NGOs accuse arms makers of evading bans

Weapons manufacturers are being accused of exploiting loopholes in regulations in order to sell their products to countries under arms embargoes or accused of human rights abuses.

The accusations are included in a report from Oxfam, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms.

The campaign groups say American, European and Canadian arms manufacturers are assembling some weapons in countries with lax controls on where they end up.

They say the practice allows the companies to circumvent bans on arms sales to countries accused of human rights violations.

The report says arms manufacturers also avoid embargoes by selling weapons in the form of components to countries where their sale as complete assembled weapons would be banned.

The report by the three agencies says the globalisation of the arms industry requires global controls.

- BBC