Tag: CAAT

Large crowd attends 100th vigil


Around 90 attend the 100th vigil

November 2025

It is astonishing to report that around 90 people attended the silent vigil in Salisbury’s market place. There have been a few occasions over the past 2 years when we have considered stopping, usually after a ceasefire or peace initiative when some might have believed that the killing was over. The recent ceasefire was no exception with a huge amount of fanfare from President Trump supported by a degree of pressure on Israel to stop. Well, it hasn’t lasted with over 100 killed on Tuesday and the creation of a semi-permanent line being established taking yet more territory from Gaza. Hamas have returned the remaining live hostages and Israel has released 250 prisoners and 1,700 ‘detainees’.

There are arguments about the remaining dead hostages with Hamas claiming that they are finding it difficult to locate them in the rubble. As Israel will not allow foreign journalists into Gaza, truth is hard to determine but it would seem probable that Hamas’s account is likely.

We put detainees in inverted commas because the hostages taken by Hamas on their violent raid on October 7th two years ago received, rightly, considerable coverage and few will be unaware of the numbers killed or taken. Media coverage has consistently used the word ‘hostage’ for those taken by Hamas. Those taken by Israel – in considerably larger numbers and who were subject to horrific treatment and torture – are referred to as ‘detainees’. British media has continued with this fiction since the conflict began.

The death toll in Gaza is nearly 69,000.

That such large numbers turn out on a Saturday evening is a testimony to the strongly held convictions about many aspects of the conflict. Whilst acknowledging the brutal nature of Hamas and the horrific attack on October 7th, the destruction of Gaza, the imposition of a food and medicine blockade and the wanton killing of women and children has profoundly shocked many. The British government’s continued support for Israel – directly and covertly – has also produced great anger.

UK arms sales reached a record level in June and the notion that the UK has ‘robust’ measures to control such sales is in tatters according to Campaign Against the Arms Trade. Exact details are impossible to determine as the licensing is vague and because of secrecy. The plain fact is that we continue to supply arms and overfly Gaza despite the appalling carnage that has taken place there.

One hundred vigils and no sign of the local MP Mr John Glen at any of them nor any mention in his weekly piece in the Salisbury Journal. Mr Glen is thought to be a member of Conservative Friends of Israel.

A short video is available here thanks to Peter Gloyns. We shall be back (sadly) on November 8th.

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Palestinian state recognised


UK recognises the state of Palestine

September 2025

Today, 21 September, the UK government announces that it is to recognise the state of Palestine. It has joined the majority of countries around the world and joins Canada and Australia who did the same today. The decision has come after months of hesitation and was delayed until after the visit to the UK by President Trump who does not agree with it. To an extent, the government’s hand was forced. The disproportionate response to the horrific attack by Hamas on October 7th with the destruction of huge parts of Gaza, a death toll now over 65,000 many or whom are women and children and the deliberate introduction of siege conditions leading to more deaths by starvation, has left the government little option but to take action. Public opinion has also been a factor and the images of emaciated children have horrified many.

Britain’s decision is more than symbolic since the 1917 Balfour Declaration was instrumental in the creation of the state of Israel. The declaration was vague however since although it recognised that Arabs and Palestinians already lived there and said ‘nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine‘ it made no provision for protecting their claims or rights.

Some argue this is symbolic since with American support and ever increasing violence by settlers in the West Bank, the prospects of an actual state on the ground are receding. Some suggest that this means the conditions for statehood as set out in the 1933 Montevideo convention are not achievable. The Israeli government has rejected the decision saying ‘it categorically rejects the one-sided declaration of a Palestinian state by the UK and some other countries.’ It claims the decision does not promote peace. A spokesman for the British Board of Deputies interviewed on the BBC was critical of the decision and said it would cause deep dismay across the Jewish community in the UK. It says it is a reward for Hamas violence.

Implications

What are the implications? It will take some while for the implications to percolate through the claims and counter claims of the various political interests. It will enable the Palestinians to open an Embassy in the UK which will improve their status. It will enjoy diplomatic rights which will be significant. Up until recently, the Israelis have enjoyed almost uncritical support from governments but its continued violence in the West Bank and Gaza is seeing that support melt away.

