Leaked report urges Britain to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia as it ‘seems inevitable’ they are committing war crimes in Yemen with UK weapons
Government faces pressure amid claims that international humanitarian law has been breached
A LEAKED report shows MP are urging Britain to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia as it appears the country is committing war crimes in Yemen and it "seems inevitable" they involve UK weapons.
The Government has faced sustained pressure amid claims international humanitarian law has been breached in fighting between the Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia, and Shiite rebels.
According to BBC Two's Newsnight, the Commons Committees on Arms Export Controls said in a draft report: "The weight of evidence of violations of international humanitarian law by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is now so great that it is very difficult to continue to support Saudi Arabia while maintaining the credibility of our arms licensing regime."
It added: "The weight of evidence is now so great that the UK should suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen until an independent and international inquiry can establish the truth."
The programme quoted the draft report as saying it "seems inevitable that any violations of international law by the Saudi-led coalition would involve arms supplied by the UK".
It adds, according to the programme: "While doubt and uncertainty about IHL compliance in Yemen exists, the default position of the UK should not to be to continue to sell weapons."
The claims come after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Monday defended the selling of arms to Saudi Arabia for potential use in Yemen's bloody civil war, insisting the export of weapons to the country would continue.
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The Foreign Secretary said the Government found there was not a "clear risk" that weapons were being used to violate IHL.
His comments followed the Government's admission that it wrongly published statements assuring the Commons that IHL assessments regarding Saudi Arabia had been passed when they had not been carried out.
The Government said the original statements resulted from error and were not a deliberate attempt to mislead Parliament
Andrew Smith, of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, said: "This makes clear how central UK arms are to the Saudi bombardment and how complicit the UK Government has been in the devastation of Yemen.
“Ten thousand people have been killed, yet the message sent out by ministers is that their lives are less important than arms company profits."