UK government ‘on wrong side of the law’ re Saudi arms exports

The UK government’s policy of licensing arms sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is ‘narrowly on the wrong side of the law’, according to a House of Lords Select Committee on International Relations.

In its report, ‘Yemen: giving peace a chance’, the Committee members say that they ‘recognise that there are legitimate reasons for UK arms exports overseas. Export licensing decisions for the sale of arms always require fine judgements, balancing legitimate security concerns against human rights implications, and each situation must be assessed individually. The Government asserts that, in its licensing of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, it is narrowly on the right side of international humanitarian law.’ But, the Committee members note, in their opinion, ‘Although conclusive evidence is not yet available, we assess that it [the Government] is narrowly on the wrong side: given the volume and type of arms being exported to the Saudi-led coalition, we believe they are highly likely to be the cause of significant civilian casualties in Yemen, risking the contravention of international humanitarian law.’

Amongst its conclusions, the Committee said that the UK ‘should immediately condemn any further violations of international humanitarian law by the Saudi-led coalition, including the blocking of food and medical supplies, and be prepared to suspend some key export licences to members of the coalition.’

It also said that the UK government should ‘signal that failure by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates or Iran to back the Stockholm Agreement in deeds as well as words would have negative consequences for our relations with these countries.’

Under the Stockholm Agreement, parties agreed a ceasefire in the city and port of Hodeidah in order to allow supplies to reach those that need them.

The charity Médecins Sans Frontières estimates that some three million people have been displaced in Yemen since 2015, and 20 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

The report, ‘Yemen: giving peace a chance’, is at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201719/ldselect/ldintrel/290/29003.htm#_idTextAnchor024