudi Arabia and Iran. With the Russia
on the side-lines, what the effect of the UN measures will be
is thus open to conjecture at the very least.
68.4 However, their implementation by the EU raises
no questions, and we therefore clear the Council Decision and
Council Regulation from scrutiny.
68.5 Given that the Committee was not in existence
at the point at which these measures needed to be implemented,
we do not take issue with the Minister having over-ridden scrutiny.
Full
details of the documents:
(a) Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/882 of 8 June 2015 amending Decision
2014/932/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation
in Yemen: (36936), —; (b) Council Regulation (EU) 2015/878
of 8 June 2015 amending Regulation (EU) No. 1352/2014 concerning
restrictive measures in view of the situation in Yemen: (36937),
—.
Background
68.6 In a statement of 26 February 2014, the UN said:
"Sending a message of support to the Government
and people of Yemen, the Security Council unanimously adopted
a resolution welcoming recent progress in the country's political
transition and expressed strong support for the completion of
next steps, among them drafting a new constitution, and holding
a referendum as well as general elections.
"Unanimously adopting resolution 2140 (2014)
under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the Council encouraged
all the country's constituencies, including youth and women's
groups, to continue their active and constructive engagement in
Yemen's political transition.
"The Council reaffirmed the need for full and
timely implementation of the political transition following the
comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, in line with the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) Initiative and Implementation Mechanism.
Encouraging all constituencies to implement the recommendations
of the National Dialogue Conference, it called upon the Hiraak
Southern movement, the Houthi movement and others to partake constructively
in the process and to reject the use of violence for political
aims.
"Further by the text, the Council condemned
the growing number of attacks carried out or sponsored by Al-Qaida
in the Arabian peninsula, expressing its determination to address
that threat in accordance with the Charter and international law.
It called for national efforts to address the threat posed by
explosives as well as small arms and light weapons to Yemen's
stability and security.
"Also by the text, the Council expressed concern
over reported serious human rights abuses and violence against
civilians, and urged all parties to end conflicts and comply with
their obligations under applicable international humanitarian
and human rights law. It also expressed concern over the continuing
recruitment of children by armed groups and Yemeni Government
forces, calling for continued national efforts to end and prevent
their recruitment and use. The Council also expressed concern
over the use of media to incite violence and frustrate the people's
legitimate aspirations for peaceful change.
"By other terms, the Council decided that, for
an initial one-year period from today's action, all Member States
would prevent the entry into or transit through their territories
of designated individuals. It also decided to establish a Committee
comprising all its members to monitor implementation of measures
imposed by the Council; designate individuals and entities to
be subjected to such measures; and to establish such guidelines
as may be necessary to facilitate their implementation.
"The text also contained provisions on economic
reform and development assistance to support the transition, among
others."[ 487]
68.7 On 14 April, the UN issued a further statement,
which said:
"Imposing sanctions on individuals it said were
undermining the stability of Yemen, the Security Council today
demanded that all parties in the embattled country, in particular
the Houthis, immediately and unconditionally end violence and
refrain from further unilateral actions that threatened the political
transition.
"Adopting resolution 2216 (2015) by
14 affirmative votes to none against, with one abstention
(Russian Federation), the Council also demanded that the Houthis,
withdraw from all areas seized during the latest conflict, relinquish
arms seized from military and security institutions, cease all
actions falling exclusively within the authority of the legitimate
Government of Yemen and fully implement previous Council resolutions.
"Acting under chapter VII of Charter, the
body also called upon the Houthis to refrain from any provocations
or threats to neighbouring States, release the Minister for Defence,
all political prisoners and individuals under house arrest or
arbitrarily detained, and end the recruitment of children.
"Imposing sanctions, including a general assets
freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, on Abdulmalik al-Houthi,
who it called the Houthi leader, and Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh,
son of the president who stepped down in 2011, the resolution
called upon all Yemeni parties to abide by the Gulf Cooperation
Council and other initiatives and to resume the United Nations-brokered
political transition.
"Reaffirming the need for all parties to ensure
the safety of civilians, the Council called on parties to facilitate
the evacuation by concerned States and international organizations
of their civilians and personnel from Yemen. The resolution requested
the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the resolution
within 10 days.
