‘Weapons for tyrants’: UK blasted for inviting human rights abusers to arms trade fair

‘Britain’s biggest arms fair starts Tuesday, and will play host to several countries labelled human rights abusers by the UK Foreign Office.
The full list of the 56 countries which received official invitations to the Defence and Security Equipment International Exhibition (DSEI) was released by the Department for International Trade’s Defence and Security Organisation in response to a parliamentary question.
Among them are Bahrain, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia – all named ‘Human Rights Priorities Countries’ in the 2016 Foreign and Commonwealth Report published last July.
Others accused of human rights violations on the guestlist include the Philippines, Indonesia, Qatar, UAE and Turkey.
The arms fair – which is described as the world’s leading defense and security exhibition – takes place at the ExCel Centre, London, from September 12 to 15.
Some 1600 exhibitors including BAE Systems, Thales, Rolls Royce, General Dynamics, Israel Defence, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon will display products at the event.’

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