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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

September 16, 2015 | 2 min read

Amnesty International has put its foot down to condemn the government for hosting the London DSEI weapons fair auctions arms to repressive regimes including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Azerbaijan.

An ad campaign, culminating in an online video and print ads, looks to raise the public's awareness of the event and give them a little background on the nations UK traders are bartering with at the expo.

The Amnesty UK staff blog urged social media users to share and tweet the video and its newspaper ads in titles such as Metro, City AM and Evening Standard. The intention is to spread the word and pressurise the government into curbing its sale of weapons on the world stage.

Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK director, said: "The guest list reads like a who’s who of dodgy regimes. London should be ashamed of playing matchmaker between these companies and countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Azerbaijan.

“We need strengthened laws - and crucially we need proper enforcement – to stop Britain being used as a showroom for torturers to advertise their disgusting wares.”

In the same line of protest, street artists bombarded London’s transport infrastructure with Banksy Dismaland posters condemning the arms fair earlier this week.

London Amnesty International

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