Human rights organisations criticise Czech arms export

Representatives of a number of human rights organizations working in the Czech Republic have said that the country continues to export arms to countries with bad human rights record. As examples they stated Columbia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Georgia. The deputy Foreign Minister Jan Winkler said that the possibility of potential misuse of arms is always considered before granting an export licence to a company. According to Mr Winkler intelligence services are involved in the screening of both the export companies and the buyers.