Times: Bulgaria Sold Weapons to Sri Lanka Government

The approval of the sales still raises the question of whether weapons from the EU were used in the last five months of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war, during which UN officials estimate that 20 000 civilians were killed. Photo by BGNES

Britain, Bulgaria and other EU countries sold military equipment worth millions of GBP to the Sri Lankan government in the last three years of civil war against the Tamil Tigers.

A research held by The Times reporters that some EU countries participated in weapon deals with the Sri Lankan government.

After the research, it appeared that Britain approved commercial sales of more than GBP 13,6 M of equipment including armoured vehicles, machinegun components, and semiautomatic pistols.

All the data is according to the official records.

Slovakia provided 10 000 rockets worth GBP 1,1 M, while Bulgaria approved sales of guns and ammunition worth GBP 1,75 M, according to EU documents and officials.

It is impossible to verify whether all the approved sales were delivered as the governments involved do not publish those details, The Times said.

Only Slovakia has confirmed delivery of the rockets.

The approval of the sales still raises the question of whether weapons from the EU were used in the last five months of Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war, during which UN officials estimate that 20 000 civilians were killed.

"I think we need answers about what these were used for", Mike Gapes, a Labour MP who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, and a member of the Committee on Arms Export Controls, said.

The sales were cleared despite the 1998 EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, which restricts transfers to countries facing internal conflicts, or with poor human rights records, and a history of violating international law.

They were approved while the EU called for peace talks in Sri Lanka, saying that it did not support a military solution, and expressing concerns about human rights abuses after the collapse of a 2002 ceasefire.

The US also sold Sri Lanka millions of pounds of military equipment in 2006-07 but suspended all military aid and sales early in 2008 because of concerns about alleged rights abuses.

 

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