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UK-SL arms deals continue

18 Mar 2012 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Britain has licensed over £3 million worth of military and ‘dual use’ equipment for export to Sri Lanka since the country’s army defeated the LTTE in May 2009, a London based group Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) claimed.

A cross-party parliamentary committee on arms export controls said that it could not guarantee that British-licensed armaments were not used during the Sri Lankan government bloody attempt to eradicate the LTTE, it said.

In the first nine months of 2011 the latest date for which figures are available, Britain licensed almost £1.5m worth of exports of which over £1.3m were military, the daily Morning Star reported quoting CAAT.

Between May and December 2009, the UK licensed military and dual use exports worth £700,000, of which £580,000 were military, and in 2010, just under £1 million, of which £185,000 were military. In the first nine months of 2011 (the latest date for which figures are available), the value reached almost £1.5 million, of which over £1.3 million were military.

Some of the most high-value items licensed were armoured military vehicles. For example, in August 2009, a few months after the end of the fighting, the UK approved a licence valued at £175,000 for "all wheel vehicles with ballistic protection" followed by a licence for similar vehicles in November, this time worth £300,000. This was surpassed in July 2011 when a licence was approved for £500,000 for the same military vehicles.

Other high-value items have involved cryptography. In April 2011 the UK approved export licences for "equipment employing cryptography" of £166,000. In the same month, a licence was issued for export of "decoying countermeasure equipment and components", coming under the heading of "grenades, bombs, missiles, countermeasures", totalling £412,800. In June 2011, there were approvals for body armour and components for body armour valued at £96,000.

The CAAT demanded the government to explain why it continues to license weapons for export to Sri Lanka as a Channel 4 documentary reveals further evidence of war crimes by the country’s military.

CAAT spokeswoman Kaye Stearman said: ““We need to ask why the UK government continues to licence arms for export to Sri Lanka, given its long and proven knowledge of the situation.”

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UK-SL arms deals continue

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