Human Rights Watch calls for Saudi weapons sale halt for war crimes in Yemen

The Saudi-led coalition has violated laws of war with impunity in 2016, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2017.

The Saudi-led coalition has violated laws of war with impunity in 2016, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2017.

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition has carried out military operations, supported by the United States and United Kingdom Yemen since March 2015. The coalition has unlawfully attacked homes, markets, hospitals, schools, civilian businesses, and mosques. As of October 10, 2016, at least 4,125 civilians had been killed and 6,711 wounded according to the United Nations human rights office. Human Rights Watch has documented 61 apparently unlawful Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, some of which may amount to war crimes.  The coalition has also used internationally banned cluster munitions. Neither the US nor the UK have suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia despite increasing evidence of their use in the conflict and the coalition’s failure to credibly investigate alleged violations.