Yemen’s Ansarullah movement spokesman has rebuked France over supplying Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with arms used against Yemeni citizens calling that ‘hypocrisy to evade crimes.’
“The persistence of
French President (Emmanuel Macron) on selling arms to Saudi Arabia on the
pretext that they are not used against (Yemeni) civilians is a clear hypocrisy
to evade crimes,” Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network cited
Mohammed Abdul-Salam as writing on his official Twitter page on Friday.
The Houthi official then called on France and other countries to stop
selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have been involved in an
atrocious military aggression against Yemen for more than four years.
“The move is an attempt by France to evade responsibility for the crimes being
committed against Yemeni people,” Abdul-Salam noted.
Meanwhile, a Saudi cargo ship that had been expected to pick up a hugely
controversial shipment of French arms from Le Havre port in the Normandy region
of northwestern France has not docked there and left without its arms cargo.
According to ship tracking data and comments from a local French official to
Reuters, the Bahri Yanbu is now sailing towards Santander in Spain.
On Thursday, two French human rights groups had sought to block the loading of
weapons onto the Saudi vessel.
It came weeks after investigative website Disclose published leaked
documents, showing Saudi Arabia was using French weapons, including tanks and
laser-guided missile systems, against civilians in Yemen’s war.
Faced with strong criticism, Macron admitted that the weapons were indeed being
used in the war; but only within Saudi Arabia’s border.
“I would like to say here that what we reiterated was the guarantee for
them (the arms) not be used against civilian populations,” he asserted.
Back in March 2018, French law firm Ancile Avocat said France’s arms exports to
Saudi Arabia and the UAE could be in contravention of its international
commitments – primarily the Arms Trade Treaty, which Paris ratified in
2014.
“The French government has authorized exports of military equipment
to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in circumstances where these weapons can
be used in the conflict in Yemen and could be used to carry out war crimes,” it
said in a report.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating
campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government
of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the
Houthi Ansarullah movement.
According to a December 2018 report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event
Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led
war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016.
The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying
hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN said in a report in December 2018
that over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid,
including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.
