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The world´s biggest arms fair ended in Britain on Friday, leaving everyone wondering whether London is serious when it talks of supporting human rights and comments on other countries´ rights records.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague recently claimed Iran has a “repressive” human rights record in comments timed to coincide with the opening day of the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEi) 2011 in London.
This is while London welcomed internationally-acknowledged “repressive” regimes including Bahrain with open arms at the fair where international delegates shopped for British-made armored vehicles, riot-control equipment and firearms, among others.
Those items were exactly what human rights groups said regimes such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are using to crush pro-democracy protestors.
The Bahraini regime was a major client of British arms before the suppression of popular uprisings in the Persian Gulf country that critics said were done using British “riot-control equipment.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia soldiers moved to Bahrain to help crush demonstrations there in armored vehicles made by BAE Systems, Britain´s largest defense company.
According to Campaign Against arms Trade spokesperson Kaye Stearman, “all the usual suspects” were at DSEi.
However, Hague chose to advise Iran rather than his own government to learn “lessons” from “the Arab world revolutions … as they apply to repressive countries across the world.”
Regardless of the implications of Hague´s remarks when taking into consideration the massive public protests and social disorder that has shaken the pillars of the British establishment since the late 2010 and the crackdown of the British police and judicial system on the protestors, the British government went against its own formally-endorsed policy by inviting Bahraini officials to DSEi.
Britain revoked all arms export licenses to Bahrain in the wake of the brutal suppression of public uprisings there in March.
Amnesty International´s arms program director Oliver Sprague said it is “ludicrous that they would enable the same government to window shop for weapons on British soil.”
“No government which is known to maim, kill and torture its own people should ever be allowe4d to attend a fair to shop for weapons,” he said.
“They will be here pursuing the wares on offer and will undoubtedly arrange future arms sales when far out of the reach of the British arms licensing regime. The invitation makes a mockery of the claim that Bahrain´s access to arms is being moderated,” he added.
British Foreign Secretary attacked Iran´s human rights records while his country hosted 14 countries, among the DSEi guests, which have been described as authoritarian by human rights groups.
Britain is making billions of pounds in profits from arms trade annually.
Analysts see the frequent comments on other countries´ human rights situation by London officials as, at least partly, efforts to divert attentions from the reality on the ground in Britain, that is, democracy talks as long as national interests including financial ones are not involved.
End.
Last Updated: 19 September 2011
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