Defence department says it provides export permits only if satisfied that the weapons will not be used in breach of international law

A former secretary of the Australian defence department says the country cannot justify selling weapons to militaries involved in the five-year war in Yemen, which now stand “accused of gross violations of human rights and likely war crimes by the UN”.

And the Australian co-author of the just-released United Nations report into human rights atrocities in Yemen has said governments that sell weapons to belligerent countries are responsible for prolonging the conflict and contributing to immense humanitarian suffering.

The report found that the conflict had been plagued by human rights abuses, including hospitals being bombed, civilians being deliberately targeted by shelling and sniper fire, civilian populations being deliberately starved, medical supplies being blocked, rape, murder, enforced disappearances, torture, and children being forced to fight.

Australia may be complicit in war crimes if it supports Saudi-led coalition in Yemen – UN Read more

Australia is one of several countries that sell weapons to those that are part of the Saudi-led Coalition in conflict with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Australian government says it imposes strict controls on exports to ensure they are not used in the Yemeni conflict.

But the former secretary of the department of defence Paul Barratt told Guardian Australia that regardless of whether Australian-made weapons were crossing the border into Yemen, “the fact remains that Australia now has a national policy which seeks and facilitates weapons sales with countries that stand accused of gross violations of human rights and likely war crimes”.

“When did this particular trade in arms become official Australian policy? Even if we are successfully legally tiptoeing around the Arms Trade Treaty, such deals surely cannot be acceptable on moral or ethical grounds,” Barratt said. “As a country that routinely asks other countries to abide by the rules-based international order, it would seem hypocritical, at best, that Australia is now willing to … make a profit from, weapons sales to nations that are openly flouting this international order.”

Melissa Parke, the former federal MP for Fremantle, was one of three UN-appointed experts to compile its report on Yemen.

When did this particular trade in arms become official Australian policy? Paul Barratt

The report said hospitals had been bombed, civilians attacked and starvation used as a tactic of war, and alleged that there had been a “collective failure” from the international community to intervene in the five-year war to reduce the suffering of civilians; rather, support from international actors had prolonged the conflict. The public report detailed a list of the key military, political participants in the conflict. A confidential list of those most likely to be complicit in war crimes has been sent to the UN.

Parke said Yemeni civilians had “borne the brunt” of a brutal conflict that was being exacerbated by international indifference, and material support from some governments.

“Given the number of reports establishing the abuses being committed, no state can claim not to be aware of the violence being perpetrated. And the continued supply of weapons will perpetuate the conflict and prolong the suffering of the people of Yemen. It’s our strong belief that weapons provided to the parties will be used in the conflict: that’s why we have asked all states to prohibit the authorisation of arms transfers and refrain from providing arms.

“The international community has to act. There is absolutely no regard for the lives and the dignity of fellow human beings by parties, it has to be the international community that steps in and acts accordingly.”

The UN report names France, Iran, the UK and the US “among other states” as potentially complicit in war crimes. Parke said there remained a lack of transparency around arms transfers.

“Where the provisions of arms leads to the commission of crimes under international humanitarian law, that state could also be responsible for those violations, and individuals in those countries could be exposed to charges of war crimes.

“It’s very serious … every nation needs to play its part to bring this war to an end.”

In July, photographs were published that showed Australian-built remote weapons systems being shipped from Sydney airport to the general department of arms and explosives of Saudi Arabia’s ministry of interior. The manufacturer, Electro Optic Systems (EOS), said none of its weapons systems had been used in Yemen, and were used only for interior ministry border operations.

Australia told to halt arms sales as Yemen catastrophe unfolds Read more

The Australian defence department maintains that it provides export permits only if it is satisfied the weapons will not be used in breach of international law. “Any military goods proposed for export by Australian companies are subject to a rigorous assessment process that takes into account Australia’s international obligations, including the Arms Trade Treaty, and the impact the export could have on foreign policy, human rights, national security and regional security,” a spokeswoman said.

Guardian Australia asked the defence department whether it had requested EOS to obtain an “end-use and non-transfer certificate” from Saudi-Arabia – a document detailing where and how the equipment would be used and a guarantee it would not be on-sold. A spokeswoman for the department declined to answer, saying “defence does not comment on the details of specific export applications”.

Yemen has been at war since 2015, when president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and his cabinet were forced to flee the capital Sanaa by Houthi rebel forces. Saudi Arabia backs Hadi, and has led a coalition of regional countries in air strikes against the Iran-backed Houthis.

The UN experts’ report was excoriating in its assessment of all sides of the war that has left 100,000 dead and up to 85,000 children starving. It also detailed a Saudi coalition airstrike that hit a bus carrying 50 children in a market area, killing 11, some aged as young as 10. The coalition also bombed the Al-Kitaf rural hospital killing children and adults. Other strikes hit residential buildings, and then a nearby farm to where civilians had fled seeking safety.

The UN panel heard allegations that Saudi, Emirati and affiliated forces tortured, raped and killed suspected political opponents detained in secret facilities at Bir Ahmed prison II, al-Bureiqa and numerous unofficial detention sites.

Yemeni government forces, including those backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, continue to arbitrarily detain, threaten and otherwise target political opponents, journalists, human rights defenders and religious leaders, the report said. Yemeni forces also forcibly recruit children, as young as 13, to fight.

The panel also found that Iran-backed Houthi rebel fighters used anti-personnel and anti-vehicle landmines illegally, placing them indiscriminately in civilian areas. Houthi snipers deliberately fired on civilians, including children, or fired indiscriminately into markets or residential areas, and shelled camps for displaced people.