Amnesty Urges US, UK to Halt Arming Saudi Arabia in Yemen War

Washington and London to halt arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia, which is leading a brutal war on Yemen

Amnesty on Tuesday urged Washington and London to halt arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia, which is leading a brutal war on Yemen.

In a statement released one year into the Saudi-led intervention and titled “Reckless arms flows decimate civilian lives,” the rights watchdog urged the two Western powers and other states to “halt all transfers of arms for use in the Yemen conflict”.

“Saudi Arabia’s international partners have added fuel to the fire, flooding the region with arms despite the mounting evidence that such weaponry has facilitated appalling crimes and the clear risk that new supplies could be used for serious violations,” said James Lynch, Amnesty International’s regional deputy director.

Amnesty said that Washington and London, the largest arms suppliers to Saudi Arabia, “have continued to allow transfers of the type of arms that have been used to commit and facilitate serious abuses, generating a humanitarian crisis on an unprecedented scale.”