In recent months.
A series of reports published by independent organizations has brought attention again to Italy's role in the International supply chain of weapons sent to Israel, the documents prepared by groups such as Rete Italiana, Pace e Disarmo, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch analyzed official data from the italian Government and raise questions about the connection between military exports and the protection of human rights.
One of the main points of the reports is about the type of exports, according to the reports Italy does not always sen complete weapons system, but mainly technological components, electronic systems, "dual-use" materials which can be used for both civilian and military purposes, when these elements are combined together, they can help produce weapons used on "war" zones.
The law and its interpretations.
The italian legal systems is regulated by Law 185 of 1990, which bans the export of weapons to countries involved in armed conflicts or responsible for human right violations, however, according to the reports, some approved authorization could be controversial because the control systems are not very transparents, in fact, NGO's talk about a possible gap between the spirit of the law and its real application.
For its part, the italian government repeats a clear position, all exports are authorized in compliance with National and European's law, there are strict controls on every license, and there is no direct evidence that the italian materials are used in specific violations, during some periods of strong International tension, temporary review o suspensions of authorizations were aso introduced, the critical point Is what is called "indirect responsability", even without clear proof about the final use of every single components, the reports highlight the risk that italian technologies could contribute even indirectly to controversial military operations.