It is unlikely to bring a peace deal any closer. Wars end because a kind of exhaustion sets in and the population goes weary of war-time restrictions and the loss of soldiers. This shows no sign of applying in Israel. Seemingly limitless weapons supplies from America and a huge military advantage in weapons and materiel mean any exhaustion is a long way off. IDF deaths are modest 464 [Jewish News Syndicate, 18 September]. The far right members of the Knesset such as Bezalel Smotrich see Gaza as a ‘property bonanza’ and claim the ‘demolition phase is over’.

Recognition will make it harder for the UK government to continue its support of Israel – open and covert – with RAF overflights for example, and ignore the plight of the Palestinians. It may even see some more robust reporting from the BBC whose lamentable performance has slowly begun to change.

Amnesty has said it is a ‘hollow gesture’ and without meaningful action to end the genocide, end violence in the West Bank and ending the Apartheid system against the Palestinian people. Real action needs to be taken to end arms sales and divest from companies which continue to sell arms to Israel. A report by CAAT sets out the details of arms export to Israel.

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Arms trade news


Grim reading in Campaign Against the Arms Trade’s latest newsletter

May 2025

The CAAT Newsletter (Spring 2025, Issue 272) has details of what’s happening in the world of arms sales a world in which the UK is a big player. Our previous post discussed the continuing sale of arms to Israel which is subject to an Appeal Court hearing starting on 13th. Also we mentioned the role of the RAF in carrying out hundreds of flights over Gaza and quite what is being done with the information gleaned is not revealed.

Arms sales are important for several reasons. Weapons have an enormous capacity to do great harm in the wrong hands. Governments need to exert great control over licensing to ensure that arms do not fall into such hands. British governments are frequently to be heard claiming it exercises ‘robust’ controls. It is doubtful that this is the case and CAAT have often noted the considerable use of open licences which means little effective control exists.

The current Labour government has a policy of growth which seems to dominate thinking. As the court case will reveal, and papers have already revealed, this seems to trump considerations of human rights. CAAT News has the following examples:

  • The Defence Secretary has held meetings with counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Turkey to discuss opportunities for expanding military cooperation which is likely to involve arms sales. Both countries have woeful human rights records. Saudi has a full array of violations including public executions, use of torture, restrictions on women’s rights and repression of any opposition or free speech. Turkey has carried out baseless prosecutions against journalists, human rights defenders and opposition leaders, thousands of whom are in gaol.
  • Eurofighter sales – which the UK co-produces – are planned for Qatar and Turkey. The latter is involved in bombing Kurdish groups in its own country and Iraq. Qatar is another repressive Gulf state and is highly corrupt.
  • We have noted before the question of the Revolving Door where politicians, ministers, senior civil servants and military personnel leave their posts and head off for lucrative appointments/directorships/consultancies with arms firms. It is an open invitation for corruption and the ACOBA system seems powerless to stop it. The Aerospace, Defence and Security Group, (ADS) the trade body for the defence industry representing all of the major arms makers, holds an annual dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in which, in the words of CAAT ‘The dinner’s purpose is to introduce them to one another and allow them to schmooze and entertain their powerful friends from Parliament and the Civil Service‘ … These kinds of dinners are where relationships are formed and built and where the next round of arms deals are made, over fine food and wines.’
  • And it doesn’t end there. The Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) resumes in September at the ExCel Centre in London. This may be the largest such exhibition in the world. It is popular because the UK government invites representatives from a wide range of countries including those with appalling human rights records, some even on its own watch list. The thousands of attendees will be met by ‘a cast of compliant senior civil servants and politicians on hand to make sure things run smoothly’ (CAAT).
  • … or even there because the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre is to host Security and Policing run by the Home Office. Again, a range of countries with dreadful human rights are cordially invited to view the latest in surveillance, tear gas and ammunition. Journalists are banned. Britain seems happy to be host to regimes who use this equipment to repress and intimidate oppositions, journalists or human rights people.
Growth or rights?

