The British military is training hundreds of officers from regimes with appalling human rights records, figures reveal.
Recruits from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE have received officer training at the elite Sandhurst military school.
All these countries have been criticised for their human rights records with some using the military to suppress opposition and dissent.
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Parliamentary figures released to the Lib Dems show that since 2006, Sandhurst has offered taxpayer-subsidised training to 843 officers from other countries.
These include 66 recruits from Bahrain which is accused of engaging in systematic torture, extra-judicial killing and enforced disappearances.
Read more: Britain’s sellout to Saudi Arabia is shameful
Saudi has sent 22 to Sandhurst. The country is ranked as one of the 12 worst in the world for human rights abuses and has executed 47 people already this year.
Its military are involved in the civil war in Yemen where thousands of innocent civilians have been killed by the Saudi air force.
The UAE has sent 82 officers at the Sandhurst military academy. Amnesty International says the country is accused of torture and has illegally detained scores of people, including foreign nationals.
And more than 100 officers from Oman and Qatar have been trained by the British military.
In Oman the military and security services are used to clamp down on dissent, while the Qatari government is accused of silencing opponents and allowing the abuse of migrant workers.
Although the countries contribute towards the cost of the training, the Ministry of Defence admits they are also supported through UK funding.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron MP said: “These Sandhurst sheikhs are sitting in our military academics, learning from our best and then taking these things back to regimes that repress their population and trample all over human rights.
“People will look at this and think why are we selling weapons to Saudi, training Bahrainis and then sitting there while they oppress their population.
“Shared military training with our allies is a fantastic resource , but it is time to stand up for the values we talk about so much – democracy and human rights. British forces provide some of the best military training in
the world, but the privilege to train with our top class troops should be reserved to those foreign armed forces who share our values and our strict adherence to humanitarian law in combat.”
“I believe we need to end to the training of overseas royals from regimes with terrible human rights records at Sandhurst.”
Defence Minister Earl Howe said: “Defence has a long and proud tradition of training overseas military and civilian personnel at its training establishments throughout the UK and this is an essential ingredient of Defence Engagement.
“Training establishments such as Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) offer international students prestigious courses which remain highly prized.
“These courses expose international partners to UK policy, and promote concepts of accountability, human rights and transparency.
“They are important in building skills which enable other countries to deal appropriately with their own internal problems, thereby contributing to regional security.”