Yemen Files - Part 1
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March 26 2015. A coalition launched airstrikes on Yemen. The arms were documented. The sellers were named. The court ruled the sales unlawful. The sales continued.
A Saudi-led coalition of nine states launched military operations in Yemen on March 26 2015. The US provided intelligence, mid-air refuelling and arms. The UK sold over 23 billion pounds in arms to Saudi Arabia since 2015, documented by the Campaign Against Arms Trade. SIPRI documented Saudi Arabia as the world's largest arms importer in 2015-2019. The UK Court of Appeal ruled in 2019 that the British government had acted unlawfully in approving the sales. The sales resumed.
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March 26 2015 · Saudi-led coalition · 9 member states · Over 25,000 documented airstrikes02 / 07
March 26 2015. A Saudi-led coalition of nine states launched airstrikes on Yemen.
The coalition included Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Senegal. The stated aim was to restore the internationally recognised government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Operation Decisive Storm began with airstrikes on the capital Sanaa and on Houthi military positions.
The Yemen Data Project documented over 25,000 coalition airstrikes between 2015 and 2022 using open-source verification. The project cross-referenced strike data against documented civilian harm. UN and human rights organisations documented that a significant number of strikes hit civilian infrastructure including hospitals, markets, schools and water facilities.
Source: Yemen Data Project, documented airstrikes 2015-2022 · SIPRI Arms Transfers Database · Amnesty International, Yemen documentation 2015-2023
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UK arms sales · Over 23 billion pounds since 2015 · Court of Appeal 2019 · Sales continued03 / 07
The UK sold over 23 billion pounds in arms to Saudi Arabia since 2015. The Court of Appeal ruled the sales unlawful in 2019. The sales continued.
The Campaign Against Arms Trade documented UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia exceeding 23 billion pounds since the coalition began operations in March 2015. The UK is Saudi Arabia's second largest arms supplier after the US. British Tornado and Typhoon aircraft form a major component of the Saudi Air Force active in Yemen.
In 2019 the UK Court of Appeal ruled that the British government had acted unlawfully in licensing arms exports to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen, finding that the government had failed to properly assess the risk of civilian casualties. The government suspended new licences, conducted a review, and resumed sales. Oxfam's 2022 report documented UK and US weapons used in hundreds of attacks on civilians in the period January 2021 to February 2022, killing at least 87 civilians.
Source: Campaign Against Arms Trade, documented UK arms sales · UK Court of Appeal ruling, 2019 · Oxfam report, 2022
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US arms · SIPRI · Largest supplier to Saudi Arabia · Intelligence and refuelling documented04 / 07
The US was the largest arms supplier. UK was second. Both provided intelligence and logistical support at the Saudi command centre.
SIPRI's Arms Transfers Database documented Saudi Arabia's arms imports in 2015-2019 as 130 percent higher than in 2010-2014, making it the world's largest importer of major conventional weapons in that period. The US was the largest supplier across coalition members. The Campaign Against Arms Trade's Forensic Architecture time map identified UK-made weapons in fragments recovered from 27 documented airstrike sites.
The Unredacted project, which collects declassified documents on US-UK involvement, documented that "US and UK involvement has run particularly deep, with both providing weapons, intelligence and logistical support, as well as a military presence at the Saudi command and control centre." This is separate from the arms transfers and independently documented.
Source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database, 2019 · Campaign Against Arms Trade, Forensic Architecture time map · Unredacted, "The Yemen War," UK-US documents
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SIPRI documentation · Public record · Named suppliers · Named quantities · Named dates05 / 07
The SIPRI Arms Transfers Database documents the quantities, dates, suppliers and recipients. All named. All public.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute maintains the world's most comprehensive open-source database of arms transfers. It uses a Trend Indicator Value methodology to measure the volume of major conventional weapons transfers. Saudi Arabia's position as the world's largest arms importer in 2015-2019 is documented in this database.
The US, UK, France, Spain and Italy are all documented as significant suppliers to coalition members. France supplied 2.8 billion dollars worth of arms to Egypt, a coalition member, in 2015-2016 alone, including a frigate, helicopter carriers and combat aircraft. The full chain of transfers from supplier to coalition member to use in Yemen is traceable in the public record.
Source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database · Giovanna Maletta, SIPRI, "Seeking a Responsible Arms Trade to Reduce Human Suffering in Yemen," 2021 · World Peace Foundation, "Who is Arming the Yemen War," 2019
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Campaign Against Arms Trade · Amnesty International · Oxfam · Forensic Architecture · The civil society record06 / 07
Multiple named organisations documented the same chain. Arms. Strikes. Civilians killed. All on the public record.
Amnesty International documented from 2015 that "all parties to the conflict have repeatedly violated international law" and that "irresponsible arms flows to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition have resulted in enormous harm to Yemeni civilians." This documentation preceded the Court of Appeal ruling by three years.
Oxfam's 2022 report, published ahead of the Campaign Against Arms Trade's legal challenge against the UK government, identified UK and US weapons used in hundreds of attacks on Yemeni civilians. Forensic Architecture produced an interactive time map combining documented airstrike data with arms transfer records, showing the traceable chain from sale to strike to impact.
Source: Amnesty International, Yemen documentation 2018 · Oxfam report, 2022 · Forensic Architecture, Campaign Against Arms Trade interactive time map
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The question. Not a claim.07 / 07
The arms were sold. The transfers were documented. The strikes were mapped. The court ruled the sales unlawful. The sales continued. What does it mean that the legal record and the political outcome pointed in opposite directions?
Tomorrow: what those arms produced. 377,000 dead by end of 2021. The port that held 70 percent of Yemen's food imports under blockade. The hospitals that were struck. The famine confirmed. Part 2 of 4. Two more episodes next week.
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