The government seems keen to actively support these activities and to do all it can to promote arms and surveillance equipment to repressive regimes. It does this while piously claiming that:

This Government is fully committed to the protection of human rights both at home and abroad. We are committed to the international human rights framework and the important role that multilateral organisations like the Council of Europe play in upholding it. (Ministry of Justice, November 2024, ref: CP 1192)

It is hard to square the multi-level activities to promote arms sales and in the process currying favour with some of the world’s worst regimes, with their stated desire to be upholders of human rights and the wellbeing of those at the end of it all. While politicians, civil servants, military brass and ministers ‘schmooze’ with the arms manufacturers in expensive London hotels, it may be hard for them to empathise with those who have been bombed, starved, driven from their homes or incarcerated, tortured or executed for no reason. All facilitated by the weapons and equipment they so admire whilst quaffing the Bollinger. Is it growth above all else?

Sources include: CAAT, The Canary, Amnesty

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High Court to decide on arms to Israel


The appeal is to be heard on May 13

May 2025

UPDATE: 8 May. The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy was interviewed on the PM programme yesterday evening [BBC Radio 4] and made the claim, twice, that he had decided to suspend arms sales to Israel. This was not true and regrettably, he was not challenged on either occasion by the interviewer, Evan Davies. Mr Lammy should be thankful that he had such an unchallenging interview, not just on this falsehood but on a range of other matters as well.

The appeal against the government’s decision to continue to supplying Israel with arms – and in particular, components for the F-35 – will be heard in the High Court starting on May 13th. The government is in something of a bind. The actions by Israel in Gaza are widely deplored and many contend amount to a war crime and genocide. But to offend the Americans by curtailing supplies of components for the F-35 used in Gaza is almost unthinkable for the government desperate as it is to curry favour with the Americans.

The action is being brought by Al Haq a human rights organisation based in Ramallah, and Global Legal Action Network consisting of lawyers and investigators which identifies and pursues legal actions against those involved in human rights violations. They have been joined by Amnesty, Oxfam GB and Human Rights Watch.

The latest edition of Campaign Against the Arms Trade (Issue 272, Spring 2025) discusses the issue of continuing military aid to Israel. It notes that ‘even our government has been forced to admit that is assesses Israel is not committed to complying with International Humanitarian Law‘. The case will be the biggest legal test of UK exports to Israel to date. They highlight an article in the Guardian by a former Foreign Office diplomat who described continued attempts by ministers to stonewall or play down evidence of what is happening in Gaza.

Over 52,000 have now been killed in the conflict. There are now reports of 57 deaths due to malnutrition mainly of children, the sick or the elderly. No aid is allowed in including food and necessary medical supplies. This has been the case now for over 60 days. Aid agencies stocks are depleted. A gloomy picture is painted on the situation in Haaretz.

We will follow the court case with great interest.

In addition to the supply of arms, there is the question of involvement of the RAF which has carried out over 250 overflights of Gaza (Declassified says 500). The chief of defence staff, Sir Tony Radakin was asked by a reporter from Declassified whether the RAF’s activities meant they were participating in Israel’s operations in Gaza? Answer came there none. They are not alone and the article reports that backbench MPs have sought answers without success. It is disturbing that the RAF are seemingly deeply involved in what is happening.

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Arms trade news


Campaign Against the Arms Trade was established 50 years ago

January 2025

CAAT was formed 50 years ago, (the same year our local Amnesty group was formed). Their overriding vision is “A just, peaceful and sustainable world built on foundations of equity and solidarity“. Their latest News Letter is published, issue 271, and amongst other things contains a review of events with an arms perspective over the half century since they were formed. We feature their work from time to time on this site because arms are a key element in conflicts around the world. Looking at wars in Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza and other theatres, we see the destruction weapons cause to communities, women, children and other non-combatants. Buildings are destroyed and people are killed or injured by the weapons used. The UK is a major supplier of weapons and claims, somewhat dubiously, to have a ‘very robust regime’ of controls, while at the same time granting ‘open’ licences enabling arms dealers to circumvent them. Human rights are greatly damaged by the arms industry.

