General

UK government must end arms sales and political support for Egypt’s General Sisi

04.11.2015
– London, United Kingdom
Campaign Against Arms Trade

UK government must end arms sales and political support for Egypt’s General Sisi

(Image by Campaign Against the Arms Trade)

As Egyptian autocrat General Sisi arrives in London,
Campaign Against Arms Trade has called for the UK government to end arms
sales to his regime and stop the political support that bolsters it.


Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said: The Sisi
government has an appalling human rights record. It has locked up
journalists, tortured opponents and clamped down on all dissent. The UK
should be calling out for change, not rolling out the red carpet and
arming his regime.


In August 2013, following the overthrow of the Morsi government, the
Egyptian military, led by Sisi in his capacity as then defence minister,
killed over 1000 activists. In response the UK suspended 49 military
licenses. However, only two months later 24 of these suspensions were
lifted, with only seven being fully revokedand arms sales resuming almost straight away.


Overall the Coalition government oversaw £156 million million of arms sales to Egypt, £85 million of which has come since the coup.

In March 2015 the UK licensed over £40 million worth of components for military combat vehicles. These were for counter insurgency operations in Sinai.
Around the same time, a Egyptian military delegation attended the UK’s
Security and Policing arms fair where an FoI reveals they met with
representatives from UKTI DSO, the civil service body responsible for
promoting arms exports.


Andrew continued: The uprisings of 2011 were fueled by a
desire for human rights and democracy, a desire that has not gone away,
but that is being suppressed by a cruel, authoritarian regime. If the
government cares about human rights and democracy then it must end arms
sales to Egypt and put a stop to the political support that bolsters the
regime.