- UK support for the Saudis' war on Yemen. CAAT protest. Archived Message
Posted by Mary
on October 28, 2020, 8:28 am
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UK faces new legal challenge over arms sales to Saudi Arabia Campaigners seek judicial review of renewal of sales after court ruled them unlawful 27 Oct 2020 Campaigners have filed for a judicial review of the UK government’s decision to renew arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) said the weapons would “fuel destruction and prolong the conflict” in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has employed widespread bombing in a war that has killed thousands of civilians. Last month, a United Nations report said countries arming parties involved in the conflict could be “aiding and assisting” war crimes, and said there had been “documented patterns” of serious international humanitarian law violations. In a June 2019 case, also brought by CAAT, the court of appeal ruled British arms sales to Saudi Arabia were unlawful and said ministers had illegally signed off on arms exports without properly assessing the risk to civilians. It ordered the then international trade secretary, Liam Fox, to hold an immediate review of at least £4.7bn-worth of arms deals with Saudi Arabia and the government suspended new arms sales to the country. However, in July this year the government announced it was resuming arms sales to Saudi Arabia, after a review concluded there had been only “isolated incidents” of airstrikes in Yemen that breached humanitarian law. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/oct/27/uk-faces-new-legal-challenge-over-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia |
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