Arabia: Ottawa concerned about the possible use of canadian material in the repression

Photo AFP

AFP

Saturday, 29 July, 2017 21:04

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Saturday, 29 July, 2017 21:04

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OTTAWA | Canada has expressed its “grave concern” about the possible use by saudi Arabia of light armored vehicles manufactured in canada in law enforcement operations in the east of the country and indicated that it has expressed its “concern” to saudi authorities.

“We take these allegations very seriously (…) and we’re going to do an immediate follow-up”, said Saturday the Prime minister, Justin Trudeau, during a displacement in the centre of the country.

He was interviewed on the publication by the daily newspaper the Globe and Mail reports that light armoured vehicles being sold to saudi Arabia would have been used against civilian shi’a community in a large-scale operation, that would have been victims, in the region of the town of Awamiya, in the eastern part of the country.

The Globe and Mail stated to have been confirmed by experts that the vehicles appearing on the photos and videos of the operation conducted by saudi arabian security forces were “Gurkha RPVs”, made in Canada, by Terradyne Armored Vehicles.

The minister of foreign Affairs asked by chrystia Freeland had expressed a little earlier in his “grave concern”. “If it turns out that canadian exports have been used to commit serious violations of Human rights, the minister will take the necessary measures,” said one of its spokesman, Mr. John Babcock.

“The government is trying to get more information on the ongoing efforts by saudi Arabia to deal with its security issues” and that information “indicating that civilians have lost their lives and that of vehicles made in Canada were used by saudi Arabia in these security operations. Canada will consider any available information to determine the measures to be taken,” said the spokesman in an e-mail message.

“The government has expressed its concern to the Kingdom of saudi Arabia to its operations from internal security to be conducted in a manner consistent with international law surrounding the rights of the person”,-he said.

The contract’s controversial sale of these vehicles in the amount of about 13 billion had been concluded under the previous conservative government.

The liberal government of Mr. Trudeau has had to defend several times this contract in the face of criticism from defenders of Human rights. And the predecessor to Ms. Freeland for foreign Affairs, Stéphane Dion, had said in April 2016 that the government would suspend or révoquerait the export license for this material, if “credible information” indicated the status of its use “misuse”.

The canadian regulations on the sales of equipment to military use, provides for restrictions in the case of violations of Human rights of the citizens of the country of destination of such material, and prohibits their use against civilians.

“We have agreements in which people agree to abide by the canadian laws, the terms of the contract, and canadian values, and it is expected that these contracts are respected,” said Mr. Trudeau, during a brief press conference broadcast by Radio Canada.

A little earlier this week, Canada said he was “concerned about the escalation of violence in the east of saudi Arabia, which resulted in the loss of civilian life and within the security forces”.