The NGO Amnesty International (AI) asks the President of the Government to take advantage of his next trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to make a diplomatic effort with which try to stop the violence Yemen. It does it by a letter requesting Pedro Sánchez to “use his influence” over the Emirati authorities to “refrain from carrying out indiscriminate attacks and ensure that civilian lives are saved.” The Emirates is, together with Saudi Arabia, the promoter of the international coalition that has been involved since 2015 in the civil war in the Asian country, a conflict that has caused tens of thousands of deaths and that the UN describes as the worst open humanitarian crisis at the moment .
AI explains that “in recent months and especially in this month of January 2022, the situation in Yemen has deteriorated significantly”, as witnessed by the UN special envoys, with an “increase in air strikes not only around to the front lines, but also in Sana’a, even in residential areas”, which “have caused civilian casualties and infrastructure damage civilians”. In the last week, they add, “the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE has relentlessly bombarded northern Yemen with air strikes – including the capital, Sanaa – causing dozens of civilian casualties and destroying infrastructure and services.”
arms sales
The NGO recalls that, since the UAE began to participate in the war, Spain “has exported [a Emiratos] weapons […] for an amount greater than 311 million euros despite the Emirati’s history of diversion and use of weapons to commit crimes under international law. Therefore, in addition to claiming again that Spain stop those transfersThey ask that Sánchez’s visit serve to mediate with local authorities to stop the violence and “end the naval and air blockade of Yemen.” In addition, they ask Spain to contribute to the creation -in the framework of the UN- of an “investigative mechanism that gathers and safeguards the evidence of serious human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war in Yemen” .
Among the arms sales to the UAE by Spain, four transport aircraft transferred in 2019 stand out, as well as grenade launchers, mortar shells, torpedo heads and aircraft and pistol parts. In the first half of 2021, the latest data available, Spain had authorized the export of more than 99 million euros of military material to the UAE, in the Aircraft category. In that same period, the first half of last year, Spain sold 55 million euros in weapons to the other main partner in the coalition, Saudi Arabia, most of it artillery ammunition, and the delivery of three corvettes is pending along 2022.
In its letter, AI also asks the President of the Government to take steps to achieve the release of human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, imprisoned since 2017. Sánchez’s trip is aimed at presiding over the commemorative act of Spain Day at the World Expo taking place in Dubai. Later, he will travel to Abu Dhabi to meet with the crown prince of that emirate, the de facto ruler of the country, Mohamed bin Zayerd Al Nahyan.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.