Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria he uses to assess the human rights compliance of foreign military units before they are eligible to receive military aid; and how frequently those assessments are reviewed.

All proposals to gift controlled military equipment and dual-use equipment are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, in the same way as commercial export licence applications and with the same degree of rigour. Assessments are conducted at the time a proposal is submitted and may be reviewed for subsequent proposals.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) manages the assessment process and seeks advice on gifting proposals from advisers in the MOD and the FCDO, with the latter being responsible for assessment of human rights compliance under Criterion Two of the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.