Member States skirting code of conduct on weapon sales

By David Cronin

Date: 18/12/03

FIVE years after the Union adopted a code of conduct on responsible arms exports, member states are still supplying significant weaponry to countries engaged in conflict.

The Council of Ministers' annual report on the code provides data on weapons and military hardware sold by each EU country during 2002.

This indicates that several member states are continuing to send military supplies to countries where they may contribute to internal strife.

Examples include:

• Algeria: licences worth more than €46 million were issued by member states for arms exports to the north African country, in which Amnesty International says 100 people are killed each month by security forces, armed groups and state-sponsored militias. The countries involved in the trade are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the UK
• Colombia: arms exports worth nearly €12m. Countries involved were Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the UK. Human rights groups estimate more than 4,000 were killed for political motives in Colombia last year
• Israel: licences worth almost €225m issued. Exporting countries were Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and the UK
• Indonesia: arms trade worth more than €103m. Exporting countries were Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. British-manufactured Hawk jets were filmed being used by the Indonesian military during an offensive launched in Aceh province in May this year.

Conflict resolution group Saferworld believes the criteria under which arms exports are permitted by the non-binding 1998 code of conduct need to be strengthened to reduce the risk of weapons from the EU being used for repressive means.

"We would argue that the number of exports to some pretty questionable recipients is extremely concerning," said Saferworld's spokesman on arms exports control, Roy Isbister.

"The idea behind the code is to make the controls more responsible. But there are serious questions about how effective the EU code has been in this regard."

In June, the Council of Ministers endorsed a new policy on arms brokering. This requires that brokers should obtain a licence from the countries where they seek to sell arms and, where national laws allow, in the EU countries in which they are based.

Member states are then due to monitor whether or not brokering activities respect the code.

However, a BBC documentary, Correspondent: Gun Traffic, screened earlier this month, revealed how easy it is to forge such licences and so-called "end user certificates".

The certificate, stating which country weapons are to be sold to, is legally required for an international arms sale to take place. But, as there is no standardized, internationally-recognized certificate, it is difficult for authorities to tell whether a document is genuine or not, and so prevent an illegal deal.

The programme-makers traced how AK47 machine guns, sourced from a factory in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, ended up in the hands of child soldiers in Liberia.

Serbia was the hub for east European arms smugglers and military experts who supplied Saddam Hussein with equipment before he was toppled.

Concerns have also been raised recently over the thriving Czech arms trade - both legal and illegal - in the annual international small arms survey and an investigation by the defence publication Jane's Intelligence Digest.

The 100 or so registered Czech small arms producers have done a roaring trade in recent years, with sales jumping from €40 million in 2000 to €60m in 2002. Observers say it is impossible to estimate the size of the illegal small-arms market.

Council officials say the competent authorities in member states should "seriously consider" compiling registers of arms brokers.

Last week, a coalition of human rights and anti-poverty groups, including Amnesty and Oxfam, called for an international arms trade treaty.

The campaigners advocate tough measures to tackle the proliferation of conventional weapons, which they blame for the deaths of half-a-million people throughout the world each year.