Britain has been condemned for continuing to sell weaponry to the Sri Lankan government despite evidence showing that war crimes are committed by the Asian country’s military.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.
In the first nine months of 2011 the latest date for which figures are available, Britain licensed almost £1.5million worth of exports of which over £1.3million were military.
Among the items exported were armoured vehicles, body armour and “decoying countermeasure equipment and components,” coming under the heading of “grenades, bombs, missiles, countermeasures.”
“The Arab Spring has bought world attention to the repression practised by governments against their own people. Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished brings a similar focus on the brutality exercised by the government of Sri Lanka against opposing forces and the thousands of helpless civilians trapped in the warzone”, said Caat spokeswoman Kaye Stearman.
“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.”
Meanwhile, more than one year after the start of Bahrain’s democratic uprising, the repression continues, and so do the UK’s arms sales to the country’s regime.
Gerard Thurai / March 19, 2012
Why is it that people continue to be surprised by this? At the end of the day, it is money and commercial interests that motivates politicians. The crocodile tears that are shed over the massacre of innocents can’t wash away the bloodstains on the cash that gets stashed away by the politicians.
A huge part of the transaction end up as kickbacks to the Rajapakse clan and their cronies. Because all of this is ultimately paid for by borrowing money, the increase in the national debt that will forever condemn the country to the status of a beggar nation.
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Jim Hardy / March 19, 2012
All Politicians deceive their Masses, all corrupt are in league.
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Chandrani / March 19, 2012
With so many manufacturies in the world churning out weapons, do you think just because one conflict came to an end’ the big bucks weapons industry will come to a halt as long as they keep manufacturing and as long as there are politicians?
This is part of the reason why beneficiaries try to keep conflicts on the boil as much as possible.
Of course, the UK can refuse to sell, just as they did while the war was going on, leading Sri Lanka to turn to China and Pakistan at the critical hour. The reason why they sell now has to be called into question as the reasons for Sri Lankan Government’s continued purchase.
Even then, I am quite sure, the UK knew that most of what they refused to sell was available at 3 times the price on the infamous weapons bazaars of the Af-Pak Border where it is said that an AK 47 can go for as low as 12$ per piece on occasion.
Sri Lanka should do well to remember that no amount of stacking up on the weapons could halt the Arab Spring and corrupt leagues don’t last forever.
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