Two Pakistani companies have been expelled from the 2011 Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) in London, after it was found that they were promoting the use of cluster munitions.
Cluster bombs have been banned by the UK since the ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions treaty in 2008, which has been signed by over 100 countries.
The DSEI stated that,
"(We) can confirm that the Pakistan Ordnance Factory stand and Pakistan's Defence Export Promotion Organisation pavilion have both been permanently shut down after promotional material was found … containing references to equipment, which after close examination, was found to breach UK government export controls and our own contractual requirements.[The] government fully supports the decision by DSEI to close the stand and the pavilion. We are currently investigating how this breach of our compliance system occurred."
Action was taken after Green Party leader, Caroline Lucas, discovered the companies were distributing brochures on cluster munitions to customers at the fair.
She expressed concern at the fact that these companies were allowed in and said that,
"I was able to find illegal advertising materials on the basis of one short visit to the exhibition with few resources at my disposal.
I’m shocked that the British government seems unable or unwilling to police arms sales happening here on its own soil.”
Cluster munitions explode over a large area, dotting it with either shrapnel or small explosives, which can lay unexploded for years. Their use has been strongly criticised by human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch who called for more countries to implement the treaty.
Anna Macdonald, head of arms control for Oxfam said,
"Earlier this week, the UK ambassador to the Beirut meeting said the fact that countries are still using cluster munitions should enrage us. The UK should also be enraged that the system has failed to prevent foreign companies promoting these deadly weapons in London."
The event in London is the world’s largest arms fair with 1,300 firms from more than 40 countries seeking orders for weapons.
See our earlier post: "Liam Fox: UK "most rigorous" on arms exports" (Sep 2011)
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