UK Training Soldiers From Countries on Foreign Office's Human Rights Abusers List, Reports Suggest

LONDON (Sputnik) – The UK armed forces are providing military training to at least 17 of the 30 countries the UK government has put on a watch list for alleged human rights violations, the newsparer The Independent reported.

According to a report by the paper published on Wednesday, the countries whose soldiers have been trained by the UK military are: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Maldives, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe. The alleged training is said to have taken place from 2018 to 2020.

"Other countries with poor human rights records not on the UK's watch list were also given training, including Oman, Qatar, Turkey, the UAE, and the Philippines", it added.

British soldiers patrol a street in the southern city of Basra, 11 December 2005.

© AFP 2023 / Essam Al-Sudani

The news outlet said the information was revealed in response to a written parliamentary question filed by lawmaker Sam Tarry, from the Labour Party, adding that the Ministry of Defence said any training being provided by the UK armed forces to other countries is kept under review.

The paper also cited Campaign Against Arms Trade activist Andrew Smith, who accused the UK government of hypocrisy and asked for a full review of the military forces the United Kingdom has been training.