UK Court Says Government Violated Law In Arms Sales To Riyadh - Ruling

The London Court of Appeal upheld on Thursday the appeal of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), stating that the UK government broke the law when it decided to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia without trying to find out whether Riyadh had violated humanitarian law in Yemen in the past

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th June, 2019) The London Court of Appeal upheld on Thursday the appeal of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), stating that the UK government broke the law when it decided to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia without trying to find out whether Riyadh had violated humanitarian law in Yemen in the past.

"The Court of Appeal has concluded that the process of decision-making by the government was wrong in law in one significant respect. ... The error of law identified concerns one part of the process followed by government in considering that 'clear risk ... of serious violations'. 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," the court said in a statement.

The court noted that its ruling did not mean the need to immediately suspend licenses for the export of weapons to Saudi Arabia. At the same time, the ruling questions the possible issuance of new licenses. The court recommends the government to examine the situation and assess future risks.

UK Department of International Trade has stated that it did not agree with the decision and would try to challenge it.

"We disagree with the judgment and will be seeking permission to appeal," a spokesperson for the department said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia is the largest buyer of UK weapons. According to the CAAT, the United Kingdom has exported arms worth 5.7 billion Pounds ($7.45 billion) to the Saudi-led coalition conducting airstrikes in Yemen since the start of the conflict in 2015.

The anti-arms group has repeatedly criticized London for arms exports to Saudi Arabia, stressing that it made London complicit in Riyadh's human rights abuses in Yemen. The CAAT initially initiated court proceedings against the UK arms policies in 2017. However, the court dismissed the group's case, with London having continued its arms sales to Saudi Arabia. In May 2018, the CAAT was allowed to appeal the court's ruling.

The Saudi-led coalition has been engaged in the civil war in Yemen since March 2015, when it started to carry out airstrikes against the Houthi armed rebels at the request of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. The Yemeni civil war has claimed almost 7,000 civilian lives, while over 20 million people in Yemen are currently in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN estimates.