Human testing. Those two words evoke mental images of inhumane experiments and feelings of disquiet, as they should. Yet human testing of militarized technology is happening in the Southwest Asia/North Africa (SWANA) region. 
The militarization of technology refers to the blurring of lines between civilian and military technology; this process is happening around the world but it has had an obvious and deadly impact in the SWANA region.  SMEX’s new report, “Produced, tested, deployed,” considers the cycle of production, testing, and consumption of such technology across the region,  emphasizing the human cost of the militarized technology industry and how this tech fits into existing structures of impunity for human rights violations in the region. The report examines six countries:  Sudan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, and Egypt. For each country the report looks at legal frameworks in the country and whether the country produces militarized technology themselves, purchases it, or serves as human testing grounds. 
Israel continues its dubious distinction as a consumer of militarized technology as well as host to military technology companies, who use Israel’s occupation of Palestine as a marketing tool to claim their products are “battle-tested.” Unfortunately, it appears that Gulf Countries are pushing their ways into the militarized technology industry, with significant investment in AI and militarized technology, including from Gulf sovereign wealth funds. 
Sudan, Syria, and Egypt all continue to be militarized technology consumers. The case of Syria specifically exemplifies how Western companies manage to avoid export control regimes and profit immensely off of human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Many companies supplied the Assad regime with surveillance and other militarized technology, some of whom have never faced repercussions. Egypt’s total communications surveillance system also has components supplied by a Western company. Finally, Sudan’s ongoing deadly conflict has been enabled by UAE-supplied drones. 
The report makes it clear that international human rights law and international humanitarian law, as well as export controls, apply to militarized technology: 
“The legal tools that could address those harms exist, with certain limitations, but they do. What has been missing, consistently and across decades, is the political decision to use them.”
SMEX will continue researching and reporting on militarized technology and seeking ways to find accountability for the tech companies and governments that are using it with such impunity.
This research was conducted by Marianne Rahme and Dionysia Peppa on
behalf of SMEX.
This report’s authors also want to acknowledge Dia Kayyali for their work
and guidance on this research.
This work is part of the militarization of technology project led by Privacy
International.
Read and download our newest research here.
Militarization of tech in the SWANA region - Research
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