Worldwide spending on weapons is expected to reach record levels this year at a time when the arms industry is increasingly able to avoid export controls, human rights and aid agencies say in a report published on Monday.
By the end of the year, military spending is estimated to reach $1,058-billion, about 15 times the amount spent on international aid, say Amnesty, Oxfam and the International Action Network on Small Arms (Iansa).
The figure is higher than the Cold War record reached in 1987-88 of $1,034-billion in today’s prices, they claim, adding that last year the United States, Russia, Britain, France and Germany accounted for an estimated 82% of all arms transfers.
Other countries are emerging as important arms exporters. Brazil, India, Israel, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea all have arms companies in the world’s top 100, Amnesty says.
In their report, Arms without Borders, the agencies claim US, European Union and Canadian companies can get round arms regulations by selling weapon components and subcontracting arms manufacturing to companies overseas.
Weapons, including attack helicopters and combat trucks, are being assembled from foreign components and manufactured under licence in countries including China, Egypt, India, Israel and Turkey.
The report shows how these or similar weapons have ended up in Colombia, Sudan and Uzbekistan where they are reported to have been used against civilians.
The report says that the EU has an arms embargo against China, and the US and Canada have banned the sale of armed helicopters to Beijing. Yet China’s new Z-10 attack helicopter would not fly without weapons parts and technology from an Anglo-Italian company (Augusta Westland), the Canadian firm Pratt & Whitney a US company (Lord Corporation) and a Franco-German company (Eurocopter), it says.
The report points out that China has previously sold attack helicopters to a number of countries including Sudan, which is under a full EU arms embargo.
The Apache helicopter, used by Israel in the Lebanon conflict, is made from 6 000 parts manufactured worldwide, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Ireland. Under the EU’s code of conduct, those countries should refuse to export attack helicopters directly to Israel, the agencies argue in their report.
Last year, Uzbek security forces fired on demonstrators, killing hundreds. The Uzbek military used military Land Rovers. About 70% of their parts were British. They were sent ”flat pack” to Turkey, where they were made into military vehicles. The vehicles were then supplied to the Uzbek government.
There is no suggestion the companies are breaking the law but the report says the government has no control over the deal because the vehicles were not converted into military vehicles in Britain.
The United Nations has just opened its annual session on arms control. The general assembly is to vote on a British-backed proposal for an arms trade treaty.
Human rights groups say the treaty should impose export controls on components of weapons systems as well as complete weapons. Controls should also cover foreign licensing agreements, they say. — Â