Britain arming repressive regimes in Persian Gulf: Rights group

The British government has been accused of sacrificing human rights in order to access oil from repressive regimes in the Persian Gulf region.

According to Press TV, human rights group War on Want said in a report issued on Thursday that Britain regards Persian Gulf states as vital partners in securing the UK’s energy interests.

The London-based charity’s investigation, headlined “Arming Repression: The new British Imperialism in the Persian Gulf,” found that Britain had been selling harmful crowd control devices, used to suppress dissent during anti-government demonstrations.

"From the sale of vast quantities of tear gas and other crowd control tools, to the training of sniper units used to put down pro-democracy protests, the UK government, working closely with a large number of private companies, are key partners for repressive regimes in the Persian Gulf, with devastating consequences for democracy and human rights,” said Dr. Sam Raphael, the report’s author and Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Westminster.

“Our investigation has uncovered the extent of British complicity in state violence in the Persian Gulf,” he stated.

“In addition to UK support for the illegal Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen – through arms sales, targeting advice and intelligence sharing – our report details for the first time the sheer scope of weapons exports and training provided to regimes in the Persian Gulf in order to police their own populations,” Raphael added.

According to the report, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are among the Persian Gulf countries regarded as priority markets. The two Arab kingdoms have been widely criticized by international advocacy groups for their human rights record.

ME