Arms export guidelines broken
Arms sales delegations to visit governments with questionable human rights records
2012 will see UK ministers sending arms sales delegations to governments with a reputation for using violence against their own citizens. The arms wing of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), the government’s export promotion unit, is planning missions to countries including Bahrain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Representatives will visit the new Libyan government, as well as Colombia, Nigeria and Kazakhstan.
The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) accused ministers of breaking their own arms export guidelines. The rules state that arms export licences will be issued only if the importer country can meet certain conditions including respect for human rights.
CAAT’s Kaye Stearman said: ‘2011 brought us the Arab Spring uprisings and the overthrow of abusive rulers bolstered by western weaponry. Yet the UK government seems to have learned nothing.’ British ministers revoked certain arms export licences to Bahrain following violent suppression of peaceful protests last spring. In September, the UK government invited the Bahraini regime to send representatives to the London arms fair. Bahraini security forces were documented using tear gas and stun grenades against demonstrators in December. The future of UK arms sales to Bahrain remains uncertain.
