Date: 19 Oct 2019
Ref: OL- CO-30
To: US Representative Mr. Max Rose
House Committee on Homeland Security, Chair, Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorist
Washington, DC Office1529 Longworth HOBWashington, DC 20515Phone: (202) 225-3371
Subject: UAE handing over America Weapons to Terrorist groups and Violent Militias In Yemen, urgent action required.
Dear Mr. Rose,
I’m writing on behalf of the New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs (NYCFPA) to issue an urgent alert on what is happening in Yemen where American-made weaponry ended up in the hands of terrorists and militia groups funded and managed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
CNN has revealed on 18 October 2019, that American Weapons including heavy armed vehicles and other weaponry ended up in the hands of terrorist groups like the giant groups and other groups in the south of Yemen. These weapons are now used to instigate violence between the different warring parties to attack each other and to create cases of chaos in Yemen. It is indeed dangerous and alarming where terrorist groups can get American weapons, which is against the American law and regulations as it is an unauthorized transfer.
Weapons manufactured in the US have ended up in the hands of the Yemeni militia. Sophisticated armored vehicles, rocket launchers, grenades and rifles of the UAE and Saudi Arabia are among the weapons being purchased from US companies.
Yemen has always been a hub for Middle East Terrorists such as Al Qaeda and ISIS. We learned from history in Yemen that no one party can win the game. For the last few years, factions and terrorist groups took control of all types of Yemeni army weapons. It seems we are now in a stage where Saudi Arabia and Yemen are deserting their war and granting their weapons to terrorist groups with affiliation to Al Qaeda such as Abu Al Abas group.
American regulations are very clear, we cannot in America in any way export weaponry to terrorist groups, but it seems from the CNN report these weapons now ended up in the hands of terrorists which will really be a very tremendous problem and will be a great danger to American interest in the region. These weapons could be used in different places and could be smuggled into different other terrorist groups in Yemen and other parts of the Middle East and could else be ended up in the hands of militia allied with al-Qaida and terrorist groups like ISIS.
CNN report revealed that “American-made weaponry has fallen into the hands of rival militia groups in Yemen, some of whom have turned their arms against each other in a bitter and worsening conflict… Fresh evidence shows that military hardware that was supplied to US allies has been distributed in contravention of arms deals to militia groups, including UAE-backed separatists. They are now using it to fight the Saudi-supported forces of the internationally recognized government, who are also armed with US weapons.”
In this Regard, Arms Trade treaty prohibits arms transfer authorizations to states if the transfer would violate “obligations under measures adopted by the United Nations Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, in particular, arms embargoes” or under other “relevant international obligations” or if the state “has knowledge at the time of authorization that the arms or items would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such, or other war crimes”.
Therefore, the date of these weapons will be unknown and ultimately will result in war crimes by different parties.
We at NYCFPA urge you to act promptly and
– Call on the American administration to stop exporting weapons to repressive regimes like Saudi Arabia and UAE because of what happened in Yemen, where the armed groups succeed by using these weapons, this, unfortunately, constitutes a great to danger to American interest.
– America must have strict rules on the regulations of exporting weapons to the middle east in general, especially in conflict zones, which in turn will help stop deaths of unarmed and innocent people of Yemen.
– America must suspend arms export to Saudi Arabia and UAE who are fueling the war in Yemen. It also must stop selling weapons to other the Middle East conflicting parties until it is clear that these weapons would not end up in any terrorist hands that will be using them against American interest. This would also hinder Saudi Arabia and UAE from committing more human rights violations with the US-made weaponry and accordingly alleviating the suffering being inflicted upon thousands of innocent civilians in Yemen.
– The congress must have an urgent hearing to discuss this issue and also to examine its repercussions and outcomes on the American interest and the future of the region.
Unfortunately, the longer America continues supplying the Saudi’s with weapons, the more lives this barbaric and unethical war will continue to threaten.
The New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs thank you for your interest in the issue and we are looking forward to hearing from you.
Yours Faithfully, Thomas Charles Director
New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs
