British
arms sales to Saudi
Arabia that were used in Yemen have been declared unlawful by the
court of appeal because they contributed to indiscriminate civilian
casualties in the bombing campaign from forces led by the Gulf
kingdom.
The
ruling from three senior judges follows a challenge brought by
Campaign Against Arms Trade, which had accused the UK government of
licensing arms sales when there was a clear risk that their use could
breach international humanitarian law.
In
its judgment in London the court of appeal ruled that “the process
of decision-making by the government was wrong in law in one
significant respect” in that the
government “made no concluded assessments of whether the Saudi-led
coalition had committed violations of international humanitarian law
in the past, during the Yemen conflict, and made no attempt to do
so”.
Unfortunately
for innocent the people in Yemen, the judgement added, it added: “The
decision of the court today does not mean that licences to export
arms to Saudi Arabia must immediately be suspended.”
Andrew
Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said: “We welcome this verdict
but it should never have taken a court case brought by campaigners to
force the government to follow its own rules. The
Saudi Arabian regime is one of the most brutal and repressive in the
world, yet, for decades, it has been the largest buyer of UK-made
arms. No matter what atrocities it has inflicted, the Saudi regime
has been able to count on the uncritical political and military
support of the UK. The bombing has created the worst humanitarian
crisis in the world. UK arms companies have profited every step of
the way. The arms sales must stop immediately.”
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