British defence manufacturers are using a ”dangerous loophole” to peddle weapons to developing countries that are subject to arms embargos, the development charity Oxfam said on Wednesday.
In a report, Oxfam alleged that the British defence industry was taking advantage of a relaxation in controls on the export of weapons components to get round international arms embargoes — a claim the government rejected.
Components made in Britain are reaching countries such as Zimbabwe, Israel, Indonesia, Uganda, Colombia, Nepal and the Philippines even though the sale of complete weapons systems to these countries is banned, it said.
Once abroad, the report said, the components — ranging from gun barrels to guidance systems — could easily be assembled into completed systems by regimes involved in military conflicts and abuses of human rights.
”These aren’t simply nuts and bolts we’re selling,” said Oxfam policy director Justin Forsyth. ”These components include firing mechanisms, bomb-making equipment, guidance systems and gun barrels.
”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.”
The report was released jointly by Oxfam, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms as a parliamentary committee looks into Britain’s arms export controls.
In a statement reacting to Oxfam’s report, junior Foreign Office minister Baroness Elizabeth Symons said on Wednesday that its core allegation was unfounded.
”The report provides no evidence for its claim that we are not as tough on components of defence equipment as we are on complete systems,” she said.
”It is simply not the case. We simply would not issue a licence [for the export of a weapons component] where there was an unacceptable risk of it being misused or diverted,” she said.
Oxfam’s report highlighted an elevenfold increase since Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour government took power in the number of times that components have been licensed for export — from 1 600 in 1998 to 18 948 in 2002.
The biggest increase was said to have occurred in 2002, when controls were relaxed on component sales so that British-made ”head-up” displays could be fitted to United States-designed F-16 fighter jets being sold to Israel.
Previously, Britain had banned the sale of any military equipment that could be used by the Israelis against Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories.
Oxfam’s report accused the British government of putting the interests of the national defence industry ahead of concerns about human rights abuses.
”There is strong evidence to suggest that components are receiving export licences for equipment that would not receive one if it were exported as a complete system, given the likelihood that such equipment could be used to fuel conflict and poverty, or used against civilians to violate human rights,” it said.
”We are concerned that weaker standards of licensing of these items, especially given their increased prominence in the export market, create a dangerous new loophole that will allow United Kingdom-provided arms components to contribute to suffering around the world.”
The report said that the application of weaker standards had led to the ”loose” interpretation by the government of international arms embargoes and special exemptions for the supply of spares and upgrades.
There was particular concern about small arms, with the number of licences issued for the export of assault rifle components alone rising from 10 in 1998 to 41 in 2002, including 23 ”open” licences which allow multiple shipments. — AFP
