I August 2012
LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS
I9
Arab Spring demands change in UK arms policy: report Passion Islam
Britain must exercise more caution in granting licenses for the export of arms to authoritarian regimes such as Bahrain in light of the Arab Spring uprisings, a parliamentary report has urged. A Commons select committee review of export controls also revealed that Britain’s Foreign Office (FCO) is concerned about the sale of equipment to Argentina amid tensions over the Falkland Islands, the Guardian reported.
Select committee chairman John Stanley said the government needed to make “significantly more cautious judgments on the export of arms.” “Bahrain is self-evidently a very sensitive country, given the very serious human rights violations that took place there,” said Stanley. “There have been very serious human rights violations involving doctors and nurses.” Around 100 licenses were granted last year for sales to Bahrain
for equipment including rifles, body armor, shotguns, pistols and small arms ammunition. Under British rules, licenses should not be granted if there is a strong chance the arms will be used to provoke conflict or as instruments of internal repression. The chairman said FCO unease about the sale of equipment to Argentina mirrored anxiety within the government triggered by “previous Falklands experience, where British ships were tragically sunk and many people lost their lives.” Alistair Burt, the minister for counter-proliferation, said Britain had behaved responsibly during the Middle East uprisings. “The UK has a rigorous export licensing procedure,” he said, according to the Guardian. “We look at each application on a case-by-case basis. It is wrong to allege that in the runup to the Arab spring UK export controls were lax. “When the licenses in question were issued, they were properly assessed in the light of the prevailing circumstances. Once the circumstances changed, the risk was reassessed and licenses were revoked,” he stressed.
Speaking up for Pakistan: video debate launches The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has launched a public debate on the future direction of the UK and Pakistan relationship and how British Pakistanis can help to bring the two countries closer together. Prominent members of the British Pakistani community appear in “Speaking up for Pakistan: voices from the UK” the first of several videos to be hosted on the FCO website. Over the next two months, contributors including entrepreneur Asif Rangoonwala, writer Max Malik, Amina Salahuddin from Friends
of the Citizenship Foundation and journalist Mobeen Azhar debate their views on everything from identity to the war on terror. UK residents are invited to join in the debate and submit their own video responding to the issues discussed. Speaking about the launch, Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said: “I’m delighted that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is hosting this debate as we are committed to speaking up for Pakistan. Over one million people of Pakistani origin live in the UK and there are many more with connections to Pakistan. Many
of those people are passionate about Pakistan’s future and this debate offers us the opportunity to listen to them and learn from their experiences.” The person or people who produce the best video win the chance to present their ideas to the judging panel drawn from organisations who have the ability to help them turn their ideas into action. Full details how to submit a video are available here: http://tinyurl.com/cs3sk5h. Videos must be submitted by Sunday 16 September.
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