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| Arms Trade: New Report Reveals Major Loophole in British Arms Export Controls |
| 25 February 2004
A new report released today (Wednesday
25 February) shows that Government changes to British
arms export guidelines have led to a relaxation of controls
and a significant increase in particular areas of the
trade. It reveals that the government is applying weaker
controls to the export of components, compared to the
export of full weapons systems. These double standards
allow British-sold weapons components to end up in countries
where they could ultimately be used to violate human
rights. The report is released as part of the Control
Arms Campaign led by Oxfam, Amnesty International and
IANSA.
Figures contained in the report - the first analysis
of its kind - show that since 1998 there has been an
eleven-fold increase (1100%) in the number of arms components
licensed for export1. The loophole has allowed
British arms components to be sold to a list of countries
including Zimbabwe, Israel, Indonesia, Colombia, Nepal
and the Philippines.
"These aren't simply nuts and bolts we're selling,
these components include firing mechanisms, bomb making
equipment, guidance systems and gun barrels. It is these
deadly components that are key parts of full weapons,
without which they would be unusable. The government
has put lives at risk by setting up false and dangerous
double standards. Whether a machine-gun comes in pieces
or ready made- the suffering it can cause in the wrong
hands is just the same", said Justin Forsyth, Oxfam
Director of Policy.
"Components for deadly weapons are being sold to
known human rights abusers. It doesn't take much to
re-assemble them. And from there it takes even less
to kill, to torture or to rape at gunpoint. This loophole
must be closed immediately," said Lesley Warner,
Amnesty International UK Media Director.
Rather than closing the loophole, the government has,
over time, expanded it. In 2002, Jack Straw formally
changed arms export guidance by introducing new criteria
for licensing decisions on components. Rather than solely
basing decisions to export arms components on human
rights, conflict and poverty considerations, new criteria
were introduced to assess potential deals against their
importance for the arms industry. Since Jack Straw's
decision, the number of arms components licensed for
export has doubled.
"These new criteria allow arms components to go
to a whole host of countries where human rights abuses
are common. It seems that the government is attending
to the needs of the British defence industry, above
the human rights of people living in countries where
the weapons will be used", said Rebecca Peters,
Director of IANSA.
The new criteria allowed the sale of British-manufactured
'Heads up Display Units' for incorporation into F-16
fighter jets to be sold on to Israel by the US. These
components are used to target Israeli bombs and these
jets have been used many times in the West Bank and
Gaza. There is plentiful evidence that the F-16s have
been used against civilians.
As the Israeli case shows, the double standards mean
that British components can be built into weapons systems
abroad and then sold onto destinations to which Britain
would not sell direct.
Not only are these loopholes weakening UK arms licensing
controls, they are also undermining international arms
embargoes. The EU-embargo covering the Democratic Republic
of Congo - a country in which war has killed three million
people since 1998 – is interpreted by the British
government to allow the ongoing sale of components.
The government's 2001 'Annual Report on Strategic Export
Controls' states that, 'the government will take into
account the wider implications of forcing UK companies
to break existing obligations.' This means that British-supplied
weaponry could continue to be serviced and updated by
British companies, even if it were being used in the
conflict.
The report 'Lock, Stock and Barrel', written by Oxfam
on behalf of the Control Arms Campaign shows that exports
of components rather than entire weapons systems creates
a smokescreen that hides the true extent of the British
arms trade. This is particularly true for small arms.
Unlike the sale of assembled small arms, there is no
reporting of the number of components being sold. This
means that the public has no idea whether Britain is
selling one shotgun barrel to a farmer or all the necessary
components for a massive arsenal capable of starting
a war.
In the report, Oxfam, Amnesty International and IANSA call on the British government to tighten up their arms export policy and treat components in the same way as complete systems. The organisations say that Britain should back the international Arms Trade Treaty, already supported by many countries world-wide, to ensure that everyone in the world is playing by the same rules.
1 The 11-fold increase
is in the number of different components licensed
to different countries as listed in the government’s
annual reports. These figures are just the tip of
the iceberg. The government has refused repeated requests
to release the total number of all components sold
to each country.
Read the full report
in pdf format here
Contacts
Brendan Cox
Oxfam
Tel: 01865 312289
Mobile: 07957 120 853
Email: bcox@oxfam.org.uk
Steve Ballinger
Amnesty International UK
Tel: 020 7417 6355
Mobile: 07721 398 984
Email: steve.ballinger@amnesty.org.uk
Sally Joss
IANSA
Tel: 020 7953 7626
Email: coordinator@iansa.org
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