Military Training and Equipment (Hansard, 11 November 1997)

§ Mr. Stinchcombe
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the Kenyan Government meet the criteria established to assess the suitability of overseas security forces to receive military training and military equipment from the United Kingdom. [15200]

§ Dr. Reid
The Kenyan armed forces satisfy the criteria used to determine the suitability of overseas security forces to receive military training from the United Kingdom. Any application for a licence to export defence equipment to Kenya would, as for all countries, be considered on a case-by-case basis and in accordance with the Government's export criteria which were announced by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 28 July 1997,Official Report, column65-66.

§ Mr. Stinchcombe
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the list of those countries qualifying to receive military training and equipment from the United Kingdom is to be reviewed to take account of the Government's ethical foreign policy. [15201]

§ Dr. Reid
The review of the list of countries qualifying to receive military training will take account of the Government's ethical foreign policy. The list relates solely to military assistance. Applications for the export of defence equipment to all countries are considered in accordance with the Government's export criteria, announced by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 28 July 1997,Official Report, columns 65-66.
495W

§ Mr. Stinchcombe
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment is made of potential future human rights violations by overseas Governments applying for military training or equipment from the United Kingdom before such applications are granted. [15199]

§ Dr. Reid
The possibility of the training requested leading to human rights violations is one of the factors taken into account in considering whether such applications should be granted. In the case of conventional arms exports, licence applications are considered taking into account respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the recipient country. An export licence will not be issued if there is a clearly identifiable risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression.