Arms
Trade
10/12/03 Article for the Birmingham Post on
small arms - Human Rights an everyday matter?
01/03/02 Following concerns
expressed during the passage of the Export Control Bill in the House of Commons about the
absence of an explicit reference to sustainable development in the legislation, the
government has now decided to table amendments to address some of these issues. This means
that the Bill will now put sustainable development on the face of primary legislation.
This is a small but significant victory, however, I still have concerns about the Bill and
will continue to press for defence export licence applications to be subject to prior
scrutiny by a Parliamentary committee. I have signed Early Day Motion
826 to this effect.
08/01/02 Arms Controls -
Export Control Bill
In the Queen's Speech (6 December 2000) the Government
announced their intention to publish a Draft Bill to bring tighter controls on the arms
trade. I welcome the Draft Bill promised by the Government but I am concerned
that the proposed legislation does not go far enough. As they currently stand, the
proposals do not provide for proper Parliamentary scrutiny of arms exports. I would like
the Government to hand the power to look at applications for arms export licences to a
House of Commons Select Committee. This has been called for in many submissions to the
Government’s Green Paper, including my own from November 1998 entitled: Response to White Paper on Strategic Export Controls where I
stated:
‘a new Select Committee should be established,
empowered to monitor military export controls, co-operation among Government departments
and the compliance of companies involved in arms exports, [and] its findings included as a
commentary on the Government's own report.’
I have now called upon the Government to publish the
results of its consultation.
At the end of November (2000) I accompanied three students
from Birmingham University who handed in a petition to the Prime Minister calling for
tighter controls on the export of arms. A copy of the students' press release
is reproduced below.
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE November 2000
Starts…
HANDS AGAINST ARMS
Students at Birmingham University are
putting their hands up to stop British-made weapons being used to abuse human rights. The
Birmingham University Amnesty International group has joined forces with Lynne Jones, MP
for Birmingham Selly Oak to ask Tony Blair to bring in new laws controlling arms exports.
They will be presenting a banner covered with handprints, and a petition to the Prime
Minister, to Downing Street on Thursday 23rd November.
The students are concerned by the large number of British
companies exporting arms to countries which are politically unstable, and that the weapons
are being used for torture and the oppression of civilians. Student Mary Carpenter feels
that the government has not done enough to stop this happening, "The Labour
Government promised to stop arms being sold to countries where they are used for external
aggression or internal repression, but this just hasn’t happened."
Amnesty International is a human rights organisation that
works worldwide for an end to torture and the death penalty, and for fair trials for all
prisoners. Amnesty is campaigning alongside Oxfam for tougher UK arms legislation, as they
are aware of many cases where arms from the UK have been used to abuse human rights.
Despite the assurances from the British government, the Chief of the Indonesian Air Force
has admitted that British-made Hawk Jets were used in East Timor, where the population
were terrorised and oppressed by the Indonesian military.
There are many loopholes in the current laws which are
manipulated by British companies, such as Birmingham based Hiatts, which despite a ban on
the export of leg-irons, produces ‘oversize handcuffs’ which are promptly
exported and used inhumanely as leg-irons. Lynne Jones MP is concerned that the current
export controls are not transparent enough, "It is still impossible to tell
exactly what item of equipment each export licence covers. This is because the information
is still given out in such broad categories; for example, the same category applies to
equipment ranging from combat aircraft to parachutes."
The students are asking the Government to announce new arms
legislation in the Queen’s Speech, which will be read in early December. They are
urging for comprehensive new laws to replace the current legislation which is over 60
years old, so that British companies will be prevented from exporting arms that are then
used to abuse human rights, fuel conflict, or undermine development programmes.
…Ends
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