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The Use of UK‑Manufactured Arms in Yemen

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The Use of UK‑Manufactured Arms in Yemen House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills and International Development Committees The use of UK‑manufactured arms in Yemen First Joint Report of the Business, Innovation and Skills and International Development Committees of Session 2016–17 Fifth Report of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee of Session 2016–17 Third Report of the International Development Committee of Session 2016–17 Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 14 September 2016 HC 679 Published on 15 September 2016 by authority of the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Current membership Mr Iain Wright MP (Labour, Hartlepool) (Chair) Paul Blomfield MP (Labour, Sheffield Central) Richard Fuller MP (Conservative, Bedford) Peter Kyle MP (Labour, Hove) Amanda Milling MP (Conservative, Cannock Chase) Jonathan Reynolds MP (Labour (Co-op), Stalybridge and Hyde) Amanda Solloway MP (Conservative, Derby North) Michelle Thomson MP (Independent, Edinburgh West) Kelly Tolhurst MP (Conservative, Rochester and Strood) Craig Tracey MP (Conservative, North Warwickshire) Chris White MP (Conservative, Warwick and Leamington) International Development Committee The International Development Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for International Development and its associated public bodies. Current membership Stephen Twigg MP (Labour (Co-op), Liverpool, West Derby) (Chair) Fiona Bruce MP (Conservative, Congleton) Dr Lisa Cameron MP (Scottish National Party, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) Stephen Doughty MP (Labour (Co-op), Cardiff South and Penarth) Mr Nigel Evans MP (Conservative, Ribble Valley) Mrs Helen Grant MP (Conservative, Maidstone and The Weald) Pauline Latham OBE MP (Conservative, Mid Derbyshire) Jeremy Lefroy MP (Conservative, Stafford) Wendy Morton MP (Conservative, Aldridge-Brownhills) Albert Owen MP (Labour, Ynys Môn) Mr Virendra Sharma MP (Labour, Ealing Southall) Powers The Committees are departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No. 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication Reports from the Committees are published on their websites at www.parliament.uk/bis and www.parliament.uk/indcom and in print by Order of the House. Evidence relating to this Report is published on the inquiry publications page. Business, Innovation and Skills Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Chris Shaw (Clerk), Martin Adams (Second Clerk), Josephine Willows (Senior Committee Specialist) Duma Langton (Committee Specialist), James McQuade (Senior Committee Assistant), Jonathan Olivier Wright (Committee Assistant) and George Perry (Media Officer). International Development Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Sarah Hartwell-Naguib (Clerk), Daniel Whitford (Second Clerk), Steven Ayres and Rachael Cox (Committee Specialists), Kingsley Boateng and Claire Cozens (Inquiry Managers), Zac Mead (Senior Committee Assistant), Rowena Macdonald (Committee Assistant), Paul Hampson (Committee Support Assistant), and Estelle Currie (Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee/International Development Committee, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone numbers for general enquiries are 020 7219 5777/1223; the Committees’ email addresses are [email protected]/[email protected]. Contents Summary 3 1 Introduction 4 Our inquiry 4 Background 5 UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia 5 Allegations of serious violations of International Humanitarian Law 5 Compliance with arms trade law 6 2 The crisis in Yemen 7 A humanitarian emergency 7 The Saudi-led coalition’s intervention 8 The conduct of the conflict 9 Cluster munitions 13 Investigations into reports of violations of International Humanitarian Law 15 3 UK interests in the Gulf 22 Instability in the Gulf 22 Defence industry 24 UK support for Saudi Arabia and the coalition in Yemen 27 Recent arms sales to Saudi Arabia 28 Defence engagement 29 4 The UK’s legal obligations 32 A global leader in the rule of law 32 A robust licensing regime 33 Assessing risk 34 A chain of responsibility 35 A lack of transparency 36 Suspending licences 37 A role for development 40 Conclusions and recommendations 43 Appendix 1: Chris White MP to Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP 49 Appendix 2: Reply from Tobias Ellwood MP with attached Written Ministerial Statement on Yemen 51 Formal Minutes 55 Witnesses 61 Published written evidence 62 The use of UK-manufactured arms in Yemen 3 Summary The conflict in Yemen has had tragic and disastrous effects on the civilian population and on the economic development of the country. The intervention of the Saudi Arabia- led coalition in support of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was supported by the United Nations Security Council and we recognise it as a legitimate operation under the aegis of international law. Saudi Arabia and other members of the coalition are key allies and partners of the United Kingdom in the region, relationships which are of long standing, and defence exports to these countries underpin these relationships. There have been serious allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, including the targeting of civilian areas and medical facilities, and the use of cluster munitions. HM Government appears to have relied on assurances from the Saudi government that the coalition is operating within the boundaries of international law, despite the fact we heard evidence from credible sources to the contrary. Whilst we welcome the progress made by the coalition to establish the mechanisms to conduct investigations, further progress is needed to ensure that investigations are transparent, credible, and published in a timely manner. We recommend that the UK Government offer its support to the coalition where appropriate so that it can meet these ends. The Saudi government has taken too long to report to the UN Human Rights Council the results of its internal investigations into the alleged violations. We believe that an independent, United Nations-led investigation of alleged violations by all parties to the conflict is necessary to supplement the internal investigations of the Saudi-led coalition. Given that the UK has a long history of defence exports to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, and considering the evidence we have heard, it seems inevitable that any violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by the coalition have involved arms supplied from the UK. HM Government has obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty, as well as European and domestic law, to ensure there is no risk that arms it has licensed might be used in contravention of international humanitarian law. We therefore recommend that HM Government suspend sales of arms which could be used in Yemen to Saudi Arabia until the independent, UN-led investigation has come to its conclusions and then review the situation again. We are grateful for the former Foreign and Business Secretaries’ respective offers for CAEC members to have regular meetings with ministers and to visit the Arms Export Policy Department in the FCO and the Export Control Organisation in BIS. However, the Government’s arms export licensing regime is relatively opaque to the public, to whom it appears that the Government too often relies on assertion rather than positive evidence. We have made a number of recommendations for measures which could be introduced to make the system of licensing considerably more transparent than is currently the case. This would be a significant step forward in terms of our international obligations, not least under the Arms Trade Treaty, in the creation of which the UK was a leading player. Finally, we call for the Government to respond in a timely fashion to this Report. This is a pressing issue. We will be seeking an early opportunity to debate our conclusions and recommendations on the floor of the House. 4 The use of UK-manufactured arms in Yemen 1 Introduction Our inquiry 1. The Committees on Arms Export Controls are a concurrent meeting of four select committees of the House of Commons—Business, Innovation and Skills; Defence; Foreign Affairs; and International Development—working together to examine the Government’s expenditure, administration and policy on strategic exports, that is, the licensing of arms exports and other controlled goods. The four committees have been cooperating since 1999 as each has an interest in defence exports. 2. Following our re-formation in February 2016, we decided to conduct an inquiry into the use of UK-manufactured arms by the Saudi Arabian-led coalition in the conflict in Yemen. This was in response to public concern that such arms were being used in contravention of international law and the UK’s international, European and domestic obligations. We called for written evidence, looking at the following issues: • What are the UK’s strategic interests in the Arabian Peninsula and in the wider Gulf region? To what extent and how are those strategic interests being advanced? • What significance does the region play in terms of
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