Statement by Cesar Jaramillo, Executive Director, Project Ploughshares

Two of the incidents involved Saudi Arabia, the top destination for Canadian arms exports, and one of the worst violators of human rights on the planet. [...] In September, a Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen, mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council, issued a report that confirmed not only the pattern of human-rights abuses by all parties to the conflict, but also the role that Canada and other arms exporters to the warring parties have played to perpetuate the crisis. [...] The case of Canadian weapons being diverted to the conflict in Libya is particularly troublesome, as this also constitutes a breach of the almost decade-old UN arms embargo against that country. [...] As such, the government of Canada is obligated under international law to stem the illicit diversion of weapons systems, which would indisputably apply to the case of Turkey. [...] To satisfy its obligations under international law, the government of Canada should move to fully cease the further export of such weapons systems to Turkey, or run the risk of non-compliance with the international arms control frameworks it has voluntarily acceded to.