Britain's sale of arms to Saudi Arabia for use in the war in Yemen has been declared unlawful by the UK Appeals Court.
The UK has sold at least £4.7bn (€5.4bn) worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since the brutal conflict got underway in March 2015.
The country has also sold at least £860m (€982m) worth of arms to Saudi allies in the region in that time.
The majority of the recorded sales took place in 2018.
Latest figures estimate that nearly 100,000 people have been killed in the brutal civil war in the Yemen since 2016.
That figure includes nearly 12,000 who were directly targeted by fighters.
For more on what this means, watch @Rasha_Abdul quick primer pic.twitter.com/3ZwrwpMKGz
— Ruby Stockham (@stockham_ruby) June 20, 2019
This morning, campaigners won a landmark legal challenge against the sales in the UK Appeals Court.
The Campaign Against Arms Trade had argued that the sales were unlawful as there was a clear risk that the weapons would be used in serious violation of international humanitarian law.
That was dismissed by the High Court - a decision that has now been overruled on appeal.
We're very glad that the Court of Appeal has said that the UK must #StopArmingSaudi. But we shouldn’t have needed to take the government to court to force it to stick to its own rules on arms sales.
— CAAT (@CAATuk) June 20, 2019
It shouldn’t take four years of schools, hospitals, weddings & funerals being bombed. It should not take tens of thousands of deaths and the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. UK government must #StopArmingSaudi and stop supporting the war in #Yemen
— CAAT (@CAATuk) June 20, 2019
In its judgement, the appeals court said the UK Government's decision to greenlight the sales was unlawful in one "significant respect."
The court found that the Government had not considered whether the Saudi-led coalition had breached international humanitarian law in the past during the Yemen conflict and "made no attempt to do so."
Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft being assembled at BAE Warton in Lancashire. Image: BAE SystemsAmnesty International spokesperson Lucy Claridge said the judgement is a "rare piece of good news for the people of Yemen."
"During four years of devastating war the Saudi Arabia-led coalition has killed thousands of civilians in Yemen, flattening homes, schools and hospitals in indiscriminate air strikes," she said.
"This is the first time that a UK court has acknowledged the risks of continuing to lavish Saudi Arabia with military equipment for use in Yemen.
"We welcome this judgment as a major step towards preventing further bloodshed."
BREAKING: Court rules govt decision to continue licensing arms exports to Saudi Arabia unlawful in @CAAT case. This confirms what @amnesty & others have been saying all along. Details to follow... #ArmsTreaty #StopArmingSaudi pic.twitter.com/4alK24G4Cy
— Rasha Abdul-Rahim 🇵🇸 (on maternity leave) (@Rasha_Abdul) June 20, 2019
The ruling does not mean the UK must immediately suspend its weapons sales to the coalition.
The court said Westminster must "reconsider the matter" and consider there is a risk of the weapons being used in breach of humanitarian law in war-torn country moving forward.
Following the ruling, the UKs International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said no new licences for export to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners would be granted while the Government considers the the judgment.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said the government is seeking permission to launch an appeal.
"Shameful impunity"
“We hope that this marks the end of this chapter of shameful impunity and leads to increased scrutiny of other major arms suppliers to Saudi Arabia, such as France and the US," said Ms Claridge.
"We continue to call for the immediate suspension of all arms transfers to all parties to the conflict for use in Yemen."
The UK government should accept today’s court ruling that arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful because of their use against civilians in Yemen.
UK advice, assistance and arms supplies to Saudi's war in Yemen is a moral stain on our country.
Arms sales to Saudi must stop now.— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 20, 2019
A Westminster watchdog has already warned that the UK is “on the wrong side” of international law over the sales.
The House of Lords international relations committee said it is "highly likely" that UK weapons had caused "significant" civilian casualties during the war in Yemen.
It warned that relying on Saudi assurances that they are not targeting civilians was not an "adequate way" to fulfil the UK's obligations under an international arms trade agreement.
Civil war
The civil war in Yemen has raging in the region for four years – intensifying a crisis that began with a revolution in the country in 2011.
Fighting between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and the ousted Yemeni Government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition of nine countries from the Middle East and Africa has been ongoing since 2015.
The war has led to what the UN has described as the world’s "worst humanitarian crisis" - with nearly 10 million people at risk of starvation.
