Human Rights Watch Urges US Gov't to End Munitions Sales to Saudi Arabia
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Human Rights Watch said that the US should cancel its plans to sell bombs to Saudi Arabia until Riyadh’s violations of international law in Yemen are investigated.
The Obama administration should cancel its plans to sell bombs to Saudi Arabia until Riyadh’s alleged violations of international law in Yemen are investigated, Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
"The US government is well aware of the Saudi-led coalition’s indiscriminate air attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians in Yemen since March," Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Joe Stork said in the statement issued on Wednesday, Sputnik News reported.
On November 17, 2015, the US Department of Defense announced that the State Department had approved a sale of $1.29 billion worth of air-to-ground munitions such as laser-guided bombs and "general purpose" bombs with guidance systems to Saudi Arabia.
"Providing the Saudis with more bombs under these circumstances is a recipe for greater civilian deaths, for which the United States will be partially responsible," Stork said.
Human Rights Watch noted that the US Congress has played a role in opposing sales of American weapons used in violation of the laws of war and should do so in this case.
More than 2,500 civilians have been killed in Yemen, most of them in air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition against the country, according to the UN.