Editing BT Group (section)

=== Alleged complicity with drone strikes in Yemen and Somalia ===
In September 2012, BT entered into a $23&nbsp;million deal with the US military to provide a key communications cable connecting [[RAF Croughton]], a US military base on UK soil, with [[Camp Lemonnier]], a large US base in Djibouti.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=bb6b01958cbe2c2150d56ff874d2dac4&_cview=0 |title=Contract Award Notice |publisher=Procurement Directorate, Defense Information Systems Agency |date=26 September 2012 |access-date=20 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520220004/https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=bb6b01958cbe2c2150d56ff874d2dac4&_cview=0 |archive-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Camp Lemonnier is used as a base for American drone attacks in Yemen and Somalia, and has been described by ''The Economist'' as "the most important base for drone operations outside the war zone of Afghanistan."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/international/21565614-america-uses-drones-lot-secret-and-largely-unencumbered-declared-rules-worries |title=Death From Afar |newspaper=The Economist |date=3 November 2012 |access-date=20 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425030200/http://www.economist.com/news/international/21565614-america-uses-drones-lot-secret-and-largely-unencumbered-declared-rules-worries |archive-date=25 April 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Human rights groups including [[Reprieve (organisation)|Reprieve]] and [[Amnesty International]] have criticised the use of armed drones outside declared war zones. Evidence produced by [[The Bureau of Investigative Journalism]] and [[Stanford University]]'s International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic suggest that drone strikes have caused substantial civilian casualties, and may be illegal under international law.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/07/02/resources-and-graphs/ |title=Pakistan Drone Statistics Visualised |publisher=The Bureau of Investigative Journalism |date=2 July 2012 |access-date=20 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521031637/http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/07/02/resources-and-graphs/ |archive-date=21 May 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingunderdrones.org/ |title=Living Under Drones |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503162734/http://www.livingunderdrones.org/ |archive-date=3 May 2014 }}</ref>

In 2013, BT was the subject of a complaint by [[Reprieve (organisation)|Reprieve]] to the [[Department of Business, Innovation and Skills]] under the [[OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises]], following their refusal to explain whether or not their infrastructure was used to facilitate drone strikes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reprieve.org.uk/media/downloads/2013_07_15_PUB_Complaint_to_UK_NCP_re_BT_plc.pdf |title=Complaint to UK National Contact Point |publisher=Reprieve |date=15 July 2013 |access-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521031829/http://www.reprieve.org.uk/media/downloads/2013_07_15_PUB_Complaint_to_UK_NCP_re_BT_plc.pdf |archive-date=21 May 2014 }}</ref> The subsequent refusal of this complaint was appealed in May 2014, on the basis that the UK National Contact Point's decision did not follow the OECD Guidelines. The issue of bias was also raised, due to the appointment of Lord Ian Livingston as government minister for the department which was processing the complaint: Livingston had occupied a senior position at BT when the cable between RAF Croughton and Camp Lemonnier was originally built.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-minister-in-row-over-bts-link-to-us-drones-war-9215364.html |title=Minister in row over BT's link to US drones' war |work=The Independent |date=26 March 2014 |access-date=2 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521031322/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-minister-in-row-over-bts-link-to-us-drones-war-9215364.html |archive-date=21 May 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>