British military training human rights abusers

The British military trained nearly 2000 overseas troops in its defence academies between 2017 and 2025. That figure includes personnel from 108 countries. Shockingly, fourteen of those countries are on the UK’s own human rights watchlist.

The British-based Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) reported on 24 March 2026 that the UK considers those states to have:

significant issues relating to democracy, governance or civil liberties.

Yet the UK still trained them anyway…

The so-called International Defence Training (IDT) programme is meant to:

promote professionalism and improve standards among partner forces.

AOAV said they fear the courses risk:

 strengthening security forces accused of abuses.

British military teaching dictatorships

The countries include Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Uzbekistan. AOAV also said there were obvious gaps in the figures. For example:

Israel does not appear in the dataset, despite the MoD previously confirming that a “limited number” of Israeli personnel have been trained in the UK. No explanation is given for the omission.

AOAV said the IDT permits:

foreign military personnel to attend courses at UK institutions including the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Defence Academy in Shrivenham.

Training ranges from basic officer instruction to specialist and postgraduate courses. The government says the programme helps build long-term relationships and encourages adherence to international norms.

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Adding:

An MoD spokesperson has previously said that all training is “carefully assessed” and aligned with UK values.

Real risk of violations

Dr Iain Overton, Executive Director of AOAV, said:

There is a real risk that UK training may end up enhancing the capabilities of forces that go on to commit violations.

In September 2025 Declassified UK revealed the UK was still training Israeli soldiers at the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) two years into the genocide:

The soldiers trained at RCDS include Colonel Yaniv Asor, the current chief of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Southern Command who oversees military operations in Gaza.

Asor was recently accused by the head of the Israeli air force of responsibility for mass civilian casualties in Gaza.

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Charlie Herbert, a retired British army general, told Declassified at the time:

That it has taken so long to bar IDF officers from the prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies is a disgrace.

Even now, it is not sufficient to ban them from 2026. Instead all IDF personnel currently studying or training at UK military establishments should be expelled immediately.

The British government is speaking out of both sides of its mouth again. Its proclaimed commitment to human rights and a mythical ‘rules-based international order’ have been sorely exposed by support for Israeli genocide in Gaza and an illegal US attack on Iran. The fact the UK is still training authoritarian regimes alongside all this should shock precisely nobody.

Featured image via the Canary