The British government continues to license millions of pounds in arms to the Sri Lankan regime despite suggestions that they may have been used in war crimes, campaigners claimed yesterday.
New evidence of alleged atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan state in its purge of a Tamil Tiger stronghold in 2009 emerged this week in a Channel 4 documentary.
Both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government have been accused of committing atrocities during the conflict which is estimated to have killed up to 40,000 civilians.
Earlier this year a panel of experts convened by UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon reported that it had found "credible allegations" of war crimes on both sides.
The film, screened on Tuesday night, included footage of apparent extra-judicial killing of prisoners by Sri Lankan government forces, the aftermath of targeted shelling of civilian hospitals and the bodies of female Tamil fighters who appear to have been sexually assaulted.
It also examined alleged atrocities carried out by the LTTE, including the use of human shields and a suicide bombing in a government centre for the displaced.
In response to the film the Foreign Office called on the Sri Lankan government to launch an urgent investigation into the allegations.
But Campaign Against Arms Trade (Caat) said the government must also look to its own possible complicity in the atrocities and has called for an embargo on arms sales to Sri Lanka and an examination of its past record on arms exports.
In particular the group said that arms sales during the period of the 2005-8 "ceasefire" between the government and LTTE must be scrutinised.
During this period Britain approved arms export licences worth a total of £18 million for armaments including armoured cars, machine-gun components and semi-automatic pistols.
Britain was accused of licensing arms sales worth £700,000 in 2009 and around £1m in 2010.
The cross-party committee on arms export controls said that it could not guarantee that British-licensed armaments were not used during the Sri Lankan government attempt to eradicate the LTTE.
The committee heavily criticised the arms exports and said Britain should review its policy on arms sales to Sri Lanka.
Caat spokeswoman Kaye Stearman said: "David Cameron and the UK government are calling on the Sri Lankan government to investigate the atrocities but we also need a proper investigation of the UK government's own complicity in selling arms to Sri Lanka, despite knowing how they were likely to be used.
"UK arms sales confer support and legitimacy on the Sri Lankan government, just as they do to Middle East governments who use UK arms against their own people."
Thursday 16 June 2011
