UK trains human-rights abusing states
Peace campaigners call for government review of military collaborations
Peace campaigners have called on the UK government to review its military collaborations after it was revealed that since 2018 the UK has provided military training for seventeen countries classed as having human-rights abusing regimes.
The countries receiving training include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, China, Israel and Uzbekistan, all of which are on the Foreign Office list of ‘human rights priority countries’.
The details came to light when a parliamentary question from MP Sam Tarry revealed that from 2018-2020 the UK provided military training for seventeen countries identified as ‘human rights priority countries’ by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The FCO defines these as countries where they are ‘particularly concerned about human rights issues’ and believe the UK can make a difference. There are thirty in total.
Much of the training for Saudi Arabian forces is linked to the use of UK-made fighter jets that are being used in the war in Yemen, where more than 20,000 civilians have been killed or injured.
Some of the training courses provided to countries on the FCO list that have raised concern include one for Bahrain in 2018-2019 for ‘International Officers Electronic Warfare’ and for Pakistani forces, an ‘International Air Battle Management Course’.
Courses in 2019-2020 include a ‘Platoon Commanders Battle Course’ for Iraqi military.
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said: ‘Many of these armies have appalling human rights records and have been linked to brutal oppression as well as international aggression. By training and collaborating with despots, dictatorships, and human rights abusers the UK risks making itself complicit in the abuses that are being inflicted. For far too long, successive UK governments have talked about the importance of human rights and democracy while arming, supporting, and strengthening authoritarian regimes across the world. There must be an end to the hypocrisy and a full review of which forces Britain has trained and if they have been linked to human rights abuses.’
There has also been training for regimes with poor human rights records not on the FCO list. These include armed forces in Belarus, Hong Kong, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.
