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Campaign News
TOP CAAT CAPERS
CW brings you the latest developments from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade crew, who have been extremely busy of late.
ONE FINE DAY
CAAT had a most productive day on June 18th. First they visited Friends Provident – which while not the largest investor in British Aerospace is still a major player with around 4 million shares. The ethical investment wing of the company doesn’t deal in BAe shares – so that’s alright then. Four protesters managed to get inside the building, before being ‘escorted’ out by police officers. Meanwhile, as plod were busy harassing the intruders, other activists managed to climb up the side of the building and unfurl a banner reading ‘Capitalising On Misery’ just underneath the Friends Provident sign.
The CAAT team also visited HSBC (Midlands Bank) where staff and customers were leafleted. At Lloyds Bank four people locked on inside, effectively ending business for the day. Meanwhile, up to 50 protesters gathered outside, and a die-in was staged, with lots of red-spattered ‘blood money’ being thrown around, both inside and out. As the fun continued, part of the group split off and visited NatWest - another bank which finances BAe and their friends - closing them down until the coppers arrived and made them leave…
WOMEN AGAINST THE WAR MACHINE
A recent survey commissioned by the Ministry of Defence found that 47% of women in the UK believe that we shouldn’t sell arms to any other country. With this in mind, and in solidarity with sisters world-wide who are acting against the deadly trade, CAAT have launched a Women’s Network. They are asking for women to lend their support to the campaign to end all arms sales, in recognition that women in conflict zones rarely have the chance to speak out so freely.
The arms trade has specific implications for women. Ninety percent of casualties in today’s conflicts are civilians, and women and children account for the majority of these. In terms of development women suffer from a bias towards military spending as opposed to health or education. In many of the poorest countries, there is often only money to educate one child, and that child will almost certainly be the son. A lack of health provision also hits women hardest. CAAT are in the process of producing a FREE women’s information pack which will examine the issues more fully. To get hold of a copy call 0171 281 0297 .
Other issues that the campaign intends to look at are the use of gender-specific violence in conflict (for example rape as a weapon of war), and the problems faced by refugees - the majority of whom are women and children.
SCUD-U-LIKE
Defence Systems Equipment International ’99 was the UK’s largest government-sponsored weapons fair to date. The exhibition was held on Ministry of Defence land, at Chertsey, Surrey and is sponsored by the MoD Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. Over 20,000 delegates, buyers and officials attended, including several major UK arms exporting companies.
Rachel Harford of CAAT said: ‘It is sickening that the government, which professes concern for developing countries, is actually intent on peddling arms to them’. Of course, Indonesia was hurriedly “uninvited” at the last moment, but only after the BAe aircraft were spotted on the news flying over East Timor…
Not only were there many delegates from countries denounced by Amnesty International for human rights abuses, but it emerged that one company was even advertising landmines - which are illegal. The Romanian state-owned company Romtehnica had literature advertising anti-personnel landmines on its stand. Apparently the MoD has now launched an investigation.
The exhibition was not allowed to go unnoticed, however. There was a constant presence throughout the week, with a peace camp set up nearby and dozens of blockades. The council closed two roads to the fair at the request of the police, and advised delegates to walk to the site, or use public transport. But on the Friday, protesters d-locked themselves to trains - bringing the site’s dedicated railway station to a halt. Two people even managed to break in, climb onto two tanks inside and address the surprised exhibitors.
Not content with hanging around Chertsey, CAAT also blockaded the Docklands site of the arms supermarket, where naval ships were on display. Hundreds of activists ensured that access to the warships was severely restricted. CAAT will be present at future arms fairs. See Contacts
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