Canada's Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 8:45 am
Trudeau won’t back off Saudi arms sale despite warning from Amnesty
[ https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/201 ... nesty.html ]
Amnesty says Canadian-made armoured vehicles sold to Saudi Arabia “are likely to be used in situations that would violate human rights.”
By The Canadian Press Thu., April 14, 2016
LONDON, ONT.—Amnesty International is raising red flags about the sale of Canadian-made armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is sticking to the deal, saying a contract is a contract.
Amnesty says it is worried that Canadian armour sold to the Saudis earlier may have been used in ground attacks in Yemen.
Trudeau says the agreement is a matter of principle.
He says the contract signed under the previous government must be honoured by his government.
Canada’s word has to mean something in the international community.
Contracts can’t just be abandoned, he says.
“It’s important that people know that when they sign a deal with Canada, a change of government isn’t going to lead to the contract being ripped up,” Trudeau said Thursday at a news conference in London, Ont.
He also noted that a lot of Canadian jobs are at stake.
He was speaking in the home of General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, which is building the light armoured vehicles that are at issue in the multibillion-dollar deal.
Amnesty said it was disappointed with the sale.
“We have good reason to fear that light armoured vehicles supplied to Saudi security forces are likely to be used in situations that would violate human rights, whether these forces are intervening in neighbouring countries or suppressing demonstrations and unrest within Saudi Arabia,” the agency said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, noting earlier sales of similar armour to the Saudis, said there is no reason to think those vehicles have been misused.
MORE:
[ https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/201 ... nesty.html ]
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Canada and Saudi Arabia
Published in Wadena News - April 18, 2016
To the Editor,
Canadians may or may not be aware that we are involved in Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia is a country as having one of the worst human rights human rights record on the planet. They are now also involved in the civil war between the Sunni and the Shi'a tribes in Yemen. In March, 2015, the Saudi's launched ruinous bombing attacks on Yemen, inflicting devastating effects on its citizens. According to the U.N., 5,700 were killed and 1.5 million Yemenis were displaced. Hospitals and schools were destroyed,about one-third of its citizens were short of food.
There is no apparent reason why Canada should be selling the weapons of war to Saudi Arabia.
In 2013/2014, the Harper government signed a contract to sell $15.5 billion of armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. But we Canadians were not alone in this death dealing folly: the British government authorized $8.3 billion of weapons for the Saudis for fighter jets, machine guns, bomb components ,etc., and another $234 million for precision guided 500 pound bombs. Also, the U.S. approved about $12.5 billion for four Lockheed Martin warships, equipped with weapons, and for training in the use of laser-guided bombs.
Amnesty International has called for the suspension of these sales of weapons as it violates international law.
There can be no doubt that only the manufacturers of these weapons of war profit from these sales; that these transactions benefit a rogue nation like Saudi Arabia is the responsibility of the politically-elected officials in Canada, Britain and the U.S.A.
Selling weapons to Saudi Arabia is most deplorable and worrisome for those of us who would like to believe that Canada is a nation of peacemakers and peacekeepers.
Leo Kurtenbach
Saskatoon, SK
Phone: 306-652-5129
[ https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/201 ... nesty.html ]
Amnesty says Canadian-made armoured vehicles sold to Saudi Arabia “are likely to be used in situations that would violate human rights.”
By The Canadian Press Thu., April 14, 2016
LONDON, ONT.—Amnesty International is raising red flags about the sale of Canadian-made armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is sticking to the deal, saying a contract is a contract.
Amnesty says it is worried that Canadian armour sold to the Saudis earlier may have been used in ground attacks in Yemen.
Trudeau says the agreement is a matter of principle.
He says the contract signed under the previous government must be honoured by his government.
Canada’s word has to mean something in the international community.
Contracts can’t just be abandoned, he says.
“It’s important that people know that when they sign a deal with Canada, a change of government isn’t going to lead to the contract being ripped up,” Trudeau said Thursday at a news conference in London, Ont.
He also noted that a lot of Canadian jobs are at stake.
He was speaking in the home of General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, which is building the light armoured vehicles that are at issue in the multibillion-dollar deal.
Amnesty said it was disappointed with the sale.
“We have good reason to fear that light armoured vehicles supplied to Saudi security forces are likely to be used in situations that would violate human rights, whether these forces are intervening in neighbouring countries or suppressing demonstrations and unrest within Saudi Arabia,” the agency said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, noting earlier sales of similar armour to the Saudis, said there is no reason to think those vehicles have been misused.
MORE:
[ https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/201 ... nesty.html ]
= = = =
Canada and Saudi Arabia
Published in Wadena News - April 18, 2016
To the Editor,
Canadians may or may not be aware that we are involved in Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia is a country as having one of the worst human rights human rights record on the planet. They are now also involved in the civil war between the Sunni and the Shi'a tribes in Yemen. In March, 2015, the Saudi's launched ruinous bombing attacks on Yemen, inflicting devastating effects on its citizens. According to the U.N., 5,700 were killed and 1.5 million Yemenis were displaced. Hospitals and schools were destroyed,about one-third of its citizens were short of food.
There is no apparent reason why Canada should be selling the weapons of war to Saudi Arabia.
In 2013/2014, the Harper government signed a contract to sell $15.5 billion of armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. But we Canadians were not alone in this death dealing folly: the British government authorized $8.3 billion of weapons for the Saudis for fighter jets, machine guns, bomb components ,etc., and another $234 million for precision guided 500 pound bombs. Also, the U.S. approved about $12.5 billion for four Lockheed Martin warships, equipped with weapons, and for training in the use of laser-guided bombs.
Amnesty International has called for the suspension of these sales of weapons as it violates international law.
There can be no doubt that only the manufacturers of these weapons of war profit from these sales; that these transactions benefit a rogue nation like Saudi Arabia is the responsibility of the politically-elected officials in Canada, Britain and the U.S.A.
Selling weapons to Saudi Arabia is most deplorable and worrisome for those of us who would like to believe that Canada is a nation of peacemakers and peacekeepers.
Leo Kurtenbach
Saskatoon, SK
Phone: 306-652-5129