Bahrain
If you're really serious about pushing through these values, of human rights and democracy and respecting citizens, you shouldn't be selling arms to a country that uses them against civilians. And I think that's a message that needs to be sent very clearly to the UK government along with the others: stop the arms sales, now.
Maryam Al-Khawaja, Bahrain Center for Human Rights November 2011
News
- 29 April 2013: Head of UK arms sales unit visits Bahrain (Bahrain News Agency)
- 25 April 2013: Royal Guard Commander visits London Counter Terror Expo (Bahrain News Agency) He had previously been accused "personally engaged" in beating, flogging and kicking pro-democracy protestors.
- 19 March 2013: UK arms sales unit official visits Bahrain (Bahrain News Agency)
- 13 March 2013: UK Foreign Office Minister visits Bahrain (FCO)
- 31 October 2012: UK Government statement on Defence Cooperation Agreement (www.parliament.uk)
- 11 October 2012: Bahrain and UK Sign Defence Cooperation Agreement (Bahrain News Agency)
- 16 May 2012: US presses ahead with arms sale despite ongoing violations (Bahrain Watch)
- 30 March 2012: UK accused of 'double standards' over weapons exports to Bahrain (The Independent)
- 15 February 2012: Protest as After a year of repression the UK still sells arms to Bahrain (CAAT blog)
- 14 February 2012: Protest as UK continues to arm Bahrain (CAAT press release)
- March 2011: the use of UK armoured vehicles in Bahrain by Saudi Arabian forces (CAAT press release)
- February 2011: arms sales to Bahrain prior to the arab spring (CAAT press release)
UK arms trade data
See CAAT's export licence browser for a list of arms export licence applications for Bahrain since the start of 2010.
For information on arms promotion to Bahrain and arms licences back to 2004, see the Bahrain country data page.
September 2012: a Freedom of Information response listed companies that had applied for at least one licence to export Military List equipment to Bahrain in 2009/2010. The licences were from the ML1, ML2 and ML3 categories, which cover small arms, artillery, mortars, smoke and gas projectors, and ammunition (see UK Strategic Export Control Lists).
Background Information
- Al Jazeera documentary, Dec 2011 - Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark
- CAAT's October 2002 summary of UK & US arms exports to Bahrain
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