Politics: Ministers `putting arms before human rights'

MINISTERS HAVE soft-pedalled on human rights abuses abroad to avoid losing lucrative trade deals including arms sales, a House of Commons committee suggested yesterday.

Members of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee were critical of Britain's attitude to Indonesia, where the UK has struck important arms deals, and China, to which Tony Blair led a trade mission this year. They said that while some departments, such as the Foreign Office, were clearly worried about human rights, those responsible for trade seemed less concerned. Launching their report on foreign policy and human rights, MPs from all parties said Britain's attitude towards the former Suharto regime in Indonesia had been softened by its desire to sell arms.

The committee's chairman, Donald Anderson, criticised a picture in the Government's annual human rights report of Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, shaking hands with President Suharto, who resigned amid mounting unrest in May. "The temptation is to be strong on weak countries and weak on strong countries. Indonesia was clearly a country where there were substantial projects including arms purchases in prospect," he said.

Diane Abbott, the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, described the photograph as "a standing indictment of the Foreign Secretary". She added: "Some of us do discern a difference between what we see as the genuine interest of the Foreign Secretary in human rights and the long- standing interest in arms sales of the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Trade and Industry and even possibly 10 Downing Street." Britain's "constructive engagement" in Indonesia contrasted with its tough stance against the Abacha regime in Nigeria, also now defunct, the committee said.

The report said some progress had been made and committee members added that their conclusions, made 18 months into the new administration, must be tentative. However, there was certainly inconsistency in the way the "ethical" dimension to foreign policy operated. The report criticised the Government for not taking a stronger line against China, saying the Chinese government had claimed a "propaganda victory" after the EU failed to censure it.

A Foreign Office spokesman welcomed the positive aspects of the report: "It does praise his [Robin Cook's] work on the EU arms code, the International Criminal Court and the human rights annual report."