- Committee on Arms Export Controls has announced an inquiry into the use of UK manufactured arms in Yemen
- UK has licensed £2.8 billion of arms to Saudi since bombing of Yemen began
- UK has licensed £6.7 billion of arms to Saudi since David Cameron took office in 2010
Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has welcomed the announcement that the Committee on Arms Export Controls (CAEC) is to investigate the use of UK manufactured arms in the ongoing bombing of Yemen.
The investigation will examine if weapons manufactured in the UK have been used by the Royal Saudi Armed Forces in Yemen, if any arms export licence criteria have been infringed and discuss what action should be taken in such cases.
The UK government has licensed £6.7 billion of arms to Saudi Arabia since David Cameron took office in 2010, including £2.8 billion since the bombing of Yemen began in March 2015.
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said:
We welcome the announcement of an investigation, but these arms sales should never have been allowed in the first place.
It is one of the most repressive regimes in the world and has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe on Yemen, yet it has enjoyed uncritical political and military support from the UK. If UK arms exports controls mean anything then the government needs to revoke all extant licences and stop all arms exports.
In January 2016, Law firm Leigh Day, representing CAAT, issued a pre-action protocol letter for judicial review challenging the government’s decision to export arms to Saudi Arabia despite increasing evidence that Saudi forces are violating international humanitarian law in Yemen. CAAT expects to make further announcements on the status of the action in the days ahead.
ENDS
For further information please contact Andrew at media(at)caat·org·uk or call 020 7281 0297 or 07990 673232.
