Arms embargo against Egypt is long overdue – Germany must rethink policy on arms exports

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) stated that the German Federal Government's plans to suspend arms exports to Egypt are "long overdue". On Monday, the STP's expert on questions regarding Africa, Ulrich Delius, said: "For years, Germany approved of selling machine guns, assault rifles, armored vehicles and communication equipment – although Egypt's security forces are known for notorious human rights violations. It is shame that the Egyptian security forces had to massacre hundreds of people before the arms exports are stopped."

But Egypt is also an example for several other countries in the Middle East that obtain military equipment from Germany. "German weapons could soon also be used for killings in Qatar or Saudi Arabia," warned Delius. "Germany must urgently rethink its policy on arms exports to avoid another catastrophe like in Egypt." There have been enough warnings about a military buildup in Egypt in the past. The STP and other human rights organizations had already criticized arms exports during the reign of dictator Hosni Mubarak, because minorities and dissidents were oppressed and basic human rights were denied. The human rights violations continued even after the fall of the dictator – but Germany chose not to stop supplying arms and military technology.

In recent years, Germany has even increased its arms exports to Egypt. In 2008, the federal government authorized sales worth 33.59 million Euros – and the year after, the exports increased to 77.54 million Euros. In 2011, arms exports worth 74.2 Million Euros were authorized. Germany exported mainly speedboats, parts for submarines, communications equipment and parts for armored personnel carriers, which are also used against demonstrations. Since 2000, Germany delivered 3,612 machine guns, 614 automatic rifles, 28,503 spare parts for small arms and almost 500,000 rounds of ammunition to Egypt. Most of the rapid-fire guns were of the G36 type by Heckler & Koch, who also sold MP5 submachine guns to Egypt.