Switzerland bans shipping of war materiel to Yemen

The newest sanctions are designed to reduce access to weapons Keystone

The Swiss cabinet announced on Friday that it has added arms and other war materiel to the sanctions it has imposed as a result of the crisis in Yemen. The decision supported measures taken in a United Nations Security Council embargo imposed on April 14.

Already in May, the cabinet had added two top Yemeni figures involved in the crisis – Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the eldest son of Yemen’s former president – to a list of people who are being sanctioned. The list already included former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and two military leaders.

An asset freeze and a travel ban had been imposed by the UN in February 2014 and by Switzerland in December 2014.

The UN’s April resolution called for “the implementation of an arms embargo against natural persons, companies or organisations which undermine peace, security and stability in Yemen through their actions”.

Although Switzerland’s arms embargo currently affects only five people, effectively it has led to a complete ban of materiel exports to Yemen, the authorities said in a statement on Friday.

It added that the package of measures responds to the political, economic and humanitarian problems and on the security issues facing Yemen since the revolution in January 2011.