Al-Thawra Net
Amnesty International has accused The United Arab Emirates (UAE) of providing weapons to militias accused of committing rights abuses.
According to toAmnesty International, several European countries are accused of violating their own laws on arms exports.
The United Arab Emirates is diverting arms supplied by Western countries to “unaccountable militias accused of war crimes” in Yemen, Amnesty International reported on Wednesday.
“Emirati forces receive billions of dollars’ worth of arms from Western states and others, only to siphon them off to militias in Yemen that answer to no-one and are known to be committing war crimes,” Amnesty said in its report on the arms diversions.
“The proliferation of these fighting forces is a recipe for disaster for Yemeni civilians who have already been killed in their thousands, while millions more are on the brink of famine as a direct result of the war,” the human rights group said.
Since 2015, Western states have supplied the UAE with at least $3.5 billion (€3 billion) worth of arms.
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Germany, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the USA are among countries that have recently sold weapons to the UAE, according to Amnesty.
“Many of the states that continue to supply arms to the UAE are party to the global Arms Trade Treaty. Some have other legal obligations as EU members or under domestic laws not to transfer arms being used to commit war crimes,” Amnesty said.
