Sales to Saudis a rights issue

WELLINGTON: The Foreign Affairs Ministry granted export permits for military equipment that was sent to Saudi Arabia’s forces in 2016 and 2018, raising concerns the Government may have breached its human rights obligations.

Documents obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act detail sales that raise human rights concerns due to Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen’s civil war.

Since 2015, at least 100,000 people have died in the war, which has also displaced millions and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.

The documents showed that in May 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) approved a permit for military simulation training equipment to be sent to Saudi ground forces.

In December that year, signoff was also given for handheld computers, radios and range-finding binoculars bound for the Saudi Navy.

The exporter, whose identity has been kept secret by Mfat, applied for an extension to its December permit after that shipment was delayed, the documents showed.

This was granted in May 2018. The quantity and value of the equipment exported was also withheld.

While there are no specific international prohibitions on exporting weapons to Saudi Arabia, when Mfat considers an export permit it must assess whether there are any serious violations of humanitarian law.

Waikato University international law professor Al Gillespie said officials may have breached this obligation.

‘‘When you’re dealing with a conflict where nearly a quarter of a million people have died, you’ve got 10 million people on the cusp of starvation, and the conflict continues to burn and spill, that’s not the conflict you want to be involved with,’’ he said.

In a response attached to the documents, Mfat said: ‘‘Both permits were approved within the framework of the New Zealand Export Controls regime, including [Mfat’s] assessment at the time that they would not contribute to human rights abuses.’’

However, by the time the export permits were first granted in 2016, there was an abundance of concern over Saudi Arabia’s involvement in Yemen.

By 2018, the conflict had spiralled out of control. The UN declared Yemen as the ‘‘world’s largest humanitarian crisis’’.

Green Party foreign affairs spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman said the New Zealand involvement could amount to a war crime.

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta declined to be interviewed but said in a statement: ‘‘This export control case precedes my time as foreign minister and indeed was initially approved in 2016 under the previous government.

‘‘We made it clear this [last] week we consider it unacceptable for entities connected to the New Zealand Government to be exporting military equipment to Saudi Arabia.’’

She did not appear to address the 2018 permit renewal, granted under the present Government.