A report stated that Britain had trained hundreds of Saudi pilots in warplanes used to bomb Yemen, while Amnesty International (Amnesty International) said that France was preparing for a similar step, in parallel with its continued sale of weapons, accusing Paris of complicity in the commission of "war crimes".
New data obtained by the UK's Ministry of Defense, "Declassified" UK, revealed that the British Royal Air Force had trained Saudis in 2019 in combat aircraft used to bomb civilians in Yemen.
It also revealed that the British Royal Air Force trained other soldiers in the Saudi-Emirati coalition at 12 military bases in Britain, in the same year that the Supreme Court in London banned the sale of British weapons to Saudi Arabia due to concerns related to human rights violations.
The data indicated that 310 Saudis were trained at 6 RAF sites in England and Wales last year, and that training was still ongoing.
According to the same data, 90 Saudis received training to command "Typhoon" fighters at the air base in eastern England.
The "declassified. UK" website confirmed that the Saudi fleet of 72 Typhoon combat aircraft played the central role in the air strikes in Yemen, which included repeated attacks on food supplies.
Britain, France, the United States and other Western countries have come under criticism from international organizations for selling arms and ammunition to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates used in the coalition air operations, which during the past five years have left thousands of civilians victims, including many children.
Training and weapons For
its part, Amnesty International has published an investigation criticizing France's efforts to train Saudi soldiers on its soil, and for continuing to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, despite the overwhelming evidence of war crimes in Yemen.
The investigation - which took a full year to complete the sale of French weapons to Saudi Arabia and military cooperation with it - revealed that the Belgian "Commercie Coquirel" center located on French soil is preparing to receive Saudi soldiers, to train them to control the last version of weapons used in Yemen.
The investigation - which was described as unprecedented and conducted by journalist Audrey Luby to the news magazine "La Kronik" published by Amnesty International - indicated that Saudi Arabia is waging a relentless war in Yemen in violation of international law.
The investigation, which titled "France is a Land of Welcome", added that, with Paris continuing to maintain this trade with Riyadh, it has become involved in war crimes in Yemen, in stark contrast to its international obligations.
The editor of the investigation expressed regret that the sale of French weapons is not subject to the supervision of Parliament, and that deputies are under pressure when trying to intervene or obtain information related to what she described as the death trade.
By planning to train Saudi soldiers on its soil, "France is violating its obligations under the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty," the organization said.
Amnesty International says that France has sold military hardware worth more than 6 billion euros to Saudi Arabia, and about 1.5 billion to the UAE since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen.
Over the past five years, France has sold 7.9% of all weapons sold in the world, becoming the third largest arms exporter in the world thanks to its Saudi friend, the organization says.
Thus, Saudi Arabia will be France's first customer in purchasing arms, and its military spending in 2018 amounted to more than $ 67 billion, an amount equivalent to 8.8% of Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product, which is the highest in the world for spending on weapons of GDP, according to the organization.
Amnesty International says France has ratified the Arms Trade Treaty, which, in Article VI, prohibits arms transfers to states when it knows it will be used for genocide, crimes against humanity, or other war crimes.
It adds that Article Seven requires states parties to assess the risks posed by the contribution of weapons by violating international law, as in the case of attacks on civilians.
The organization said that, in 2019, French Defense Minister Florence Barley made a commitment to parliament to stop supplying some weapons if there was a risk of them being used in human rights violations, but France did not commit to this despite the overwhelming evidence of war crimes in Yemen, according to Amnesty International.
The organization concluded by quoting a consultant specialized in war crimes litigation and arms sales that the continued handover of weapons used to commit violations is a complicity of war crimes.