British government officials licensed the sale of $4.2 billion (£3.3 billion) worth of arms to Saudi Arabia in the first 12 months of the Saudi-led bombing in Yemen, which is now in its third year. As of January this year the U.K. Ministry of Defence was itself tracking 252 cases of alleged breaches of international humanitarian law following Saudi coalition air strikes in Yemen. [...]
An array of international organizations — including a UN panel of experts, the European parliament, humanitarian and human rights groups — have repeatedly condemned the ongoing airstrikes against Yemen as unlawful. The British government has twice blocked attempts proposed through the UN Human Rights Council to establish a non-Saudi-led inquiry into alleged violations of international law. [...]
Similar recent attempts to suspend U.S. arms sales to Saudi have so far failed. The Trump administration notified Congress last month of its intention to resume the export of precision guided weapons to the country, suspended under Obama in December. On June 13 the Senate voted 53 to 47 in a narrow defeat of legislation seeking to block some arms sales to Saudi.
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