Human rights petition to France to stop arms deals to the UAE
The Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights sent a human rights petition to France to stop military deals to the UAE against the background of its war crimes against civilians.
The Disclose website revealed secret defence documents that show that since 2016, the French state has allowed the delivery of about 150,000 shells to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In detail, according to the Disclose website, Paris allowed the Saudi forces to deliver 41,500 shells, 3,000 anti-tank shells, 10,000 smoke shells, and 50,000 high-explosive shells.
It should be noted that, by doing so, France has ignored its international obligations and neglected thousands of civilian casualties in Yemen in exchange for the money it receives from selling arms to coalition countries.
The Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights strongly condemned the arms sales contracts signed by France with any of the coalition countries involved in the war against Yemen, specifically Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
It considers that the continued conclusion of arms sales agreements between France and the coalition countries makes the French authorities a partner in killing thousands of civilians, including women and children.
Therefore, the human rights institute urged French President Emmanuel Macron to ban all military deals to Saudi Arabia and the UAE so they are not used in the war against Yemen.
He stressed that French arms sales to shady military partnerships at the expense of human rights would remain a stain on Macron’s diplomatic record.
A few months ago, the European Microscope for Middle East Issues monitored a Quincy Institute for Responsible Government report. It addresses four main reasons that force the suspension of military deals to the United Arab Emirates.
The European Microscope, a European institution concerned with monitoring the interactions of Middle East issues in Europe, said that the Quincy Institute report constitutes a new addition to the international positions opposing the UAE’s arms deals and highlights its hostile behaviour internally and externally.
The Quincy Institute considered that the announcement by the administration of US President Joe Biden, which gave the green light to a huge arms deal worth $ 23 billion for the UAE, mocks its commitment to placing human rights at the forefront of its foreign policy.
The institute stressed that the disastrous roles of the UAE in Yemen and Libya, and what the US deal launched to Abu Dhabi in an arms race in the Middle East, as well as the UAE’s evil record in the field of human rights at home, are reasons that should deprive it of acquiring advanced weapons.
The institute’s report stated: The arms deal for the UAE was negotiated under the administration of former US President Donald Trump and came to light less than a week after the announcement of the normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE.
While the public was elated by Trump’s supposedly genius peace initiative, the secret clause that speeded up the deal was leaked: The United States will sell billions of dollars in arms to the UAE with 50 F-35 fighter jets, 18 Reaper drones, and various missiles bombs and ammunition.
The UAE and Israel have never been at war. They have maintained informal relations for years, but the “peace deal” has allowed the Trump administration to circumvent a policy that requires the United States to ensure Israel’s military superiority in the region.
