Bahrain Mirror: Human Rights Watch said in a letter addressed to Barack Obama on Tuesday (November 29, 2016) that "The United States should immediately halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia following numerous unlawful coalition attacks in Yemen."

It added in the letter it published on its website "The review announced by the US government following the October 8, 2016 bombing of a crowded funeral hall should examine alleged unlawful airstrikes in which US forces may have taken part and its findings should be released publicly before Obama leaves office."

"While coalition forces bomb homes, schools, hospitals and funerals in Yemen, the United States continues to allow shipments of billions of dollars of arms to Saudi Arabia," said Sarah Margon, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. "President Obama has one final chance to change US policy on Saudi Arabia and Yemen for the better by stopping weapons' transfers immediately and reviewing possible participation of US forces in the coalition's many unlawful airstrikes."

Human Rights Watch explained that "it has documented 58 apparently unlawful coalition airstrikes, and 16 attacks involving internationally banned cluster munitions. The coalition used US-manufactured weapons in 21 of these apparently unlawful attacks, including two of the deadlier strikes - the March 15 attack on Mastaba market, which killed at least 97 civilians, and the October 8 attack on the funeral service in Sanaa, which killed at least 100 people and wounded more than 500. Both appear to amount to war crimes."

"The repeated use of US-manufactured munitions in unlawful attacks in Yemen could make the US complicit for future transfers of arms to Saudi forces," HRW stressed.

"By halting this transfer during his final months in office, President Obama could make a real difference in the lives of Yemeni people and show Riyadh there are consequences for committing war crimes," Margon said.

Arabic Version