Al-Thawra Net
UK Government said last week incorrect statements do not indicate an attempt to mislead, and other statements made clear its position, according to The Guardian.
The UK government has been forced to retract numerous written and oral statements to parliament which said ministers had assessed that Saudi Arabia was not in breach of international humanitarian law in Yemen.
The guardian reported that the admission issued on the final day of parliament before the summer recess, led to calls by the Liberal Democrats for an investigation into Saudi behavior in Yemen and a suspension of UK arms sales. The Liberal Democrats have repeatedly claimed that the Saudi military campaign has targeted civilians.
“The Foreign Office said the incorrect statements, made by three different ministers, some as far back as six months ago, were errors and did not represent an attempt to mislead MPs over its assessment of the Saudi campaign.” Said Patrick Wintour the Diplomatic editor at the guardian.
He added “It stressed that other written answers had made clear that the UK government had made no assessment of whether the Saudis were in breach of humanitarian law.”
Wintour pointed out that It was not immediately clear why the Foreign Office chose to issue the clarification in the form of a written answer on the last day of parliament, a day when ministers poured out more than 30 written answers. It simply said it had been reviewing the correspondence.
The UK government is facing a court case arguing that it should ban arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
According to the report, In its written answer published on Thursday, the Foreign Office said written answers in February 2016 had stated: “We have assessed that there has not been a breach of IHL (international humanitarian law) by the coalition.” The correction said these should have stated: “We have not assessed that there has been a breach of IHL by the coalition.”
The report mentioned that the Foreign Office also corrected a written answer by the then foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, who stated on 4 January 2016: “I regularly review the situation with my own advisers and have discussed it on numerous occasions with my Saudi counterpart. Our judgment is that there is no evidence that IHL has been breached, but we shall continue to review the situation regularly.”
The correction published on Thursday said it was important to note that the government had not reached a conclusion as to whether or not the Saudis were guilty of IHL violations in Yemen. ”This would simply not be possible in conflicts to which the UK is not a party, as is the case in Yemen,” it said.
“The written answer added that it was not for the UK government to assess the Saudi bombing operation.” Wintour confirmed.
Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said the Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood had been “tying himself in knots trying to defend the government’s hypocritical position on Saudi Arabia and Yemen”.
He said: “Having spent all year claiming to have made assessments on whether Saudi Arabia is breaking international humanitarian law in Yemen, we now see that no such assessment has been made, and that MPs have been misled on this issue.
He concluded “This sordid affair tarnishes Britain’s standing in the world. It’s time for full transparency on this issue. The government must immediately open an independent investigation on violation of humanitarian law by Saudi Arabia and their allies in Yemen, and in the meantime they must suspend all arms contracts to a country which is accused of using British weapons to target innocent and desperate civilians.”
