Protest and repression in Bahrain: UK trading silence for arms sales

The UK government will continue to back the repressive regime in Bahrain through political support and continued arms sales, including a new arms deal for BAE Eurofighter Typhoons.

That’s the message which came from Downing Street, just days before a planned Independence Day protest on 14 August by democracy activists inside and outside Bahrain.

On Monday 7 August, Bahrain’s autocratic ruler King Hamad met with Prime Minister David Cameron in Downing Street. He expressed his thanks for the UK’s supportive stances towards Bahrain and indicated his eagerness to buy a fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon jets. In turn, David Cameron pledged continued support for ongoing political reform in Bahrain while simultaneously committing to strengthen trade and investment between the two countries. On the same day, the king issued new decrees banning protests.

In a report issued on 17 July the parliamentary Committees on Arms Export Controls was deeply critical of the UK government’s arms sales to Bahrain and added Bahrain to their list of 27 countries of concern for their record of human rights abuse. It reiterated its belief that there is an inherent conflict between strongly promoting arms exports to authoritarian regimes whilst strongly criticising their lack of human rights at the same time and asked the Government to acknowledge the contradiction.

Sarah Waldron of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) said:

David Cameron should be speaking out on the deteriorating situation in Bahrain under King Hamad. Instead, he spoke last week of ongoing political reform – in the face of an escalating crackdown and even as the King issued new decrees banning protest.

Now we hear King Hamad has been expressing his keenness to buy Typhoons, it’s clear that the UK is trading silence for arms sales: if you buy our warplanes, we’ll ignore your repression.

The government’s promotion of arms sales to Bahrain is lending practical and moral support to an authoritarian regime and directly supporting the escalating crackdown.

We must end the arms sales and ensure Bahrain’s rulers are not invited to the arms fair taking place in London this September.

ENDS

Notes

1. Bahraini opposition movements have called 14 August, which marks Bahrain independence from the UK as a day of mass protest known as Bahrain’s Tamarrod (Rebellion).
2. Bahrain is a long-established market for UK arms exports. In 2012 the UK licensed weaponry worth £4.6 million to Bahrain. The largest category by far was small arms, amounting to £4.2 million. A single licence, approved on 26 October 2012, amounted to £4.1 million, including 400 machine guns. In addition, there were licences totalling over £3.3 million for dual use items, of which over £3.2 million was for telecommunications and information security which could be used to monitor civilians.
3. The new arms deal is the latest in a long line of UK military ties with Bahrain. On 29 April a British arms sales team from United Kingdom Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) visited Bahrain while a few days before, a son of the ruler, who is a senior commander in Bahrain’s Royal Guard, toured Counter Terror Expo in London.
4. UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation(UKTI DSO) is the government’s arms sales unit, based in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
5. UKTI DSO Head Richard Paniguian and British Defence Attache Commodore Christopher Murray met with the Bahrain Minister for Defence Affairs, Lieutenant General Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, in Manama on 29 April to discuss bilateral military cooperation. Over the five years 2008-12, the UK has licensed almost £13 million worth of weapons to Bahrain, including over £4 million worth of small arms, despite its dire human rights record and brutal suppression of protest.
6. On 25 April, Prince and Royal Guard Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, visited Counter Terror Expo 2013 in London. In an official statement he stressed the importance of new technologies to contain the detrimental repercussions of terrorism. In 2012 a human rights group alleged that the prince was personally engaged in beating, flogging and kicking pro-democracy protestors in April 2011.
7. Prior to 2011, the government listed Bahrain as a key market for UK arms exports. UKTI DSO supported the Bahrain International Airshow 2010, where it organised an outdoor event and UK armed forces have been used in support of sales efforts, demonstrating arms to the Royal Bahrain Artillery. Bahrain was invited to attend the Farnborough Airshow in 2010 and 2012 Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) in 2009 and 2011.
8. The UK government announced that it revoked 44 military licences in February and March 2011 to Bahrain, at the beginning of the Arab Spring protests. However, many licences remained in place and by June 2011 military exports had resumed. On 10 October 2012 the UK signed a new defence agreement with Bahrain.
9. The report of the Foreign Affairs Committee, issued on 17 October 2012, noted that Bahrain was not listed as a country of concern by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual Human Rights Report despite its appalling human rights record and suppression of democratic protest and recommended that it be classified as such. The FAC has since been conducting an inquiry into UK relations with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
10. Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) works to end the international arms trade. The arms business has a devastating impact on human rights and society and damages economic development. Large-scale military procurement and arms exports only reinforce a militaristic approach to international problems. In 2012, CAAT was awarded a Right Livelihood Award, the Alternative Nobel Prize for its innovative and effective campaigning against the arms trade.