The Arms trade The Arms trade 
What does freedom mean to you? Think about that for a moment, then read these three pieces of information......
| For the children of the orphanage
outside Dili, the scrappy little town which serves as the
capital of occupied east Timor, the jungle is a
nightmare.
"I committed a terrible mistake one morning," said a woman, whom I shall call Maria Jose. "I thought we'd play hide and seek to amuse the children. Amelia, aged five, and I hid from the matron. I told her to keep quiet and not move a muscle. But she thought she was back in the jungle and she started screaming and sobbing. it took me an hour to clam her down again." The horrors of a war of extermination bite deep into the memories of children, especially those who have fled into the forest with their parents to escape the Indonesians. But East Timor is an entire country in shock. After 15 years of occupation by Indonesian troops and deaths of perhaps 200,000 people, one-third of the Timorese population, 60-year-olds are resigned to a life of terror, five-year-olds are petrified. The young, however, are frightened - but defiant. The Observer, 7/4/1991 |
What freedoms do you think Amelia is being denied?
| British Aerospace (BAe) is Britain's
largest arms company. From 1985 to 1991 BAe was Europe's
biggest arms producer. Military equipment accounts for
around 40% of its total production, employing 40,000
people (1992). The company specialises in the manufacture
of missiles and military aircraft such as the Hawk ground
attack craft.
Indonesia is one of BAe's best customers. In recent years BAe sales to Indonesia have included 24 Hawk trainer/fighter aircraft, Rapier missiles and Sea Wolf missile launchers. |
Britain is selling arms to the Indonesian government. Is Britain in any way responsible for what is happening to Amelia?
|
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
11 January 1992 Alan Meale Esq MP Dear Alan, Thank you for your letter of 6th January to Douglas Hurd in which you refer to the concerns of a constituent about defence exports and military training for Indonesia. I am replying as the minister responsible for South east Asia. Our policy is based on respect for the rights of other countries to their own self defence (Article 51 of the UN Charter). Importance is attached to the human rights record of the recipient nation and, if we believe a prospective purchase is likely to be used against civilians, the application (for an export licence) is rejected. You refer specifically to the sale of Hawk aircraft. We have sold Hawks to Indonesia in the past and have seen no evidence that they were ever armed, let alone used against civilians.
Alastair Goodland |
The arms are made by BAe, but the British government has to grant BAe a license to sell (export) these arms. Is the British government in any way responsible for Amelia's situation?
This activity is by P. Bobbett and S. Koorey. It is adpated from Biting the Moral Bullet, ed. Kevin O'Donnell, Hodder & Stoughton
Return to Research Machine's Internet for Learning homepage
This site is under construction. We will update it regularly. GLO is written by Alison Norris from ODEC and Anne Strachan from Manchester DEP. Please send suggestions about the site to Alison.
