UK breaking laws by supplying arms to Saudi Arabia: Activist

Press TV has interviewed Massoud Shadjareh, head of the Islamic Human Rights Commission in London, about UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon’s visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss military cooperation.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: First of all, I would like to get your thoughts on Michael Fallon’s visit to Saudi Arabia with the focus of discussing military cooperation?

Shadjareh: Well it really is outrageous. The reality is that according to both British laws and indeed international laws, Britain cannot [under] any circumstances support and give arms and sell arms to a country which is using those arms to commit war crimes and the United Nations has already identified that the bombing that is taking place in Yemen is targeting civilians, is targeting hospitals, is targeting medical centers and indeed is unlawful, is war crime and therefore British government both indeed under the British laws and international laws is actually breaking those laws and currently there is a case in Britain against the British government which is going through the courts for indeed undermining the law of the land by supplying these arms to Saudi Arabia which indeed is being used in Yemen.

Press TV: How does Britain itself explain such hypocrisy and inconsistency in its foreign policy?  

Shadjareh: Well it really is very difficult for it to do so and indeed the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, head of the Labour Party has actually exposed and spoken out within the parliament over this issue. The reality is that Britain is undermining its own laws and international law and it sort of pretends that this is British interest, national interest and in reality it is not even national interest or British interest to go and become bedfellows with a country which is undermining ..., it is actually committing one of the worst atrocities against its own people and then it is actually committing war crimes in Yemen, it is undermining democracy in Bahrain and indeed is involved in promoting Takfiris.

So whichever way one looks at it, in reality this relationship is actually not just hypocritical but it is against the interest of Britain and ... the interest of the peace around the world and international law.  

Press TV: I did want to touch upon the issue of Bahrain as well, the close relationship that the UK has with Bahrain, with Saudi Arabia, the close military cooperation that they have effectively ignores the democratic aspirations of the Bahrainis and also the altogether basic rights of the Yemenis who have been undergoing a years-long war that the Saudis have been carrying out?  

Shadjareh: Absolutely. I mean it is mind-boggling that on one side Britain and international Western community and Western powers talk about democracy as a measurement of right and wrong and they talk about that they are champions of human rights and dignity of ordinary people and then on other side undermining the democratic sort of processes in Bahrain and the supporting oppression and human rights abuses, torture, and invasion of Saudis of Bahrain, it really is astonishing that how this level of hypocrisy which goes ahead without people actually feeling ashamed of themselves and the reality is that ordinary people in Bahrain, ordinary people in Yemen are the victims of this hypocrisy.

And I think we need to make sure that [the] international community recognizes this level of oppression being done under hypocritical sort of policies and also I think through international law, and I am in some ways very supportive of the court case that is taking place in Britain and we are helping and supporting that case and we hope that it will come to a conclusion because I do not believe British government  or indeed any other government have got the right of actually abusing the right of ordinary people - be it in Yemen or be it in Bahrain - for what perceived to be national interest.

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