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19/08/2009
UK Urged To Tighten Rules On Arms
The government needs to tighten controls on arms exports to ensure that British weapons are not being used against civilians in foreign war zones, a joint report by four select committees has said.
The annual report by the cross-party committees on arms export controls expressed concerns that weapons exported to Sri Lanka by Britain may have been used against innocent civilians when hostilities escalated between the country's military and the Tamil Tigers in 2006.
Britain, one of the world's biggest arms exporters, was among several other EU countries reported to have sold weapons to the Sri Lanka government during the final years of its conflict with the Tamil Tigers.
Labour MP Roger Berry, Chairman of the committees, said: "Sri Lanka highlights the need for the UK government to monitor closely the situation in countries recently engaged in armed conflict.
"It must assess more carefully the risk that UK arms exports might be used by those countries in the future in a way that breaches our licensing criteria."
The report also highlighted concerns that arms dealers in the UK may have been selling former Soviet weapons from Ukraine to blacklisted countries.
The information is believed to have been given to the committee by Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister during a trip to Kiev.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has ordered an investigation.
The committees also welcomed the Foreign Secretary's decision to revoke export licenses to Israel, earlier this year.
The committees said that applications for licences for arms exports to both Israel and Sri Lanka should continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis and called for a review of all existing licences.
(KMcA/BMcc)
The annual report by the cross-party committees on arms export controls expressed concerns that weapons exported to Sri Lanka by Britain may have been used against innocent civilians when hostilities escalated between the country's military and the Tamil Tigers in 2006.
Britain, one of the world's biggest arms exporters, was among several other EU countries reported to have sold weapons to the Sri Lanka government during the final years of its conflict with the Tamil Tigers.
Labour MP Roger Berry, Chairman of the committees, said: "Sri Lanka highlights the need for the UK government to monitor closely the situation in countries recently engaged in armed conflict.
"It must assess more carefully the risk that UK arms exports might be used by those countries in the future in a way that breaches our licensing criteria."
The report also highlighted concerns that arms dealers in the UK may have been selling former Soviet weapons from Ukraine to blacklisted countries.
The information is believed to have been given to the committee by Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister during a trip to Kiev.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has ordered an investigation.
The committees also welcomed the Foreign Secretary's decision to revoke export licenses to Israel, earlier this year.
The committees said that applications for licences for arms exports to both Israel and Sri Lanka should continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis and called for a review of all existing licences.
(KMcA/BMcc)
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