The review reminds us of the war in Nigeria and it is probable that younger readers may not be aware of the war there which focused on Biafra. It took place between 1976-70 and was around the desire by the region of Biafra to form its own state. Britain had been the colonial power and was a major arms supplier to the country. The effects were terrible and a blockade led to the death of millions of Biafrans. Between half a million and 2 million Biafrans died in the conflict. It was one of the first wars to be televised and images of the suffering were seen around the world. Apparently, the malnutrition disease Kwashiorkor, was called the ‘Harold Wilson syndrome’ after the then UK prime minister. Images of children with distended bellies, which is a symptom, shocked the world.

A lot has changed over the 50 years: or has it? The fall of the Soviet Union, the rise of China, the ‘global war on terror’ following the attack on the Twin Towers in New York are just some of the key events. Britain, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, has steadily slid down the ranks of arms sellers and now lies approximately seventh. However, taking into account components and military services not counted by SIPRI, the nation is around fourth and on a par with Russia. CAAT do not directly draw attention to the significant role of the City of London which facilitates the movement of money around the world.

Political factors

What has remained constant over the years is the role of the arms industry and its close links to government of all stripes. Arms sales are important for several reasons. Firstly because of the jobs it creates. CAAT for example has a feature on the county of Lancashire in England where BAE Systems is based at two sites in Warton and Samlesbury. The company has developed close links with Lancaster University. Secondly, exports and arms are one of the few areas which show a trade surplus.

The industry has a huge lobbying operation and previous CAAT newsletters have highlighted the revolving door – or open plan office as they are now terming it – through which a large number of senior military personnel, civil servants and some politicians pass through on their way to lucrative directorships or consultancies with the arms companies. This is an invitation to corruption. The arguments over arms supplies to Israel has revealed government ministers reluctant to call a spade a spade. Frightened of upsetting both the industry and the Americans, they continue to allow components for the F-35 despite its use to cause devastation to large parts of Gaza. The industry enjoys too much power and the interests, lives and rights of those who suffer from its wares are barely considered.

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Questionable logic by David Lammy


David Lammy suggests insufficient numbers killed in Gaza to merit calling it genocide

January 2025

As part of a statement to the House of Commons on 28 October 2024, in an answer to a question about claims by some Labour MPs about the alleged policy of genocide, annihilation and extermination of Palestinians in Gaza, the Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “These are legal terms, and they must be determined by international courts. I agree with [Nick Timothy MP] that those terms were largely used when millions of people lost their lives in crises such as Rwanda and the Holocaust of the second world war. The way that people are now using those terms undermines their seriousness [Citation: HC Deb, 28 October 2024, C556].

Genocide is not about numbers killed

Lammy is completely wrong about this. Genocide is not defined by numbers killed. Article II of the Genocide Convention makes clear it is about killing members of a group (a); causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group (b) and deliberately inflicting on to a group conditions calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part (c). Numbers killed is not mentioned. Is Lammy suggesting that if yet more are killed, some kind of threshold will be reached at which point they will deem it genocide?

The minister will be well aware of the many reports concerning actions in Gaza. Organisations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B’Tselem, Médicins sans Frontières, the UN and various agencies of the UN, have all produced copious details about what is happening there.

David Lammy also states that the current situation began on October 7th 2023 with the Hamas raid into Israel killing over 2,000 Israelis and taking over 200 hostages. There is no dispute about the horror of this attack and that Hamas committed a war crime. But the history of this conflict did not begin on October 7th but in 1948.

The debate is about the Israeli response and the killing of large numbers of civilians, women and children and whether this level of killing is proportionate to the threat they face. The death toll is now around 46,000. Despite this evidence ‘the government is unable to conclude whether Israel’s bombing campaign and military operations in general violate International Humanitarian Law‘.

There have been many calls for the UK to end arms sales to Israel. The government has suspended 30 licences but parts for the F-35 continued to be made. It is this aircraft which is used to bomb Gaza. It has allowed many ‘open licences’ which does not identify weaponry and according to CAAT ‘leaves holes you can fly and F-35 through’ (CAAT News, Issue 271).

The government is frightened of upsetting the Americans by stopping F-35 parts being made in the UK. With Donald Trump to become the president in a few days, cancelling the contract is politically impossible for them. It also shows the power of the arms industry to call the shots as far as government policy is concerned. In the same debate Lammy claims that ‘we have one of the most robust export licensing regimes in the world’. Despite this, evidence shows that large amounts of military equipment is finding its way to Israel. His statement to the House is a nonsense.

