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FoI request shows York St John University students have included high-ranking soliders from Libya, Sudan and China
A British university has provided training for military officers from oppressive regimes with dubious human rights records, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.
High ranking soldiers and airmen from countries including Libya, Sudan, Uzbekistan and China have attended York St John University in North Yorkshire, the documents show.
They have studied courses in military English and aviation English with the support – and sometimes financial backing – of the Ministry of Defence.
The disclosures will intensify the debate around universities and their relationships with oppressive regimes. Howard Davies resigned as head of the London School of Economics after the university's international reputation was tarnished by its close relationship with Saif Gaddafi, Muammar Gaddafi's eldest son.
Barnaby Pace, a member of Campaign Against The Arms Trade's steering committee who applied for the documents, said the list of regimes allowed to train their servicemen by the university is disturbing.
"The military forces of these regimes are used to keep the ruling elite in power and to repress the population. Universities in a country like the UK which likes to think of itself as a bastion of democracy should not be supporting them through military training," he said.
FOI requests to York St John, a small institution of around 6,000 students in the heart of York, show that around 500 foreign military officers were trained there between 2005 and April this year.
Six Chinese officers, including four colonels, took part in a six-week international strategic studies course. Their attendance was approved by the MoD.
Military co-operation with China has been restricted by an EU arms embargo imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre. Any breach would infuriate the US, which has warned that a relaxation of the EU arms embargo to allow training would help China to work out ways of countering western military doctrine.
Two Sudanese brigadier generals trained on the same military English course at York St John from July to September 2010 with backing from the Ministry of Defence. A UN arms embargo prohibits technical assistance or financial assistance related to military activities for use in Sudan.
In March a panel of United Nations experts recommended widening the scope of the existing arms embargo to include all sales or supply of military equipment to the country's government.
Other officers of note who were trained at the university include a captain and two lieutenants from Uzbekistan who received MoD sponsorship between April and June 2005. During this period the Uzbek government was condemned by the United Nations for ordering troops to fire into an unarmed crowd of protesters in Andijan, killing at least 1,500 people.
More than 30 officers from Arab regimes which have used troops to quell the so-called Arab spring are also revealed to have studied at the university in the documents.
A Libyan lieutenant was trained at York St John for three months in 2006. Officers from Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Algeria have also been trained at the university.
Dr John Sentamu, the archbishop of York, became the first chancellor of the university in March 2007. A spokesman for his office said he was unable to comment on the Freedom of Information requests.
A spokeswoman for the university said the institution held contracts with the MoD and RAF to support English language training for international relations work. "The primary purpose of the courses we offer is to support international communications and conflict resolution, with a focus on peace-support and other multi-national operations – for example humanitarian and disaster relief," she said.
In 2008, when it was disclosed that a single Chinese army officer had breached EU rules by studying at Sandhurst, the then shadow defence minister Liam Fox told a Sunday newspaper: "We require urgent disclosure about whether the prime minister or the defence secretary knew about this and whether it represents a change in policy or plain incompetence with our national security."
A spokesman for the MoD, where Fox is now the secretary of state, said: "Our limited engagement with the Chinese People's Liberation Army is coherent with Government legislation and the policies of key allies, including the US. This is limited so that it will not affect the regional strategic balance or enhance the capability for internal repression."