A French human rights group on Thursday sought to block the loading of weapons onto a Saudi Arabian vessel that is due to dock in northern France later in the day, its lawyers said, arguing the cargo contravened an international arms treaty.
The move comes weeks after an online investigative site published leaked French military intelligence that showed weapons sold to the kingdom, including tanks and laser-guided missile systems, were being used against civilians in Yemen's war.
France is one of Saudi Arabia's main arms' suppliers, but Paris has faced increasing pressure to review its sales because the four-year-old conflict has shattered Yemen's economy and created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Speaking on behalf of rights group ACAT, lawyer Joseph Brehem told Reuters he had filed a legal suit to prevent the weapons being loaded aboard the Bahri Yanbu, a cargo ship operating for Saudi Arabia's defense and interior ministries, on the basis of an article of the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty.
"The article says that one country cannot authorize the transfer of weapons if at the time of the authorization, the country knew that weapons could be used to commit war crimes," he said.
France's Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly on Wednesday confirmed the vessel would take delivery of French arms relating to an order dating back several years.
Investigative website Disclose said this week that eight howitzer Caesar cannons, manufactured by Nexter, were part of the order. The French government declined to give details on the contents of the arms order.
Guarantees
France is a signatory of the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that regulates the international trade of conventional weapons and bans the sale of weapons that fuel human rights violations or war crimes.
U.N. experts have said all sides in the Yemeni conflict may have committed war crimes.
Ship tracking data showed that the Bahri Yanbu had been at anchor off the northern French coast since Wednesday evening and had not yet docked at Le Havre. It is due to leave with its cargo on Friday night.
The incident is awkward for President Emmanuel Macron and his government, which has said that as far as it knows French-made arms sold to Saudi Arabia are used solely for defensive purposes on the border.
Macron said on Thursday that he had obtained guarantees from Saudi Arabia that weapons were not being used against civilians. He also defended sales to Saudi Arabia, which he called a key ally in the fight against terrorism.
"Most of the weapons that have been sold are used inside [Saudi] territory or at the border, but they are used in the conflict," he told reporters in Sibiu, Romania, ahead of a summit of EU leaders.
