A list of the countries invited to attend one of the world’s largest security trade shows, to be held this week in the UK behind closed doors, has prompted alarm among human rights groups, who fear it will be used to sell surveillance technology and crowd control equipment to some of the world’s most repressive regimes.

The list, released under the Freedom of Information Act, reveals that police and security personnel from 79 countries are expected to attend Security & Policing, a Home Office-sponsored fair held in Farnborough, Hampshire. They include delegations from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE, countries whose human rights records have come under intense scrutiny over the way their security forces have responded to a wave of public protests following the Arab spring.

The sale of non-lethal weapons and surveillance equipment is becoming a growth area for UK companies.

Since David Cameron took office in 2010, the UK has approved 126 licences relating to the sale of tear gas and irritants, according to figures compiled by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). The government has also approved 259 licences for anti-riot/ballistic shields, 79 for “acoustic devices for riot control” and 75 for crowd control ammunition.

The issuing of the licences is controversial. In recent years, UK-produced equipment has been linked to crackdowns and human rights abuses in Hong Kong, Bahrain, Egypt and Kuwait.

“There are serious questions to be asked about the impact of the so-called ‘non-lethal’ arms industry,” said Andrew Smith of CAAT. “These risks become even more important when these weapons are being sold to human rights abusers and dictatorships.

“A number of the countries in attendance routinely practise torture, arbitrary detention and other appalling acts of violence. The UK should not be arming these regimes and selling them the means to oppress and kill.”

Unlike other major defence fairs, the Farnborough event makes a virtue of the fact that it is taking place behind closed doors. Its website explains: “Security & Policing ... enables exhibitors to display products which would be too sensitive to show in a more open environment.”

The event will have zones focusing on “police innovation”, “cyber security”, “national security” and “border controls”. Delegations from overseas police and security forces will be escorted around the event by civil servants from the government’s arms sales unit, the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation, which is part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Last year the fair attracted 375 exhibitors, including weapons manufacturers and surveillance companies. A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: “A thriving security industry is vital to help cut crime and protect the public and so it is important these products and services can be showcased and expertise shared.”

But CAAT’s Smith countered that the event “undermines the UK’s claims to be promoting human rights while strengthening the position of repressive regimes”.