• Press Release

Saudi Arms Deal Would Fan Flames of Conflict

March 14, 2017

Amnesty International this week urged President Trump not to approve impending arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The deals would arm members of a military coalition that has attacked thousands of civilians in Yemen and violated international humanitarian law. Amnesty International researchers have already found both unexploded U.S. bombs and identifiable fragments of exploded U.S. bombs among the ruins of Yemeni homes and other civilian objects.

Yemen is one of the six Muslim-majority countries included in Trump’s revised travel ban executive order, which comes into effect this week.

“If approved, this deal would essentially have President Trump throwing gasoline on a house fire and locking the door on his way out,” said Margaret Huang, Amnesty International USA executive director. “The U.S. should not continue to arm governments that violate international human rights and humanitarian law and simultaneously shut its doors to those fleeing the violence it helps to escalate. Arming the Saudi Arabia and Bahrain governments risks complicity with war crimes, and doing so while simultaneously banning travel to the U.S. from Yemen would be even more unconscionable. President Trump must not approve this arms deal.”