Weaponry Makers 'Put Profit Above Human Rights' in Trade With Saudi Arabia

Western arms companies ignore Saudi Arabian human rights violations in favor of profit, providing Riyadh with almost any weapon it wants, spokesman for UK-based Campaign Against Arms Trade Andrew Smith told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Yulia Shamporova — On Wednesday, Amnesty International issued a report calling on Washington and London to halt arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia in light of the hundreds of civilians killed and injured in an air campaign launched by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen against the Houthi armed political opposition faction.

"The Saudi regime is one of the most oppressive in the world, but it has always been able to count on the uncritical support of the UK government. Between 2010-15 the Coalition licensed £4 billion [over $6 billion] worth of arms to the Saudis," Smith stated.

"Since then we have seen the destruction of Yemen, with UK arms, but nothing has changed. The message this sends out is that profits for arms companies like BAE are more important than the human rights of Saudi citizens," the human rights watchdog spokesman observed.

The Saudi-led international coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the positions of the main Yemen opposition, the Houthis, since March, causing thousands of civilian deaths and aggravating an already acute humanitarian disaster in the country.

On September 28, media reported that Saudi warplanes bombed a wedding celebration in the village of Wahijah, near the port of Mokha on the Red Sea, killing at least 131 people, including eight children.

On Wednesday, an airstrike carried out by the forces of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen killed at least 47 people and injured over 30 at a wedding party held at a private residence in Dhamar province, about 50 miles south of the country’s capital Sanaa.