Europe, Russia and US sold arms to despots during "Arab Spring"

Russia, the United States and European countries ignored fears over human rights abuses and sold large numbers of weapons to governments in the Middle East and North Africa in recent years, Amnesty International said in a report on Wednesday.

Rights group Amnesty said the failings showed the need for a meaningful international arms trade treaty to choke off the supply of weapons to countries seen at risk of turning them on their own people.

"The Arab Spring is the reaction of people whose rights have been stripped away by the coercive force of governments and their security forces using the tools supplied from Europe, north America, Russia and elsewhere," said Brian Wood, manager of arms control at Amnesty International.

"It's money and short-sightedness ahead of the rule of law and respect for human rights," he told Reuters.

Amnesty's report examines arms transfers to Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen since 2005. Full story...

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