"Explaining his delegation's decision to abstain,
the representative of the Russian Federation said the text failed
to take into account proposals his country had made, refused to
call on all sides to halt fire and lacked clarity on a humanitarian
pause. There were inappropriate references to sanctions, he added,
stating that resolution must not result in an escalation of the
crisis.
"The representative of Jordan, Council President
for April, said, however, that the adoption of the resolution
under Chapter VII was a clear and firm signal to the Houthis and
all those supporting them to comply with their obligations. Stressing
the regional ramifications of the escalating conflict, she stated
that the Council was prepared to consider any additional measures
required.
"The Council had for months demanded that the
parties in Yemen proceed with the agreed upon political transition,
the representative of the United States recalled. In response,
however, the Houthis had intensified their military actions, threatening
the country's and region's security. For that reason, she strongly
supported the resolution, which provided a general asset freeze
and travel ban on spoilers.
"Also welcoming the adoption, the representative
of Yemen described it as a tangible demonstration of the seriousness
of the international community's support for his people's effort
to restore peace, rule of law and democracy. He said that while
the Yemeni Government and other parties were finalizing a comprehensive
peace framework, opposition forces had mounted a coup d'état,
threatening the social fabric and cohesion of the Yemeini people.
He applauded the response of the Gulf Cooperation Council to the
crisis as consistent with the imperative of preserving Yemen's
Constitution and rebuffing Iran's designs."[ 488]
The Minister's Explanatory Memorandum of 19 June
2015
68.8 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 19 June 2015,
the Minister says that the unilateral actions by the Houthis,
and their supporters, "have gravely undermined the political
transition process in Yemen, and have seriously jeopardised the
security, stability, sovereignty and unity of Yemen". The
Houthis have "consistently failed to implement their commitments
made in the Peace and National Partnership Agreement and have
continued to use force to achieve their aims". A political
solution in Yemen will "be difficult to achieve unless the
Houthis and their supporters can be deterred".
68.9 The Minister explains that:
— the
targeted arms embargo prevents, by law, the supply of weapons,
military equipment and financial assistance to the Houthis and
their supporters;
— it is reinforced by the designation of
Abdulmalik al-Houthi and Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh under the asset
freeze and travel ban measures set out in UNSCR 2140 (2014); and
— these targeted sanctions are intended
to support the efforts of the Gulf Co-operation Council and the
wider international community to facilitate a political solution
to the crisis in Yemen.
68.10 The Minister comments thus:
"The situation in Yemen remains very serious
and fighting between competing forces continues. Ultimately the
solution to the crisis must be a political one. Under UN-auspices,
initial consultations were held on 16-17 June in Geneva between
the Yemeni Government and adversaries to the conflict. We see
this as a first step towards establishing a political process
and are fully supportive of the UN efforts. These negotiations
should promote a return to the political transition based on the
GCC Initiative, the Yemen National Dialogue outcomes, and UN Security
Council resolutions."
68.11 In a separate letter of the same date, the
Minister;
— explains
that the draft EU Council Decision and Regulation were received
by his officials on 11 May and were formally adopted on 8 June
2015, after negotiations in Brussels; and
— expresses his regret that, with the Committee
yet to reconvene, the Government had to agree to the adoption
of these Council documents before the Committee had an opportunity
to scrutinise them.
Previous Committee Reports
None.
486 The modern Republic of Yemen was born in 1990 when
traditional North Yemen and communist South Yemen merged after
years of clashes. Since unification Yemen has been slowly modernising
and opening up to the world, but still retains much of its tribal
character. A short civil war in 1994 ended in defeat for separatist
southerners, but regional tensions re-emerged in the summer of
2009 when government troops and Houthi rebels from the Shia Zaidi
sect clashed in the north, killing hundreds and displacing more
than a quarter of a million people. See BBC News Yemen Overview. Back
487 See "Security Council Adopts Resolution 2140 (2014), Welcoming
Yemen's Peaceful Transition towards New Constitution, General
Elections", which also contains the full text of the Resolution. Back
488 For the full text, including statements by other Heads of Mission
and the text of the Resolution, see "Security Council Demands
End to Yemen Violence, Adopting Resolution 2216 (2015), with Russian
Federation Abstaining". Back
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