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Arms sales and the revolving door


New report from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade reveals extent of this activity

November 2024

[ADDED: 16 December] If you want to see ministers squirm in front of a select committee when discussing arms sales to Israel (via USA) watch this YouTube video. Usual claims of ignorance and unable to answer basic questions. Even though the RAF is regularly flying over Gaza, it seems they are unaware of the destruction as the purpose they say is to look for hostages.

The question of arms sales has risen up the political agenda partly because of the question of whether we should continue to sell weapons to Israel. It also cropped up with the decision recently to award a GCVO to the King of Bahrain presented by King Charles. It was also an issue during the war in Yemen where British weapons and personnel were involved in helping Saudi in their ferocious bombing campaign in that country. All these and other examples revealed an industry with considerable political influence. They result in a distortion of our political process and an almost complete disregard for the effects of the arms on people at the end of them. The destruction being carried on in Gaza is facilitated by the continuing sale of F-35 aircraft elements of which are made in the UK. An ‘ethical dimension’ to our policy seems to be a thing of the past. There is little sign that arms sales are restricted to states which ignore human rights or International Humanitarian Law.

Not so much a revolving door as an ‘open plan office’

Campaign Against the Arms Trade CAAT has campaigned on these issues for many years and their current magazine, Issue 270, Autumn 2024 contains a number of articles on the topic of arms. One concerns what has been known as the ‘revolving door’. In an article ‘Government and Arms Industry Joined at the Hip’, they explore the deeply compromising nature of this relationship. They have published a report From Revolving Door to Open Plan Office: the Ever Closer Union Between the UK Government and the Arms Industry. They argue that the arms industry has become so deeply embedded in the government that the boundary has almost disappeared. It is now not so much a revolving door as an ‘open plan office’. 40% of top military staff and civilian personnel leaving the MOD hold positions in the arms and security industries. Transparency International research shows that one company, BAE, had more meetings with ministers and with Prime Ministers than any other company.

Private Eye carried out an extensive survey in 2016. This went into great detail and named names.

Why does it matter?

It matters for three main reasons:

  • Firstly, arms cause great misery for millions of people. The harrowing images on news programmes of property destruction, dead bodies, lines of people on the move or rows of tents housing displaced people are the result of the activities of this trade,
  • The lobbying power is such that government ministers seem to fall into line almost as soon as they assume power. Grand statements by Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy for example are quickly forgotten as the next trade deal is signed. The arms trade seems to wield enormous power and influence over government policy,
  • Thirdly, the ‘open plan office’ means senior staff in the Civil Service and in the MOD and armed services are keeping an eye on prospects as they approach retirement. Lucrative board appointments and ‘consultancy’ contracts await them. Are they going to ask uncomfortable questions or raise difficulties with an arms contract and jeopardise these prospects?

As CAAT put it:

‘When these ‘revolvers’ leave public service for the arms trade, they take with them extensive contacts and privileged access. As current government decision-makers are willing to meet and listen to former Defence Ministers and ex-Generals, particularly if they used to work with them, this increases the arms trade’s already excessive influence over our government’s actions.

‘On top of this, there is the risk that government decision-makers will be reluctant to displease arms companies as this could ruin their chances of landing a lucrative arms industry job in the future. Beyond individual decisions, the traffic from government to the private sector, and vice versa, is part of a process where the public interest becoming conflated with corporate interest, so that it becomes normal to unquestioningly meet, collaborate and decide policy with the arms industry, then take work with it.’

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CAAT News


Summer edition of Campaign Against the Arms Trade news highlights many troubling issues around the this trade

June 2024

UPDATE: 20 June 2024. This post mentions the ‘revolving door’ where senior military personnel, civil servants and politicians go off to lucrative posts in the companies they were supposed to be controlling before retiring. Private Eye has done extensive work on this (see link below) and in the current edition No: 1624, there is an article about the Israeli arms firm Elbit who have recently taken on Sir Mark Poffley, formerly of the MoD. He had senior positions in logistics and hence would have had a lot to do with contracts. MoD have awarded Elbit with contracts worth £57m.

