HC Deb 13 February 1995 vol 254 cc484-5W
Mrs. Clywd

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list military equipment that has been refused export licences to Indonesia on the grounds that such equipment might be used for internal repression between 1 January 1991 and 31 December 1993 and between 31 December 1993 and 1 February 1994.

Mr. Ian Taylor

[holding answer 7 February 1995]: It has been the practice of successive Governments not to reveal details of export licences or applications for licences unless the requirements of confidentiality are outweighed by the public interest.

In this instance, I believe that the public interest is served by disclosing the following information:

  • Three applications were made in the first period for licences to export military equipment which were ultimately refused.
  • The goods were night vision goggles, an HF transceiver station together with battery charger, cable and ancillaries, and a thermal imager with laser range finder and teleconverter lens.
  • No applications for licences made during the second period were refused.
  • Recent rejections have been riot guns and CS cartridges for the Indonesian Police and pump action shotguns for the prison service.
  • The potential for the use against the civilian population was one of the factors taken into account during the processing of the applications.