cuchulainn
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from the Guardian
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,946170,00.html
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,946170,00.html
Amnesty attacks 'double standards' in UK gun law
Richard Norton-Taylor
Wednesday April 30, 2003
The Guardian
Loopholes in the government's proposed export controls will allow British gunrunners to continue supplying weapons to the worst conflict zones, where they are used to repress and massacre, Amnesty International and Oxfam say today.
They accuse ministers of double standards by trying to get rid of guns on British streets while allowing dealers to export them. New export controls planned by the government will enable British arms brokers to evade controls, simply by stepping outside the country to conduct their deals, the agencies say.
Regulations being drawn up by the Department of Trade and Industry must apply to British citizens based outside the UK if they are to be effective. Britain already has extra-territorial controls for crimes such as terrorism or corruption, they add, and other countries are extending the principle to arms sales.
They point out that a London broker arranged secret arms flights to Rwandan armed forces in Eastern Zaire during the genocide in Rwanda in mid-1994, in contravention of a UN arms embargo.
British arms brokers must be vetted and placed on an official register, Amnesty and Oxfam say. The end-use of exports must also be monitored much more strictly. False documentation was not uncommon; one exporter of handgun silencers intended for Colonel Gadafy's personal guard described his goods as "sound modifiers for the Libyan sanitation department".
British manufacturers can also arrange for their products to be produced by a foreign company under licence.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
