News   /   Interviews

UK downplays Saudi crimes to continue arms sales: Activist

Yemenis carry belongings they recovered from the rubble of buildings destroyed during Saudi airstrikes the previous day in the Yemeni city of Hudaydah on September 22, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Britain downplays the fact that Saudi Arabia is violating human rights in Yemen so that it can continue its arms sales to the kingdom, an activist tells Press TV.

“They [the Saudis] are targeting civilians. It is important for Britain to downplay this or not acknowledge it because that would go against their own... [law], which forbids them from selling weapons to countries engaged in targeting civilians which Saudi Arabia is doing,” said Ryan Dawson, a human rights and peace activist.

This comes as the United Kingdom has blocked European Union efforts to launch an independent international inquiry into Saudi Arabia’s aggression against Yemen.

Human Rights Watch and other rights groups condemned the UK’s stance, accusing it of protecting its arms deals with the Saudi regime.

Dawson also stated that human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Oxfam have been crying out about the ongoing Saudi atrocities in Yemen, but Saudi Arabia continues targeting civilians “unapologetically”.

According to the activist, the US, Britain and some other European states are only concerned about the billions of dollars involved in the aerospace industry, adding that they neither care about civilians in Yemen, nor are they concerned about Riyadh's human rights violations in the Arab kingdom itself.

The UK, the second-largest exporter of weapons in the world, approved licenses for the sale of $11.2 billion in armaments last year, but its licensing export regime is under scrutiny amid reports British weaponry, including cluster bombs, is being routinely used in Yemen.

According to sources, London supplied export licenses for close to $4 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia last year. The British government has also been accused of being involved in guiding the Saudi military aggression in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has been pounding Yemen since March 2015, with the UN putting the death toll at 10,000. The offensive was launched to reinstate Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch sally of Riyadh, who has resigned as Yemen’s president.


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku