Together with American actor and activist Mark Ruffalo and 20 other civil society organizations, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) urged the European Parliament to call on all EU governments to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The letter asked the European Parliament to vote on the resolution on the political and humanitarian situation in Yemen, reiterating the European Parliament's calls to EU Member States to halt their arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates given the serious breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law these countries committed in Yemen.
The day after this letter was sent, The European Parliament passed the resolution.
Full text of the letter:
February 11, 2021
Dear Members of the European Parliament,
We write as European and U.S. organizations and individuals dedicated to ending the brutal war and humanitarian crisis in Yemen, which has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Yemeni civilians. Both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have contributed heavily to the civilian death toll by bombing, blockading, and starving thousands of Yemeni civilians.
Today, the European Parliament will vote on the resolution on the political and humanitarian situation in Yemen. In particular, paragraphs 11 and 12 of the joint motion will be subjected to separate votes. These paragraphs repeat the European Parliament's calls to EU Member States to halt their arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, given the serious breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law these countries committed in Yemen.
We deeply appreciate your past support for such moves, as continued arms sales to these countries only prolong the suffering of the Yemeni people. As you know, U.S. President Joe Biden and his administration have just announced a change of policy regarding the war in Yemen, and they have announced the halt of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. Knowing your commitment to transatlantic cooperation and solidarity, we believe that the Parliament's positive vote on these clauses, as well as on the resolution as a whole, would send a strong message of a reinvigorated transatlantic link.
We, therefore, appeal to you to vote today in favor of the paragraphs 11 and 12 in their entirety and the text of the joint motion as a whole.
Best regards,
- Action Corps
- Avaaz
- Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain
- Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC)
- Center for Constitutional Rights
- Clearinghouse on Women's Issue
- CODEPINK
- Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
- The European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
- Fein & DelValle, PLLC
- Freedom Forward
- Freedom Initiative
- Global Exchange
- Institute for Policy Studies, New Internationalism Project
- International Supreme Council of Civil Society Organizations (SICOCSO)
- Just Foreign Policy
- Libyan American Alliance
- London Students for Yemen
- Mark Ruffalo, Actor / Producer
- Mwatana for Human Rights
- National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
- Peace Action
- Rethinking Foreign Policy
- Saudi American Justice Project
- Win Without War
- Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
- Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
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Photo: IBB, YEMEN – DECEMBER 16: Yemeni students are seen listening to their teacher inside a wreckage of their school, at Ar Radmah district of Ibb, Yemen on December 16, 2019. Yemeni children, living in the district of the Ibb province in the south of capital Sanaa are trying to continue their education in the shadow of the war at the classrooms without heating stoves and benches. Due to the ongoing civil war and conflicts for almost 5 years, lots of schools in the city have been damaged or ruined. (Photo by Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
