British ministers flout arms sales code

British ministers flout arms sales code

Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian News Service, London

The United Kingdom (UK) government is selling arms and security
equipment to countries whose human rights record it has strongly
criticized, according to lists of weapons cleared for export that
have been seen by the London-based Guardian newspaper.

The countries include Indonesia, where the UK Foreign Office
(FO) has reported allegations of extrajudicial killings, Nepal,
where it has reported summary executions, and Saudi Arabia, where
torture is just one abuse of basic human rights attacked by the
FO.

The government approved export licenses for categories of arms
including machine guns, rockets and missiles, to Indonesia.

Indonesian forces are engaged in fierce fighting against pro-
independence rebels in Aceh where British equipment is being used
despite assurances from the government they would not be used for
offensive or counter-insurgency measures.

After foreign observers were refused access to Aceh, the UK
government told members of the British parliament (MPs) last
month that it "remained concerned about the situation in Aceh".

British-built Saracen armored vehicles were being used by
Indonesian forces in Aceh, Tapol, the Indonesia human rights
campaign and the Campaign Against Arms Trade said this week.

Next week human rights activists in Indonesia are planning to
challenge the legality of British arms exports to the country,
Tapol said on Thursday.

There have already been reports of Hawk jets and Scorpion
tanks deployed in Aceh.

The FO says in its human rights report that while the
professionalism of the Indonesian security forces had improved,
"serious problems remain, with allegations of extrajudicial
killings, disappearances, arbitrary detention, rape, torture and
mistreatment of prisoners".

Licenses have been approved this year for the export to Saudi
Arabia of "security and paramilitary goods", hitherto unpublished
figures show.

The list of items under this category is: "Acoustic
devices ... suitable for riot control purposes, anti-riot
shields ... leg irons, gangchains, electric shock belts,
shackles ... individual cuffs ... portable anti-riot devices ...
water cannon ... riot control vehicles ... portable devices for
riot control or self-protection by the administration of an
electric shock".

The UK government's arms export guidelines state that licenses
will be refused if there is a "clear risk (they) might be used
for internal repression".

The exports to Saudi Arabia, which also include a wide range
of military hardware and weapons systems, were cleared despite
sharp criticism of the country in the FO's latest annual human
rights report published in the summer.

"We continue to have deep concerns about Saudi Arabia's
failure to implement basic human rights norms," it says,
referring explicitly to capital and corporal punishment and
restrictions on freedom of movement, expression, assembly and
worship.

It adds: "We believe that between January and December 2002,
the Saudi authorities executed about 46 people, one of the
highest figures for any country in the world."

The government has also approved big increases in the sale of
arms to Nepal where security forces are fighting Maoist
guerrillas. Last year Britain provided Nepal with two military
helicopters with funds from its "conflict prevention" fund.

Yet the FO accuses the Nepalese army and Maoists of "gross and
widespread human rights abuses". Its annual report adds: "The
security forces were responsible for extensive and systematic
illegal detentions, torture and summary executions".

The government's arms export criteria state it "will not issue
licenses for exports which would provoke or prolong armed
conflicts or aggravate existing tensions".

The list of export licenses was provided by Nigel Griffiths,
the British trade minister, in response to questions from Menzies
Campbell, the UK's Liberal Democrat party's foreign affairs
spokesman.