Arms and dual use components supplied by companies in Western nations have been found in countries like Myanmar, where weapons are being used by the military regime to commit human rights abuses and atrocities, according to a BBC report.
Defence contractors and companies manufacturing dual use components must be accountable to International humanitarian laws (IHT) to prevent Western arms and technology from being used for internal repression and illegal wars.
Pavocat Ltd, a leading international humanitarian law consultancy has advocated for some time that defence contractors and those companies that supply dual use components which are then used in weapons manufacture, must bear the full force of international human rights law if their equipment is subsequently used to commit human rights abuses or is found to be involved in illegal conflicts.
Dual use technology can be used for both civil and military use. Military applications could include components in GPS and targeting systems, machined parts that could be used in weapons manufacture, and nuclear technology, and chemical and biological tools.
Pavocat seeks to link the sales of arms with the responsibility to provide mandatory IHL training to the State that purchases them. The fact that a State wants arms and dual use components means that there is perfect leverage, requiring the Country to take the training before a sale is agreed.
This has two key consequences:
- The Company can demonstrate that it went the extra mile to provide the training and knowledge on the ethical and legal use of the systems
- It prevents the State from using the defence that they did not know that to use these weapons in a particular way is a direct breach of international law and norms.
James Stuart, Director at Pavocat said, “The only way this is going to stop is if the International Community puts these companies on notice that they too bear liability for the way the weapons, with their components in them, are employed.”
Mr Stuart continued, “That liability could be brought under International Human Rights Law if their equipment is applied in such a way by organisations including law enforcement, private security, or armed forces.”
Arms and Dual Use Components Discovered in Myanmar According to UN Special Advisory Council on Myanmar Report
A recent investigation by the BBC has uncovered evidence that Myanmar’s military is producing arms that are being used against the Myanmar people with the help of components and supplies from over a dozen companies. Since the military coup in 2021 that overthrew the democratically elected government, these weapons have been used to commit numerous atrocities.
The United States, Japan, India and France have all been named, and the United Nations Special Advisory Council on Myanmar Report has noted that a number of members continue to sell arms to the Myanmar regime.
Not only that, but the firms named in the report are providing materials, machinery and training to the regime, which means that weapons manufacture on an industrial scale is now possible in Myanmar.
James Stuart said, “Myanmar is a prime example of companies finding ways around international sanctions to provide the materials and support that the regime needs to produce weapons that are used in continuing atrocities and human rights abuses.”
European Union European Peace Facility
The European Union, through its Peace Facility, is intending to use taxpayers’ money to provide arms to countries that wish to procure them. It should immediately make it a condition of the sale that the weapons come with IHL training or the EU should be prepared to be held to account for the actions of those states and regimes that it arms.
The Peace Facility aims to enhance the EU’s ability to “prevent conflicts, build peace and strengthen international security”
Armed Power without Consequence
Russian behaviour in Ukraine shows that the use of armed power without consequences leads to abuses of the very worst kind. The EU must take this lesson and apply it to the Peace Facility if it is to achieve its aim, or it faces the real possibility of indirectly arming regimes that are already sanctioned or are known to commit human rights abuses.
James Stuart said, “The EU Peace Facility is a prime example of where accountability to International Human Rights Laws throughout the supply chain is needed to ensure that defence contractors, manufacturers of dual use components and other materials play their part in upholding the law and preventing regimes from procuring what they need to continue the repression of their populations through human rights abuses and atrocities.”