Human Rights: Selling arms to Saudi Arabia puts Britain in defiance of int’l law

SANAA, Feb. 23 (YPA) – The United Nations Human Rights Organization called on the United Kingdom to stop its support for Saudi Arabia in light of the violations it is committing in its war against Yemen.

The UK government refuses to criticize the coalition for its abuses in Yemen, and “its decision to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia, despite the risk of using it illegally,” Human Rights Watch said.

In October, following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Angela Merkel announced “the cessation of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and urged other EU member states to do the same.”

The organization accused British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt of applying at the request of his German counterpart in a letter to “ease Germany’s arms embargo on Saudi Arabia because of its negative impact on British arms sales to Saudi Arabia.”

The organization says the International Relations Committee of the British Parliament recently concluded that the United Kingdom violates international humanitarian law by selling arms to Saudi Arabia.

“Given the size and type of weapons exported to the Saudi-led coalition, it is likely that large civilian casualties in Yemen would be at risk of violating international humanitarian law,” the British commission said in a report.

The Saudi-led coalition aggression on Yemen since March 2015 has resulted in the deaths and injuries of thousands from Yemenis, mostly civilians who have been killed in air strikes.

Sameera Hassn