Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the statements made by representatives of the UN about breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen by the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition, and other parties to the fighting, have been reflected in risk assessments for licences for military aircraft, bombs and other equipment issued for sales to Saudi Arabia since their operations began in Yemen in March.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition. We have received assurances from the Saudi Arabian authorities that they are complying with IHL and we continue to engage with them on those assurances. The Saudi Arabian authorities have their own internal procedures for investigations and we encourage them to be open and transparent in this. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL and international human rights law.

The UK takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. We rigorously examine every application on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.

The Ministry of Defence monitors the reports of alleged IHL violations which informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. We consider a range of evidence from Government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. We are also offering advice and training to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with IHL.