Campaigners call for UK to halt arms exports to Bahrain as Prince Andrew joins sales drive

Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has called for Prince Andrew to speak out against the government repression taking place in Bahrain and has renewed calls for the UK government to cease all arms exports to the oppressive Bahraini regime.

The call comes as Prince Andrew heads to Bahrain to join the government in celebrating GREAT British Week at the Bahrain International Circuit. GREAT British Week will run from 15-22 January in conjunction with the third Bahrain International Air Show. Organisers say that the events are to mark the 200 years of friendship between the UK and Bahrain and will be attended by a 250 strong British trade delegation; including Prince Andrew, representatives from the UK government and a number of major arms companies, including Rolls-Royce (Aero) and BAE Systems, who will be promoting sales of its Typhoon fighter jets.

The event follows the suspension of national reconciliation talks in Bahrain and the Stop The Shipment campaign, which succeeded in stopping a huge shipment of South Korean tear gas canisters to Bahrain. Following a high profile, multimedia campaign DAPA, South Korea’s arms export licensing agency, announced that due to political instability and pressure from international rights groups they will cease all tear gas exports to the Bahraini dictatorship.

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) said:

We are calling on Prince Andrew and the UK government to stop selling arms to Bahrain. By endorsing the Bahraini dictatorship Prince Andrew is giving his implicit support to their oppressive practices.

When our government sells arms it is giving moral and practical support to an illegitimate and authoritarian regime and directly supporting their systematic crackdown on opposition groups. We believe that GREAT British Week is a sham and we shouldn’t allow our international image to be used as a PR tool for the violent and oppressive dictatorship in Bahrain.

Since the Arab Spring began in 2011, the UK government has approved over £30 million worth of arms export licences to Bahrain; including assault rifles, pistols and naval guns. In its recent report the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said: Both the government and the opposition in Bahrain view UK defence sales as a signal of British support for the government.

ENDS

Notes

1. Bahrain has long been a major customer 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.
2. 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 and Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) in 2009, 2011 and 2013.
3. 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.
4. The report of the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC), 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.
5. £30 million worth of arms export licences to Bahrain includes military and dual-use export licences.

About Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT)

Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) in the UK 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. CAAT was awarded a Right Livelihood Award – the Alternative Nobel Prize – for its innovative and effective campaigning against the arms trade.