London: Faith groups to join protest against arms fair

This week, between March 8-10 the UK will be hosting Security & Policing 2016, an arms fair with a particular focus on surveillance equipment and weapons that can be used for internal repression. The event will bring some of the world's biggest arms companies together with a number of government, military and police delegations that have been accused of human rights abuses. Among the delegations that have been invited are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Israel, Qatar, Turkey, Algeria and others.

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) said: "The government is always talking about human rights and democracy and telling us how 'rigorous' and 'robust' its arms export criteria is, but nothing could be further from the truth. A large number of the police forces and military delegations in attendance have been accused of torture, arbitrary detention and other terrible human rights abuses.

"The delegations have been invited by UKTI Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO), the civil service trade body that exists to promote arms exports. UKTI DSO will have private meetings with representatives from countries that it wants to promote exports to. At present two thirds of UK military exports go to the Middle East, with the largest buyer being Saudi Arabia."

In 2015 UKTI DSO had meetings with representatives from 39 countries, including UAE, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Nigeria and others.

Andrew continued: "Civil servants and arms dealers will be using Security & Policing as a chance to promote arms sales to human rights abusers and dictatorships like Bahrain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It is yet another reminder that the government is not just an observer in the global arms trade, it is an active participant."

Around 350 arms and security companies are expected to attend, including BAE Systems, Babcock International and Finmeccanica, as well as surveillance companies such as Gamma Group and The Hacking Team.

The UK College of Policing will be in attendance. It has provided specialist training to the Saudi police force, as well as those in Bahrain, China, UAE and Qatar.

CAAT, faith groups and parish J&P groups will be taking part in a protest outside the Home Office from 5pm on Wednesday 9th in opposition to the arms fair.

Read more about CAAT here: www.caat.org.uk/