There is supposed to be a 2 year gap between leaving and taking up a role and lobbying previous colleagues. Private Eye questions whether this two years has indeed elapsed since although he is supposed to have left in 2018, documents show he remained as master general of logistics in 2022. ACOBA (see below) say these posts are ‘honorary’ and so do not infringe the two year rule.

Elbit, make the drones which are a feature of the Gaza campaign. Elbit say the drones used over Gaza are not made in Bristol.

The arms trade has a severe impact on human rights in countries around the world. We have already highlighted the fact that the UK government is continuing to issue licences to the Israeli government despite the horrific death toll in Gaza.

A troubling development is the increase in the number of universities engaged in research programmes funded by, or in partnership with, arms companies. CAAT, in conjunction with Demilitarise Education has published a new report Weaponising Universities. The report describes the nature of the research projects and makes a number of recommendations for universities, faculties and students (p56ff). Protests by students have taken place at Bristol, Nottingham, Sheffield, Liverpool. Newcastle and Glasgow as awareness grows of what is happening.

Campaigners blocked access to the Bristol Arms Fair for a time. Among the exhibitors was Elbit, an Israeli arms company, which supplies weapons used in the Gaza conflict. The protest aimed to show that such firms were not welcome in the City.

There are two issues important in the arms industry: one is the lax control on what and to whom weapons are sold and two, the immense support offered by the UK government to the arms companies. The government claims it has robust controls in place yet weapons are sold to Turkey, Israel, Saudi, Qatar and other nations where abuses are taking place. There is a whole government department in place CAAT reports, called the UK Defence & Security Exports which uses public money to support the sale of arms around the world. The department’s title has a certain Orwellian feel to it with the use of ‘defence’ and ‘security’ to describe itself. Who could be opposed to defence or security? Unfortunately, what is sold is far from either of these things and are used to kill, or oppress.

Companies have almost limitless access to ministers and civil servants via extensive lobbying and countless meetings. Then there is the ‘revolving door’ which has been reported on in depth by Private Eye. This is the scandalous and cosy relationship between government and business, including the arms firms, whereby retiring military people, senior civil servants and ministers are offered lucrative positions or consultancies once they retire. It is an invitation for corruption. The Aerospace, Defence & Security Group (note those words again) hold lavish dinners for politicians and industry figureheads. Altogether, a multi-layered system of contacts enabling arms firms to exert considerable influence over politicians and civil servants. If any progress is ever to be made to put a stop to this deeply entrenched system of influence then at the very least, contacts should be reported on and there should be a considerably greater level of transparency. ACOBA, the toothless department which notionally controls the revolving door has to be radically strengthened. Essentially, instead of policing this system, the UK government is a willing participant and appears to have lost all objectivity. And remember, these are companies which sell weapons which kill.

CAAT News has much more on countries such as Saudi, Australia, Russia, China and more. There is also a piece on the Twickenham Arms Fair and is also a report on Barclays who are heavily involved in financing Elbit and BAE Systems with over £4bn in loans and financial services.

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Arms trade news


Campaign Against the Arms Trade’s latest newsletter is disturbing

November 2023

When we see the latest conflict on our screens, we almost do not notice the weaponry being used to cause the death and destruction. Ukraine has for the moment been displaced by the problems in Palestine and Gaza and the advance of the IDF into that territory. Yemen has taken a back seat in recent months and it is true there is currently a truce in place. A key supplier of arms is the UK and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) newsletter, Autumn 2023, sets out some of the data and statistics concerning our role in these conflicts. We highlight two current issues.

In the case of Saudi Arabia, we are a major supplier of weaponry and BAE has 6,300 employees based there. Saudi bombing of civilian targets has caused untold misery among the population of the poorest country in the world. The Saudi prince, Mohammed bin Salman is due to come to the UK to meet the Prime Minister which has caused the relationship between ourselves and the kingdom to be put under the spotlight and has caused outrage among a number of campaigning groups. The UK claims it puts human rights at the centre of its discussions but there is no evidence of this.

