Georgian soldiers fighting the Russian army in South Ossetia are using guns apparently illegally obtained from Germany. The Georgians are carrying Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifles, the 1997 model that replaced the G3 as the German army’s standard weapon. This is despite the German Government having specifically refused permission for G36s to be exported to Georgia.

IANSA members Berlin Information Centre for Transatlantic Security (BITS) and the Armaments Information Office (RIB) brought the information to the attention of the media after spotting photographs on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung website of Georgian soldiers carrying G36 rifles earlier this month.

No German arms export permits have been issued for Georgia in recent years. The Georgian Vice Minister of Defence told Jane’s Defence Weekly that his application for import had been denied in 2007, which was confirmed by Heckler & Koch last week.

German law prohibits international arms transfers without government approval, and transfers are not permitted to countries in crisis or conflict. This means the weapons must have been supplied to Georgia via another country either importing the guns from Germany or producing the G36 under license.

Heckler & Koch authorises licensed production of the G36 to the Spanish arms manufacturer Santa Barbara. However, BITS researcher Niels Dubrow said the Spanish version has slight variations from the original which are not evident in the photos. “It is likely that the rifles were exported by an allied partner who then breached its agreement with the German government, which prohibits transfer to third countries,” said Mr Dubrow.

According to BITS, the G36 has recently been imported by countries including Albania, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Indonesia, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, the UK and US.

BITS has also identified Georgian soldiers with G36s in photos from Agence France-Presse as far back as 2005. “The German Embassy in Tbilisi must have known H&K rifles were in use in Georgia for some time, but failed to investigate how the weapons ended up there,” said BITS researcher Roman Deckert. “The incident illustrates that there's a severe problem with the monitoring of Germany's arms export regulations and the final destination of arms.”

The German Green Party has called for a complete ban on arms exports until the guidelines for export sales can be proved to be effective. It says the government’s pledges not to export small arms to conflict zones “are worth nothing” if the export guidelines are ineffective.