THE boss of a major UK charity has criticised the Scottish Government’s “inconsistent” approach to its relationship with Israel.
Sacha Deshmukh, the chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said there were “major questions” surrounding national economic development agency Scottish Enterprise’s continued financial support of arms companies.
“There are some major questions about the effectiveness of the approach to human rights auditing and scrutiny being taken by Scottish Enterprise,” he said.
“Scottish Enterprise does support Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Raytheon and Thales in Scotland.
“There are questions about parts being produced in Scotland that are going into the supply chain of arms where there’s extremely strong evidence that they’re being used for crimes against international humanitarian law.
“We’ve not heard a thing from Scottish Enterprise. That’s utterly inconsistent with the rhetoric coming from the Scottish Government.”
BAE Systems produces weapons components used in the F35 combat aircraft and the MK 38 Mod 2 machine gun system, which are sold to Israel.
Deshmukh added that while the charity recognised that the power to end arms sales to Israel was not devolved, the way in which the Scottish Government was treating Israel differed from how it treated Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
He said: “While we recognise that the Scottish Government’s power to enforce commercial relationships with other countries is limited, if you look at what the Scottish Government said in relation to Russia in 2022, not only was it stronger but it categorically encouraged Scottish businesses to look deeply and closely at their own supply chains and their commercial relationships with Russia.
“The key point here is consistency. We do not have a different point of view about any country. We just look at how they measure up in terms of human rights obligations.
A spokesperson for Scottish Enterprise said: “We have repeatedly stated our position that Scottish Enterprise does not provide support for the development of munitions or weaponry.
"Our support has included product development for diversification into civilian markets, training support for sustainable and modern shipbuilding on the Clyde, and job creation including graduate roles and apprenticeships.
“Our human rights due diligence checks are fully aligned to Scottish Government guidance, including the use of independent and dynamic evidence gathered by third party organisations and authoritative sources like the Norge Investment Bank Excluded Companies Report and the World Bank.
"Scottish Enterprise is a ‘gap’ funder, providing a minority contribution, with companies having to invest significantly higher amounts in Scotland and their Scottish workforce to unlock our funds.”
Speaking to The National ahead of a meeting with First Minister John Swinney on Tuesday, Deshmukh also raised concerns about the decision not to include the proposed Human Rights Bill in the Programme for Government.
“Part of the reason why I was so keen to meet the First Minister is that I’ve got a big concern that Scotland is in danger of moving from the fast lane to the slow lane on human rights,” he said.
“I’m not sure whether that is an intentional choice or it’s the result of a series of different choices. But it’s definitely a concern at the moment and obviously one that I think would be really bad.”
The proposed bill seeks to incorporate four international human rights treaties into Scots law, in a similar manner to which the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was incorporated earlier this year.
The treaties include:
- the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
- the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)
- the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
The bill also proposes enshrining the right to a healthy environment into law.
However, campaigners expressed disappointment when bill was not mentioned in the Programme for Government.
Deshmukh added that the incorporation of the these rights could increase trust in politics, with citizens better able to hold the Scottish Government to account.
“Whether you’re talking about Scotland, the UK or at an international level, we have a massive trust deficit in politics at the moment,” said Deshmukh.
“We had a new UK Government elected only a few months ago and already people are questioning whether there was a really shallow level of trust.
“Because you would see governments saying is that we’re going to be policed to ensure that we are genuinely delivering in these areas in ways that you as citizens have the right to enforce those rights.
“Maybe that’s why politicians over the decades have looked at this and then shied away from it.”
He added: “Amnesty International is by statute a non-party political organization. We have no opinion on who will or won’t win an election in Scotland in 2026.
“But it’s just a fact that nobody knows who will win that election. It’s also a fact that any government should be thinking not just about what it can do in the moment, but whether it can make systemic change.
“Potentially, what it can do to bring in systemic change over the lifespan of some of the people in power at the moment.
“That’s the tragedy of the loss of the bill. It’s not quite lost yet but it’s gone into limbo.
“It could be one of those things where we see Scotland cement its lead on human rights.
“Or we could see the Government turn around from those positive choices and see a continuation of those patterns of lack of trust and a continuation of things such as failures in public service delivery.”
Responding to the criticism, Somerville said: "Advancing human rights is central to the Scottish Government’s key missions – eradicating child poverty, tackling climate change and building excellent public services.
“We are firmly committed to bringing forward a Human Rights Bill that will embed further international standards into Scots law.
“We are pursuing engagement with the UK Government to strengthen proposals ahead of introduction and to address the challenges arising from the constraints of the devolution settlement, which were highlighted by the Supreme Court judgment on the Bill to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“We will continue to build on Scotland's national interests by remaining a progressive voice in the world on human rights.”
