US, European Arms Used by Saudi and UAE-Led Coalition to Kill Yemeni Civilians: Report

TEHRAN – US and European weapons are being used by the Saudi- and UAE-led coalition to kill and wound hundreds of civilians in Yemen, a new report by the Yemen-based Mwatana for Human Rights (MHR) revealed, according to Tasnim News Agency.

The organization documented 27 unlawful coalition attacks from April 2015 to April 2018 that killed 203 civilians and injured at least 749.

Of the 27 attacks, 22 likely involved weapons produced in the US, two attacks likely involved weapons produced in the United Kingdom, and three attacks likely involved weapons with parts produced in both the US and UK, the report said.

The coalition has consistently attacked civilians, as well as homes, schools, businesses, farms, a health clinic, a government administration building and a celebration hall, in violation of the laws of war.

 The report, Day of Judgment: The Role of the US and Europe in Civilian Death, Destruction, and Trauma in Yemen, was released on Wednesday and noted that at least 122 children were among the dead and wounded in the attacks.

“It is clear that Saudi and Emirati promises to minimize harm to civilians were empty,” said Radhya al-Mutawakel, chairperson of the MHR.

“This report demonstrates a pattern of deadly coalition attacks involving weapons provided by Western states, particularly the US. The US, UK, and others should immediately halt arms transfers and all other forms of assistance to coalition forces for use in Yemen.”

MHR wrote that during a wedding celebration in Hajjah Governorate in April 2018, a US-made bomb exploded killing at least 21 people and injured another 97, among them drummers, dancers and wedding guests including 60 children.

In a December 2016 attack on a civilian home, also in Hajjah Governorate, a US-made cluster bomb killed at least 15 civilians – nine of them children – and wounded at least seven more.

In 2018, MHR documented 128 apparently unlawful coalition air attacks that killed 418 civilians, including 181 children, and wounded 435, among them 197 children.

Despite ongoing abuses by the coalition, the US continues to sell Saudi Arabia and the UAE weapons for use in Yemen, in violation of domestic and international law, MHR noted.

The UK, too, continues arms sales in violation of its obligations under the UN Arms Trade Treaty and the EU Common Position on Arms Export Controls.

Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have led a coalition of countries in a military campaign against Yemen- a campaign that has killed an estimated 50,000 people in Yemen.

Yemen was already the poorest country in the Middle East before the war. Today, 14 million people are threatened by famine and even more depend on humanitarian assistance.

 An estimated 85,000 children in Yemen have died of hunger and preventable diseases, according to the report.

H.M