MONTREAL: Canada warned on Saturday it was reviewing reports that Saudi Arabia is using Canadian armoured vehicles in a crackdown in the Sunni-ruled kingdom’s Shia-majority east.

“We are looking at these claims very seriously ... and have immediately laun­ched a review,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in French, said during a visit in central Canada.

The Globe and Mail reported earlier that light armoured vehicles sold by Canada to Saudi Arabia had been used against Shia civilians in a major operation that left several people in the town of Awamiya in Eastern Province.

Experts told the newspaper that vehicles appearing in photos and videos of the Saudi operations were Gurkha RPVs produced by Terradyne Armored Vehicles near Toronto.

Earlier, a spokesman indicated that Foreign Minister Chrystia Free­land was “deeply concerned about this situation and has asked officials to review it immediately.”

“If it is found that Canadian exports have been used to commit serious violations of human rights, the minister will take action,” added spokesman John Babcock.

Babcock said Ottawa had shared its concerns with Saudi Arabia, demanding that “its internal security operations be conducted in a manner consistent with international human rights law.”

The controversial $13 billion US contract to supply Riyadh with light armoured vehicles was struck by the previous Conservative government.

Trudeau’s Liberal government has had to defend this contract against criticism that it may have violated Canada’s export control rules that bar arms exports to countries with a poor human rights record and prohibit using these weapons against civilians.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2017