Criticism Mounting against Canada over Arms Deals with Saudi Arabia

Canada is chasing widespread criticism from human rights organizations over its military deals with Saudi Arabia, and that it prefers its commercial interests to human rights.

Rights groups and experts have said Canada is accused of prioritizing arms deals over human rights concerns in its dealings with Saudi Arabia.

Cesar Jaramillo, executive director of the Plowshares Project, a peace research institute of the Canadian Council of Churches, said while Ottawa speaks “loudly and proudly of Canada as a beacon of human and women’s rights,there was a clear disconnect due to continuing arms deals to notorious rights abusers.

“Canada proclaims its commitment to stricter and more transparent arms control regimes at every opportunity, but the gap between rhetoric and reality is too great to ignore,” he said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has been accused of violating the Arms Trade Treaty, an international agreement that seeks to regulate the international arms trade and prevent the misuse of weapons, while selling advanced weapons to Saudi Arabia.

The human rights organizations said that transfers of Canadian arms deals to the kingdom could be used to perpetrate or facilitate violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, particularly in the war on Yemen.

“It has been established through investigations and expert reports that Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia are inconsistent with Canada’s legal obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty,” the report said.

Military deals with Saudi Arabia

“These stark contrasts would be laughable if they were not so harmful to the very goals that Canada claims to champion,the fact that Canada continues to arm this human rights pariah is not evidence that the case for moratoriums on these arms exports is flawed, but Ottawa vehemently refused to listen.” Jaramillo said.

Canadian newspaper revealed that Saudi regime purchased weapons from Canada worth $74 million during the past year 2020.

The federal government agreed to a deal with Canadian trade links to sell nearly $74 million in arms to Saudi Arabia, despite calls for Canada to halt arms deals with the Saudis.

The Canadian newspaper “the globe” said that Ottawa issued a brokerage permit for a Canadian company that sold explosives worth $73.9 million to Saudi Arabia, originating from France.

Source: Websites.