High Court allows UK government to continue exporting arms to Saudi Arabia – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted July 12th, 2017 in export controls, news, Saudi Arabia, weapons by sally

‘A challenge to the legality of UK’s sale of arms to Saudi Arabia has failed. The claim sprang from the conflict in Yemen and the border areas of Saudi Arabia. It focussed on airstrikes conducted by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia in support of the legitimate government of Yemen against the Shia-led Houthi rebellion. UK arms export policy states that the government must deny licenses for sale of arms to regimes if there is a ‘clear risk’ that the arms ‘might’ be used in ‘a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law. This in turn is based on the EU Common Position 2008/944/CFSP on arms export control, which explicitly rules out the authorising of arms licences by Member States in these “clear risk” circumstances.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 11th July 2017

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com