German officials investigating unlawful sale of weapons to Colombia police
German officials investigating unlawful sale of weapons to Colombia police
Jul 21, 2014 posted by Nicolas Bedoya
A local Prosecutor General’s Office in north Germany is investigating gun shipments to Colombia that violated laws banning the sale of weapons to states with active armed conflicts or poor human rights records, according to German media.
Germany’s Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) has suspended all pending requests for export licenses by German arms manufacturer Sig Sauer, following reports that thousands of handguns made by the company found their way into the hands of Colombia’s National Police force.
Recently, it was revealed that as many as 65,000 Sauer pistols were being put to use by Colombian police, despite German sanctions that would prohibit the sale of arms to the National Police, due to the institution’s troubling human rights legacy and the country’s ongoing armed conflict.
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If US companies or the State Department did in fact allow the export of German weapons to Colombia, it would have been in direct violation of commitments with Sig Sauer and the German government.
http://colombiareports.co/german-prosecutor-generals-office-investigate-weapons-hands-colombias-police/
