BREAKING: UK Government suspends weapons exports to Israel following threat of new legal action by GLAN and Al-Haq.
02.09.24: This afternoon, we learnt that the Government has suspended 30 export licenses for arms sales to Israel. This news comes immediately after GLAN and Al-Haq filed a letter (sent 30 August 2024 - see last weeks' press release below) threatening the Government with new proceedings, should they fail to engage the suspension mechanism provided for in the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The move by the legal groups follows recent revelations in the Guardian and the Telegraph indicating that the Attorney General (AG) was seeking to distinguish between ‘offensive’ and ‘defensive’ weapons used by Israel. The implication is that the government has taken a view that at least some British weapons (i.e. those deemed ‘offensive’) risk being used to commit war crimes. Long-standing UK policy expressly provides that, where a clear assessment as to legality cannot be made, the government can suspend arms licences while it makes further inquiries. We argued that the government must engage that suspension mechanism immediately.
GLAN and Al-Haq wrote to the government, informing it our intent to issue fresh proceedings seeking an order from the court requiring the exercise of the suspension mechanism, by way of urgent interim relief (similar to an injunction). The Government was required to respond to our letter by Tuesday 3 September at 4pm. On Tuesday 3 September, at 10:30am, a hearing in Al-Haq v Secretary of State for Business and Trade is due to take place, during which we are to notify the court our request for a mandatory order for interim relief, in the face of the government’s inaction. GLAN and Al-Haq will now consider whether this ban is extensive enough to meet the gravity of the situation and assess whether further litigation remains necessary. Tomorrow’s hearing will likely dictate the future of the case.
GLAN Senior Lawyer, Dearbhla Minogue said: "This momentous decision vindicates everything Palestinians have been saying for months. The UK Government was backed into a corner. Our most recent letter showed that a suspension was the only right and legal thing to do. This is a truly historic victory for Al-Haq and for Palestinians. The exhaustive evidence we filed in mid-August showed that there was only one legally sound decision available to the government - that it is against the law to supply Israel with weapons for use against Palestinians in Gaza."
GLAN Lawyer, Charlotte Andrews-Briscoe said: “The government knew that they could not defend the failure to suspend all weapons licences and that they would face urgent applications for an injunction as soon as this week. We are so proud to have worked with Al Haq to finally shift the dial away from the UK's complicity in this unfolding genocide. Now that the Government has taken this important step, it must do much, much more, and abide by its obligations under international law to do everything in its power to prevent the commission of genocide.”
PRESS RELEASE 31.08.24
GLAN & Al-Haq to Seek Emergency Order to Halt UK Arms Exports to Israel Following New Revelations
Rights groups commence fresh legal action in light of new information on UK government mishandling and delays.
Reported Attorney General position indicates government knowledge that some UK weapons are being used unlawfully.
Despite flagrant violations of international law by Israel the UK authorities had difficulty making an assessment on compliance with UK export criteria
Under UK law any difficulties in making an assessment requires suspension.
Extensive evidence of atrocity crimes already filed with the High Court shows how torture by Israel is endemic and contaminates targeting decisions using UK weapons.
Unchecked escalation of Israeli violence in Gaza and West Bank continues including indiscriminate bombing, systematic torture, widespread use of human shields and sexual violence.
31.08.24: On Friday, Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) lawyers working with Al-Haq made a submission to the UK government, informing it of fresh legal proceedings, should the government not immediately suspend weapons exports to Israel.
The move follows recent revelations in the Guardian and the Telegraph indicating that the Attorney General (AG) is seeking to distinguish between ‘offensive’ and ‘defensive’ weapons used by Israel. The implication is that the Government has taken a view that at least some British weapons (i.e. those deemed ‘offensive’) risk being used to commit war crimes. Long-standing UK policy expressly provides that, where a clear assessment as to legality cannot be made, the Government can suspend arms licences while it makes further inquiries. The Government must engage that suspension mechanism now. GLAN and Al-Haq have written to the Government, informing it of their intent to issue fresh proceedings seeking an order from the court requiring the exercise of the suspension mechanism, by way of urgent interim relief (similar to an injunction).
