This week French armed forces minister Florence Parly publicly stated that French weapons have not been used against civilians in Yemen after leaked intelligence published by investigative website Disclose showed that French arms, including tanks and laser-guided missile systems sold to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were believed to have been used in the Yemeni war against civilians. Prior to the release of this report, originally dated September 25, 2018, the French Government had maintained that French arms sold to Saudi Arabia were being used purely for defensive purposes along the border. This information raises new questions about whether the French have been selling the Saudi coalition weapons in contravention of international law. Human Rights Watch has contended that they have been, pointing to the 2008 European Union Common Position on arms exports as evidence. The position in question, Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP, which went into effect…
Read more detail on Recent Administrative Law posts –
