David Mepham, the UK Director of Human Rights Watch, said the report's findings "flatly contradict repeated statements made by British ministers about the actions of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen."
Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that a leaked UN report contradicts Britain's rationale for selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, pointing out that it says the Saudis as well as their Yemeni adversaries violated international humanitarian law.
David Mepham, the UK Director of Human Rights Watch, said the report's findings "flatly contradict repeated statements made by British ministers about the actions of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen."
"For almost a year, (Foreign Secretary) Phillip Hammond has made the false and misleading claim that there is no evidence of laws of war violations by the UK's Saudi ally and other members of the coalition," he said.
Hammond made the comments to lawmakers in the House of Commons last December. Mepham added that the report shows the violations are frequent and widespread, including attacks on medical facilities, schools, mosques and populated residential areas.
He urged the British government to halt the transfer of any military equipment to Saudi Arabia and its coalition allies that might be used for such violations. The United States has been Saudi Arabia's main arms supplier, selling it US $1.3 billion worth of munitions alone at the end of last year when Riyadh was running low due to the Yemen war.
Britain, France and others have all taken part in the bonanza over the years, selling the kingdom billions of dollars' worth of arms, some during the fighting in Yemen. The UN report, obtained by The Associated Press on yesterday, was made by panel of UN experts who monitor UN sanctions, and had not been released publicly.
Yemen has been torn by conflict since 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels allied with a former president captured large swaths of the country, including the capital, Sanaa, which they took in September that year.
In March 2015, a coalition of mainly Gulf Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia began launching airstrikes against the Houthis, later expanding the intervention to include a ground invasion. More than 5,800 people have been killed and over 80% of Yemen's population is in dire need of food, water and other aid, according to the UN. Coalition airstrikes targeting the Houthis in and around the capital have killed more than 20 rebels since yesterday, security and medical officials said.
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