France Should Stop Fueling Saudi War Crimes in Yemen

The departure from French waters of a Saudi cargo ship without picking up French arms is a small victory for public efforts to stop possible French complicity in Saudi war crimes in Yemen. But the French government has only double down in insisting that it will continue to sell arms to Saudi Arabia. None of the rationalizations offered by the French government justifies this prioritization of arms profits over human rights principles.

The Saudi-led coalition’s bombing and blockading of Yemeni civilians since March 2015 is a central cause of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. With the best weapons that money can buy, Saudi-led aircraft have repeatedly hit Yemeni markets, hospitals, schools, funerals, even a school bus filled with children. Often after these deadly attacks on civilians the coalition promises a self-investigation, which if any result is announced, is almost invariably exculpatory. No one is known to have been prosecuted for unlawful airstrikes.

Promises of improvement are refuted by more killing of civilians.

To make matters worse, the Saudi-led coalition has blockaded western Yemen, decimating the economy and leaving millions on the brink of famine.

There is growing international outrage about the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia under these circumstances. Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Norway have announced an end to such sales. US President Donald Trump has made clear that he prioritizes the jobs created by Saudi arms sales over the Yemeni civilians killed by them, but few have openly endorsed this inhumane logic.