16.07.2007
European Greens: EU–Burma
Arms Embargo must not be broken!
Responding to a new report which claims that European
Union and US companies are involved in the production of military helicopters
likely to be sold to the regime in Burma (also known as Myanmar), the
spokespersons of the European Green Party today called on the EU to act
urgently to ensure that its arms embargo against Burma is not broken, either
directly or indirectly.
Nine human rights organisations, including Amnesty
International, Saferworld and Campaign against Arms Trade (UK), commissioned
the report entitled “Indian helicopters for Myanmar
(Burma)
making a mockery of the EU arms embargo.”
EGP Co-spokesperson Ulrike
Lunacek said: “This report argues that the
proposed deal in which India
will supply Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) to the Burmese regime severely
undermines an embargo on supplying arms to Burma. The European Union imposed
an arms embargo on Burma
in 1988 and this embargo was renewed as recently as 2006. However, according to
this new report, companies from Belgium,
France, Germany, Italy,
Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, have been involved
in the manufacture of the AHL helicopters which were supplied to the Indian
army in conjunction with the Indian conglomerate Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
If, as appears highly likely, the Indian government supplies some of these
helicopters to Burma,
then the EU’s arms embargo will have been shown to be so weak that it
will no longer be credible. Indeed, as the report says, such a sale would “make
a mockery of the EU arms embargo.”
EGP Co-spokesperson Philippe
Lamberts continued: “The EU embargo
explicitly states that no military equipment should be supplied, either
directly or indirectly, for use in Burma. The EU has a responsibility
to pay much greater attention than it seems to have done in this case to the
end–use agreements and re-export of components from companies in EU
member states. If they do not do so, then those member states will be rightly
accused of indirectly supporting brutal regimes like the one in Burma;
a regime which those countries have condemned for systematic human rights
abuse. We in the EGP will be putting pressure on the EU to ensure that it
tightens up its arms embargo against Myanmar. We also call on the
European companies involved in the manufacture of the AHL helicopters to
respond in an open and transparent manner to requests from human rights
organisations for clarification in this matter, and to tighten up their own
procedures so that third-party sales of arms to oppressive regimes like that of
Burma can be avoided.”
Graham Burgess
Communications Officer
European Green Party
email:graham.burgess@europeangreens.org
Tel no:+32 2 626 0724
Mobile no:+32 477 902 023