HRW:
UK, France, U.S. Lack ‘Political Courage’ to Pressure Saudis Over Yemen
PARIS (Dispatches) – London, Paris and Washington lack "political courage" to pressure Saudi Arabia over the actions of the Riyadh-led coalition in the Yemeni conflict and to ensure that Riyadh is held accountable, Bruno Stagno-Ugarte, the deputy executive director for advocacy at Human Rights Watch told Sputnik.
"[There is] the absence of political courage in Western capitals, in particular, in basically putting more pressure on Saudi Arabia and the UAE in terms of not taking these Yemeni civilians as hostages of this incredibly dire humanitarian embargo that they have imposed on Yemen … Unfortunately, London, Paris and Washington have made it easy on Saudi Arabia trying to avoid accountability," Stagno-Ugarte said.
According to the HRW deputy executive director for advocacy, Western nations, with the exception of the Netherlands and Canada, were not particularly "enthused with the idea of having an independent international commission looking into alleged war crimes" in Yemen.
Stagno-Ugarte stressed that "there has not been a sufficient concern for the cholera epidemic, the famine, the humanitarian embargo, but also the many war crimes that have been committed."
Rights groups have criticized the Saudi-led coalition, while the European Parliament urged for an arms embargo on Riyadh in a resolution passed in late October.
European countries have approved arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE worth more than $86.7 billion since 2015, according to figures compiled by leading online news outlet Middle East Eye.
Their contribution in aid to the impoverished nation which faces a devastating Saudi war and blockade amounts to just two percent of their revenues from the arms sales.
The value of the licenses which the countries issued in 2015 and 2016 - the only years for which arms exports reports are available - amount to over 55 times what they have donated to the UN’s Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan, which is underfunded.
Calls for a suspension of arms sales to Riyadh and its allies have increased, especially after the killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey last month.
Many governments have promised to stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia, but only Germany has suspended its sales until clear explanations are made about the murder. The UK, France and Spain have all signaled that they will continue business as usual.
"The UK and many of its EU allies insist there is no military solution to the conflict, yet they themselves are supplying the weapons that are fueling and prolonging the hostilities,” said Ben Donaldson, head of campaigns at the United Nations Association-UK, a grassroots policy group.
Saudi Arabia launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power.
According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi war has claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis so far.
Malnourished Ferial Elias, 2, gestures as she is being weighed at a malnutrition treatment ward at al-Thawra hospital in Hudaydah, Yemen November 3, 2018.
"[There is] the absence of political courage in Western capitals, in particular, in basically putting more pressure on Saudi Arabia and the UAE in terms of not taking these Yemeni civilians as hostages of this incredibly dire humanitarian embargo that they have imposed on Yemen … Unfortunately, London, Paris and Washington have made it easy on Saudi Arabia trying to avoid accountability," Stagno-Ugarte said.
According to the HRW deputy executive director for advocacy, Western nations, with the exception of the Netherlands and Canada, were not particularly "enthused with the idea of having an independent international commission looking into alleged war crimes" in Yemen.
Stagno-Ugarte stressed that "there has not been a sufficient concern for the cholera epidemic, the famine, the humanitarian embargo, but also the many war crimes that have been committed."
Rights groups have criticized the Saudi-led coalition, while the European Parliament urged for an arms embargo on Riyadh in a resolution passed in late October.
European countries have approved arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE worth more than $86.7 billion since 2015, according to figures compiled by leading online news outlet Middle East Eye.
Their contribution in aid to the impoverished nation which faces a devastating Saudi war and blockade amounts to just two percent of their revenues from the arms sales.
The value of the licenses which the countries issued in 2015 and 2016 - the only years for which arms exports reports are available - amount to over 55 times what they have donated to the UN’s Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan, which is underfunded.
Calls for a suspension of arms sales to Riyadh and its allies have increased, especially after the killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey last month.
Many governments have promised to stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia, but only Germany has suspended its sales until clear explanations are made about the murder. The UK, France and Spain have all signaled that they will continue business as usual.
"The UK and many of its EU allies insist there is no military solution to the conflict, yet they themselves are supplying the weapons that are fueling and prolonging the hostilities,” said Ben Donaldson, head of campaigns at the United Nations Association-UK, a grassroots policy group.
Saudi Arabia launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power.
According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi war has claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis so far.
Malnourished Ferial Elias, 2, gestures as she is being weighed at a malnutrition treatment ward at al-Thawra hospital in Hudaydah, Yemen November 3, 2018.