The test being applied by the AG also appears to be inconsistent with the law. According to reports, the AG ‘would not approve a decision to ban weapons sales until it could be said for certain which weapons could be used to break international law’ (emphasis added). The actual test only requires there to be a clear risk the weapons might be used in this manner.
The submission supplements an existing challenge by the legal groups against the UK’s failure to halt weapons exports to Israel for which a hearing in the High Court is listed for 8-10 October. Recent submissions in this case added to a growing body of evidence which reveals how Israel systematically tortures Palestinians. GLAN and Al-Haq argued that Israel likely uses information derived from torture to inform targeting decisions and justify attacks on medical personnel and facilities, aid workers and other protected people and objects.
This new letter sent to government also details the abuse of Palestinians, including the now widely documented use of human-shields and systematic sexual violence perpetrated against Palestinians held in Israeli detention, including children. The Government has until Tuesday at 4pm to respond to the letter.
Also on Tuesday, there will be a hearing in Al-Haq v Secretary of State for Business and Trade. At this hearing the court will learn of the Claimant’s intent to issue new, additional proceedings, should the Government not immediately invoke the suspension mechanism provided for in the criteria.
Charlotte Andrews-Briscoe, GLAN lawyer said, “On Friday 16 August, we filed over one thousand pages of additional evidence in this case. Such evidence revealed a level of depravity we had not previously known possible. After collating and reviewing this extensive body of harrowing evidence, we were certain that the only way to proceed, given the gravity of the situation, was to urgently apply for interim relief. Day by day, Israel’s onslaught against the civilian population of Gaza, and now the West Bank, continues to escalate.”
This month British Foreign Office official, Mark Smith, resigned saying, "I am a subject matter expert in the domain of arms sales policy. Each day we witness clear and unquestionable examples of War Crimes and breaches of International Humanitarian Law in Gaza perpetrated by the State of Israel… I have raised this at every level in the organization including through an official whistle-blowing website and received nothing more than ‘thank you we have noted your concerns.”. Members of the trade union for civil servants, PCS, overseeing arms exports to Israel have previously requested to "cease work immediately" over fears they could be complicit in war crimes in Gaza, and the union has reportedly tried to engage with the Labour government to relay workers’ concerns over their potential criminal liability without response.
The inconceivably lengthy delays in the Government’s review of weapons exports contrasts with the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation across Palestine. This week, Israel launched a large-scale invasion of the illegally occupied West Bank while minister, Israel Katz, calling for forced ‘evacuations’ of Palestinians from the West Bank. Israeli Occupying Forces were filmed taking hostages, cutting off access to hospitals and detaining medical staff, while the destruction of West Bank villages by bulldozers is allowed and extremist settler attacks continue. In Gaza, civilians have faced a record number of evacuation orders with almost the entire 2.3 million population forcibly displaced and this week UN aid convoys again forced to stop due to attacks by Israeli forces. Civilians are now left with nowhere safe to shelter and lacking adequate essentials like food, water, and other infrastructure.
Despite the urgency of the dire Israeli-made humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the first confirmed case of a 10-month-old paralysed by Polio, the ongoing attacks on the trapped civilian population and well-documented war crimes carried out by Israel’s forces, UK weapons exports licences remain unchanged.
Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al-Haq said, “The ongoing genocide in Gaza has been live streamed for almost 11 months now, Western governments, including the UK, are continuing their support to Israel with arms and refusing to act in accordance to their obligations or hold Israel accountable. This impunity has given Israel the green light to continue its genocidal policies against the Palestinian people, which is why Israel has been emboldened to expand such policies and continue its crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory. In the latest raid on refugee camps in the northern West Bank, Israeli Occupying Forces are destroying infrastructure, obstructing work of medical teams, killing and continue to act with complete disregard to Palestinian rights including rights to self-determination, return and health. The international community including the UK have obligations under international law to intervene and implement countermeasures against Israel to pressure it to stop its genocidal and colonial violence against Palestinians in occupied Gaza and the West Bank. In particular, the UK must impose a mandatory and comprehensive two-way military embargo against Israel.”
GLAN’s Director Gearóid Ó Cuinn said, “The evidence we submitted was overwhelming and so was the legal consensus. Will they continue to enable atrocities in Palestine, or will they follow the letter of the law and immediately suspend arms exports?”
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