06.05.2020

Made in Europe, bombed in Yemen: How we can use legal means to stop arms exports to war zones


06.05.2020, 19:00 Uhr

This event will take place via Zoom.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are two of the largest customers of the European weapons industry. At the same time, both countries have been heavily involved in the armed conflict in Yemen. Most of the indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilian homes, hospitals and schools appear to have been carried out by the Saudi Arabia and UAE-led military coalition.

Nevertheless, countries like Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK continue to export arms and components as well as provide support services to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This is a flagrant example of non-compliance with national laws, the international Arms Trade Treaty and the EU Common Position 2008/944/CFSP on arms exports.

In a historic step, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, Mwatana for Human Rights from Yemen, and European partner organizations filed a communication to the International Criminal Court in December 2019. This ground-breaking legal action challenges European economic and political actors’ role in Yemen.

In this virtual event hosted by MEP Hannah Neumann, we will discuss questions including: How do European arms affect the conflict in Yemen? Can companies and their management be liable under international criminal law when exported arms are used to commit war crimes? How can the ICC hold government officials to account for their role in armed conflicts? Which arms export control mechanisms exist in the EU and how can these be improved?

Speakers: 

Ali Jameel, Mwatana for Human Rights, Sana’a 

Hannah Neumann, The Greens/EFA, Member of the European Parliament, Brussels 

Sabine Visser, Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs, The Hague 

Miriam Saage-Maaß, ECCHR, Berlin 

Moderated by: Teri Schultz, reporting on NATO and the EU, Brussels

We look forward to welcoming you at our virtual event and kindly ask you to register here.

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