Another conflict is in Gaza following the horrific attack on Israeli settlements on 7 October 2023. The UK has ‘consistently sold arms to Israel’ CAAT reports despite the illegal and growing number of settlements on the West Bank. Between 2018 and 2022, we exported £146m in arms via Single Issue Export Licences. However, they report there are a large number of Open General Export Licences which include components for the F35 stealth combat aircraft. This would imply a value of $72m in 2022. As the conflict has progressed and the misery inflicted on the people of Gaza increases, the morality of our continued sale of arms to Israel is called into question.

When we see these conflicts unfold around the world, we should always be aware that, as one of the world’s largest exporters of military equipment, a proportion of the weapons being used were provided by the UK. As bad as that is, it could be mitigated a little if the UK exerted tight control over the issue of licences and how, and upon whom, the weapons are used. Do not forget that it is always women and children who suffer the most in these conflicts not just from immediate injuries from shells or shrapnel, but long term trauma from having witnessed scenes we would not wish on anyone. Modern weapons are capable of considerable destruction that will take many years to rectify when the conflict is over. The evidence seems to be that the desire by our government for exports and the need to create employment, trumps considerations of humanity or human rights.

CAAT has been campaigning against the Defence and Security Equipment International arms fair which takes place each year at the Excel Centre. It is supported by the government with several ministers speaking and civil servants on hand to meet and greet. “Put simply” CAAT comments “DSEI is where war begins”. The countries attending include a roll call of oppressive regimes keen to secure the latest technology. Our support for this fair and the help offered to arms companies to secure deals with oppressive regimes, means we are complicit in the denial of rights and the continuation of conflicts around the world.

Source: CAAT News, Issue 267 Autumn 2023

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Burma


Problems in Burma get overlooked because of events elsewhere in the world

August 2023

Burma crops up from time time in the news and this week (w/c 31 July) the partial release of Aung San Suu Kyi into house arrest briefly made it into news bulletins. These notes are taken mainly from Issue 44 of Burma Campaign News published by the Burma Campaign. The country remains subject to some of the worst treatment of people in the world with multiple examples of human rights infringements. Following a massive defeat of the military in elections in 2020, after half a century of control, they staged a coup the day after the newly elected government was due to take office and arrested Aung San Suu Kyi.

The effects of military control have been atrocious. Nearly 2 million have had to flee their homes. There are around 2000 political prisoners. The treatment of the Rohingya amounts to genocide. The military have been able to retain control because they can still acquire arms mostly from the Russian Federation but also from China, Singapore with smaller amounts from India and Thailand. The total amounts to around $1bn according to a UN report.

The Burma campaign has identified a ‘Dirty List’ of suppliers and have recently added 5 insurers who provide vital insurance cover without which the junta would not be able to acquire aviation fuel. They name the companies as UK P&I; Steamship Mutual; Britannia P&I and North Standard and Shipowners Club. The role of these companies was exposed by Amnesty in a report ‘Deadly Cargo‘. The UK government has so far failed to impose sanctions preventing British companies supplying aviation fuel.

While the situation in Burma is dire, the supply of arms and materiel from western countries is thought to have largely stopped according to the Campaign Against the Arms Trade. A major jewellery company has stopped sourcing rubies from the country. There have been two debates in the House of Commons and one in the House of Lords.

Little can be done to alter the situation especially while China, Russia and Singapore – the major conduit for arms – continue to supply the junta and enable them to stay in power. Singapore claims it has a policy to prohibit the transfer of arms to Myanmar, however, the UN report uncovered $253m of supplies shipped to the military between February 2021 and December 2023.

Cyclone Mocha hit the country in May and the military blocked aid to the Rohingya who were particularly badly hit as part of its genocidal policies towards them. An unknown number of people have died and many have lost homes, livestock and fields have been destroyed.

Attention on the country has often focused on Aung San Suu Kyi who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and was admired in the West for her heroic stand against the generals. Her reputation suffered a precipitate slide during the Rohingya crisis where she seemed unwilling to condemn the military actions and even seemed to support them at the Hague. She was perhaps endowed with qualities which were unreal and her failure to condemn the brutality against a minority population was a truer indication of who she was. The decline in her heroic status is possibly a reason why attention has shifted away from the country and the continuing activities of the military.

An infographic can be accessed here.

Sources: UN, Burma Campaign, HRW, CAAT, Amnesty International, BBC

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