Human Rights Watch: US May Be Complicit in Saudi War Crimes in Yemen

Group Urges US to Immediately Stop Arming Saudi Arabia

With the Obama Administration announcing more plans to sell more weapons to Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch has become the latest human rights group to issue a statement urging the USto immediately suspend all such sales, warning that they make the US complicit in Saudi war crimes.

The statement comes amid Human Rights Watch’s findings on a September 10 Saudi airstrike against the town of Arhab, noting the attack killed 31 civilians and wounded over 40 others. The casualties included several rescue workers who arrived to try to help the wounded.

The group added that countries still selling weapons to Saudi Arabia cannot credibly claim they are counting on the Saudi coalition to assure them they aren’t using weapons against civilian bystanders. They said the US and others should suspend weapons sales until the Saudis stop unlawful attacks.

This is a recurring concern, with US legal experts warning that the United States could easily be held legally liable for Saudi war crimes. Administration lawyers have also warned the US could face legal ramifications, but so far the White House has sought to avoid this by just downplaying their involvement.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.