The Ministry Of Defence monitors incidents of alleged international humanitarian law (
IHL) violations using available information which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. We consider a range of evidence from government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. We are aware of reports, including from
Human Rights Watch and
Amnesty International, of alleged violations of IHL by the
Saudi Arabian-led Coalition. We have received repeated assurances from the coalition that they are complying with IHL and we continue to engage with them on those assurances. The Saudi Arabian authorities have their own internal procedures for investigations and we encourage them to be open and transparent in this.
The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent export control regimes in the world. All exports of arms and controlled military goods are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated
EU and National Arms Export Licensing, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application which include consideration of the risk of the goods being used to commit violations of human rights or international humanitarian law.