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High Court Upholds British Sales of Arms to Saudi Arabia

posted by martyb on Friday July 14 2017, @01:38AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-a-leg-to-stand-on dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The High Court in London ruled that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia may continue.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) had sought an order to block export licences for British-made fighter jets, bombs and other munitions which it said the Saudi-led Arab coalition was using in a campaign against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen's civil war.

[...] "Saudi Arabia has been, and remains, genuinely committed to compliance with International Humanitarian Law; and there was no 'real risk' that there might be 'serious violations' of International Humanitarian Law (in its various manifestations) such that UK arm sales to Saudi Arabia should be suspended or cancelled," the court said.

[...] CAAT said it would appeal against the decision, and the leader of the opposition Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, heavily criticised the government for its trade with Saudi Arabia.

"The government continues to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, one of the most oppressive and brutal regimes, that finances terrorism and is breaching humanitarian law," Corbyn said.

Source: Reuters

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by n1 on Friday July 14 2017, @02:31AM

    by n1 (993) on Friday July 14 2017, @02:31AM (#538945) Journal

    Saudi Arabia in it's 'genuine commitment to compliance with International Humanitarian Law' is a country that still has public executions, including for crimes such as 'witchcraft' and homosexual acts... It also has a blanket ban on political demonstrations.

    Also in the news this week...

    The Government will not release its report into the extent of Saudi Arabian and other foreign funding for Islamist extremism in Britain, the Home Secretary has said.

    In a statement released to Parliament on Wednesday, Amber Rudd said she would not be releasing the report, commissioned by former prime minister David Cameron, on “national security” grounds.

    “Having taken advice, I have decided against publishing the classified report produced during the review in full,” Ms Rudd said.

    [...] The Prime Minister last week said she “looked forward to deepening our close bilateral ties” with Saudi Arabia, while Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said earlier this year that he wants British companies to sell more weapons to the country.

    Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/saudi-arabia-extremism-funding-arms-sales-government-a7837771.html [independent.co.uk]

    Saudi Arabia will host the G20 summit in 2020, according to the closing statement at this year's meeting in Hamburg.

    Source: https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/saudi-arabia-to-host-g20-summit-in-2020-1.382504 [thenational.ae]

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