Amnesty slams "dangerously ineffective" EU arms export rules
European Union rules on arms exports by member states are "dangerously ineffective" and need to be toughened up immediately, rights group Amnesty International said in a report released Friday. Armaments, security equipment and services originating in the EU are contributing to "grave human rights abuses", the London-based group said in a study entitled "Undermining Global Security: the European Union's arms exports". The bloc's arms sales are huge, with its the major exporters -- Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden -- accounting for a third of all weapons deals worldwide. The 1998 EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports has "serious flaws" and needs to be reformed to stop armaments getting through to repressive regimes, Amnesty said. Among problems identified were the involvement of an Italian joint venture company to make vehicles used as mobile execution chambers in China and the use of British components in Chinese military aero engines, despite the EU's arms embargo against Beijing. Surplus weapons from new members the Czech Republic and Poland were also supplied to governments with a history of diverting weapons to third countries, such as Yemen, the report charged. |