Local Editor
This week, three rights groups will join the appeal against the UK’s continuing arms exports to Saudi Arabia in a fresh legal challenge.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Rights Watch UK will intervene in the case, brought by Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), at the Court of Appeal in London seeking to challenge the legality of the British Government’s decision to issue licences for arms exports to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen, despite the risk of the weapons being used for serious violations of international humanitarian law in the conflict.
“The people of Yemen are being killed and are at serious risk of famine because of the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition’s relentless bombing campaign that has been made possible by British arms and equipment,” said Lucy Claridge, Amnesty International’s Director of Strategic Litigation.
“How many more people must die before the UK Government admits it is in the wrong? By selling billions of pounds worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, ministers are signing a death warrant for the people of Yemen,” Claridge stated. “Across Europe, several countries have stopped selling arms to Saudi Arabia because they know it goes against their legal obligations and have seen the devastation they are causing. It is time for the UK Government to stop putting profit before people’s lives.”
Since a Saudi-led coalition entered the Yemen conflict four years ago, more than 17,640 people have been killed and injured. The United Nations has assessed that the majority of casualties have been the result of coalition bombing. A man-made humanitarian crisis has spiraled since then, with approximately 14 million people in the country currently at risk of starvation.
Source: Yemenwatch.net
