Yesterday, Thursday 28 March, the German government extended the suspension of its arms sales to Saudi Arabia until 30 September. This decision is in line with Germany’s international commitments, including the Arms Trade Treaty, in one of the most horrific wars of the early 21st century.
Action Sécurité Ethique Républicaines (ASER) welcomes this decision as a clear response to the moral bankruptcy of the British and French governments. The latter had put pressure on the Merkel government by prioritising the protection of the European defence industry over the protection of the millions of Yemenis living in humanitarian emergency as a result of the war.
The ceasefire was again violated by an air attack by the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on 26 March. The missile exploded less than 50 metres from Kitaf Field Hospital, located about 100 kilometres north of Sana’a. He killed 7 people, including two children.
Despite this accumulation of grave violations of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, France, Great Britain and the United States continue to fuel this war by selling weapons to those countries responsible for war crimes, or even crimes against humanity.
The blindness of these governments was further illustrated by a new statement by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt stating: « The crisis in Yemen will not be resolved by stopping British arms exports ». This archaic vision of building peace and security is being realized in a humanitarian disaster where 85,000 children under the age of 5 and more than 50,000 people have died in this conflict.
For the first time in the history of arms exports to France, Action Sécurité Ethique Républicaines (ASER) brought an action before the administrative court to request the suspension of French arms exports to countries that operate militarily in Yemen because they violate Article 6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
Pour d’autres articles sur ces questions, consulter le blog: Armer Désarmer
ASER est membre du Réseau d’Action International sur les Armes Légères (RAIAL).
ASER est accréditée aux Nations Unies.