LONDON: Western governments are flouting their own rules and contributing to grave human rights abuses by selling arms and weapons systems to crisis-torn Nepal, rights watchdog Amnesty International said on Wednesday. It accused Britain, India and the United States of supplying thousands of assault rifles to the poor Himalayan kingdom which is facing a Maoist insurgency and said Belgium was selling machineguns and South Africa military communications equipment.
“With the conflict poised to escalate, any further military assistance would be highly irresponsible,” Amnesty said, appealing for a ban on arms sales to the mountainous nation.
“Arms should not be exported as long as there is a clear risk that they might be used to commit serious human rights abuse,” said Amnesty’s Asia-Pacific programme director Purna Sen.
At least 12,000 people have been killed in the nine-year Maoist revolt that has led to turmoil in the Hindu kingdom sandwiched between China and India.
King Gyanendra sacked the government and took power himself in February accusing politicians of having failed to stem the rebellion. But to date he too has failed to curb the violence.
He also imposed a rigid clampdown on press coverage of the conflict, and on Monday some 50 journalists protesting the press curbs were detained in Kathmandu and three wounded as police broke up their rally.
Amnesty said India had sent Nepal 25,000 rifles which had been used in the killing of 19 Maoist rebels in 2003 and also Lancer helicopter gunships made under licence from France’s Eurocopter used to attack village meetings called by the rebels.
Amnesty said the United States has supplied Nepal with 20,000 M16 assault rifles and $29 million in military funding since 2001.
It accused UK of sending several shipments of small arms and nearly 7,000 assault rifles in breach of the 1998 European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, as well as supplying Short Take Off and Landing aircraft without verifying their end usage.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence denied it had broken any rules.
“The Department of Trade and Industry will not issue a licence if to do so would be contrary to international commitments or where there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression,” a spokesman said.
London-based Amnesty also accused Britain, India and the United States of training Nepalese security forces without vetting them for suspected human rights abuses.
Amnesty called on the Nepalese authorities to end arbitrary arrests, clarify the status of all people who had “disappeared”, relax rigid security laws and fully investigate all allegations of human rights violations.—AFP
