A/HRC/42/CRP.1
aiding and abetting war crimes.1463 Whether the conditions for complicity, notably for war
crimes, are met as regards States supplying arms to Yemen remains to be established. 1464
919. On various legal bases, the legality of arms transfers by France, the United
Kingdom, the United States and other States to parties to the Yemeni conflict remains
questionable. This question is currently the subject of various domestic court proceedings
and parliamentary debates.1465 Notwithstanding the outcome of these proceedings, the
Group of Experts observes that the continued supply of weapons to parties involved in the
conflict in Yemen perpetuates the conflict and the suffering of the population.
XI. Conclusions and Recommendations
A. Conclusions
920. The parties to the conflict in Yemen are responsible for an array of human rights
violations and violations of international humanitarian law. Some of these violations are
likely to amount to war crimes.
921. The practical impact of these violations on the lives of ordinary Yemenis has been
immense and wide ranging. Shelling and airstrikes hit people going about their daily lives,
often without warning in areas where there is no active combat ongoing, creating the sense
that there is no safe place to hide from the fighting. Landmines left by the Houthis kill and
maim people long after battles have subsided. The blockade, siege-like tactics, attacks
impacting objects essential to the survival of the population and impediments to the
delivery of aid deprive the population of necessary items while Yemen is undergoing an
unprecedented humanitarian crisis. People are arrested and detained arbitrarily,
disappeared, subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, and in some
cases documented by the Group of Experts, have died in the custody of parties to the
conflict or shortly after release. The population lives in fear of being detained or otherwise
targeted for any perceived dissent. Parties actively recruit children, including through force.
Civilians unable or unwilling to support the cause of the party in control of the area in
which they reside suffer regular punishments. Parties carefully police activists, journalists,
and human rights defenders and humanitarian workers, and impose on them restrictions in
1463
Art. 25 3. (c) Rome Statute.
See various articles on that topic as regards arms transfers to Yemen possibly amounting to
complicity of the United States (https://www.justsecurity.org/62363/saudi-coalition-admission-errorbombing-cholera-treatment-center-implicates-united-states/); and/or of the United Kingdom
(https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/jun/20/uk-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia-for-use-in-yemendeclared-unlawful?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other;
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/18/the-saudis-couldnt-do-it-without-us-the-uks-truerole-in-yemens-deadly-war?CMP=share_btn_fb;
https://www.justsecurity.org/32656/law-aidingabetting-alleged-war-crimes-assess-uk-support-saudi-strikes-yemen/);
and
of
France
(https://www.hrw.org/fr/news/2019/04/15/yemen-appel-de-10-ong-apres-lenquete-de-disclose-sur-leyemen).
1465 Court proceedings are notably currently pending in France, Italy, and the United Kingdom; the
issue has also been the subject of congressional/parliamentary debates and resolutions in, for
example, the United States, Australia, and Italy; several countries have reportedly suspended arms
exports to Saudi Arabia, including: Belgium, Germany (although indirect sales through France were
reported and questions remain over deliveries under extant licenses) and the Netherlands.. Canada
reportedly announced that it would initiate a review process of arms exports but civil society have
expressed concerns at the fact that this review remains pending. Data on arms transfers is available
from national reports on arms exports, publicly available judicial decisions and
congressional/parliamentary resolutions, and independent research of human rights organizations and
think tanks which have examined arms sales and supplies. The issue of arms sales and supplies to
parties to the conflict has also been widely discussed in international and national media (see for
example Samuel Perlo-Freeman, “Who is arming the Yemen war? An update”, March 2019,
https://sites.tufts.edu/reinventingpeace/2019/03/19/who-is-arming-the-yemen-war-an-update/).
1464
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