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UK RESPONDS TO YEMEN SLAUGHTER
Pressure builds to end shameful silence as 10,000 innocents die in blitz
Footage of an alleged war crime when British-made bombs were dropped on Yemen civilians has been obtained by the Sunday Mail as the innocents’ death toll soars.
UK ministers have ignored mounting pressure to freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia, who are leading the airstrikes, amid mounting evidence that civilian areas are being targeted.
Last week, the United Nations said the previous civilian death toll of 6000 in the 18- month conf lict was conservative and said it was likely at least 10,000 had been killed.
The previously unseen mobile phone footage taken on January 10 shows an airstrike on a college in the capital city Sana’a.
The short clip features an explosion in a built-up area before a huge cloud of smoke rises into the sky.
The incident was filmed by a security guard who gave it to Mwatana, a Yemeni human rights organisation.
Mwatana have submitted their evidence of the airstrike to Westminster’s Committees on Arms Export Controls (CAEC), who are investigating the use of UK arms in Yemen’s war.
The conflict is between forces loyal to ousted president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, led by Saudi Arabia, and Houthi rebels backed by Iran.
Nearly three million people have been forced to f lee their homes and almost eight million people are suffering from malnutrition.
The Saudi- led coalition have used UK- made warplanes, dropping smart bombs with laser guidance systems produced by US arms firm Raytheon at their factory in Fife.
But al legations that civi l ians have died after being targeted by the coalition have brought huge pressure on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
CAEC began investigating in March following claims the UK was in breach of the Arms Trade Treaty and are due to publish their report shortly. The treaty sets international standards for the arms trade and was signed by the UK.
Governments who sign up must review arms export deals to ensure weapons are not used for war crimes. In their evidence to CAEC, Mwatana said UK-made bombs were used by the coalition when civilian areas were targeted.
The human rights group said: “Mwatana investigated two airstrikes carried out by the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia on January 8 and 10, 2016, which targeted the community college in Quhaza village, Bilad Arroos district, about 32km south of Sana’a city.”
Mwatana visited the site on February 18 and interviewed Ali Hadi al-Muzalim, 33, a guard at the compound.
Al-Muzalim told Mwatana: “On Friday, January 8, around 2pm, I was in the administration building and heard three airstrikes target the compound.
“Later, I left the compound and made a basic shelter around 50m away from the compound. On Sunday, January 10, around 6pm, again two airstrikes hit the compound and I filmed the former with my mobile.”
According to al-Muzalim, the compound was not used by the military and the nearest weapons depot was around 10 miles north. No one was injured.
Mwatana also submitted evidence found after an incident on September 23, 2015, when a ceramics factory was bombed in Sana’a, killing one person.
They said: “Mwatana confirmed that the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia has used UK-manufactured bombs to entirely destroy one of the biggest civilian industrial facilities in Sana’a, northern Yemen.
“According to research by Mwatana, one of the attacks on civilian facilities was the bombing of the Ceramica Radfan factory, in Matnah area, Bani Matar district, about 30km west of Sana’a city.
“During their field visit to the destroyed
factory on October 7, Mwatana’s team documented remnants of the bombs used in the shelling. Arms experts found later that they were remnants of a Paveway laser or laser and GPS bomb (GEC Marconi Dynamics Company).”
Mwatana added that remnants of bombs found at the college matched those found at the ceramics factory, indicating they were also made by GEC Marconi.
Experts said the bomb was a PGM-500 Hakim produced in the UK for the United Arab Emi rates by GEC- Marconi Dynamics in the 1990s.
GEC-Marconi Dynamics are now part of MBDA Missile Systems. They declined to comment.
Andrew Smith, of Campaign Against Arms Trade, said: “The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is getting even worse.
“The situation for people in Yemen is intolerable and lives are being torn apart. The evidence of UK arms being used against civilians is overwhelming, yet ministers in Whitehall are pulling out all stops to support the Saudi regime.
“If the UK government want to help the desperate situation, then they must cease all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and call for an independent investigation into the legality of the bombardment.
“The UK has fuelled the destruction – now it needs to do all it can to end it.”
In March, Mwatana published a report called Blind Air Strikes, documenting 44 attacks they believed to be unlawful.
The report said these airstrikes had killed at least 615 civilians including 120 women and 220 children. Another 678 people were injured.
Earlier this year, the UN said there had been 119 “clear violations” of international law by the coalition, raising questions over the legality of UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Refugee camps, schools, hospitals and markets had been targeted by airstrikes as well as weddings, the UN said.
Last year, the British government approved more than £ 3billion worth of arms sales to the Saudis.
We revealed last month that a code on a bomb fragment linked Raytheon and another Scots firm to an alleged war crime.
The SNP, Scottish Greens, Lib Dems, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have all called for a suspension of arms sales to the Saudis.
The UK government are facing a judicial review into arms sales to the Saudis and MPs have been investigating the issue.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law by actors in the conflict and take these very seriously. It is important that all sides conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that IHL has been breached.
“We regularly raise the importance of compliance with IHL with the Saudi Arabian government and other members of the military coalition.
“Saudi Arabia has publicly stated it is investigating reports of alleged violations of IHL and that lessons will be acted upon.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and welcome any fur ther information NGOs can provide.”
Meanwhile, the UN has said that 10,000 people have been killed since the war started, nearly double previous estimates.
The figure was based on information from hospitals in Yemen, the UN said, describing the situation as “tragic”.
UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick said the number might rise as some areas had no medical facilities and people were often buried without official records.
He said: “We know the numbers are much higher. The figures we have are probably incomplete because we take the numbers from health services and in some of these areas there are no functioning health services.”
Some 14million of Yemen’s 26million population need food aid.
The situation is now intolerable and lives are being torn apart by these airstrikes WE SAY PAGE 16