A MAN who revealed that York St John University was training military officers associated with oppressive regimes has explained why he came forward.
Dr Hisashi Nakamura, a former employee at the university, worked with Campaign Against The Arms Trade to obtain files which revealed that high-ranking soldiers from countries including Libya, Sudan, China and Uzbekistan had attended courses at the university.
The officers studied military English and aviation English – lessons in specialist military language training. The courses are run with the support and sometimes financial backing of the Ministry of Defence.
Dr Nakamura, who said he was the university’s Japan projects officer until he was made redundant, questioned the ethics of the university.
He said the university was generating income from training military officers and had previously received money from military defence company BAE Systems and the then Defence Export Services Organisation of the MoD.
He said: “The Church of England’s ethical policy states that it will not derive profit from the arms industry… York St John is an Anglican foundation university and its Chancellor is Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York. It is ethically and logically hard to accept the argument that York St John runs these courses for peaceful purposes.”
A spokesman for the university confirmed it had received some funding from BAE Systems, but the purpose of the course was peace and conflict resolution.
He said the programmes were carefully regulated and contracted with the UK Government through the MoD and RAF. The MoD contract clearly stated the primary purpose was to help students contribute to UN Peace Support Operations.
He said BAE Systems sponsored some students through the MoD contract some years ago on the same programmes for UN peace support activity.
He said: “The promotion of peace and conflict resolution is in line with the university’s mission and our church foundation.”
The figures obtained revealed that around 500 foreign military officers attended courses at the university between 2005 and April this year.
Dr Nakamura was made redundant from York St John University, but has since undertaken work within the faculty of arts, a university spokesman said.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here