War Profiteers

Background

In April 2009, President Barack Obama declared in Prague that he was committing the United States to a vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. His vision was almost universally welcomed and, eventually, honored with the Nobel Peace Prize.

Since then, it has become apparent that the President’s vision is not driving a change in US nuclear policy. Instead things have gotten, as Alice said in Wonderland, curiouser and curioser. The path to a world free of nuclear weapons, the President seems to believe, leads first through the largest increases in nuclear weapons funding in history—the weapons production budget will nearly double, to $13 billion, in the next five years.

Photo and video material from the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla expose the use of European and US produced war material. The attack on the relief boats was executed by Israeli navy special forces Unit 13 (Shayetet 13). Several large and small navy ships, as well as helicopters, were used, armed with US and European weapons.

From this weekend's edition of "NONVIOLENT NEWS", produced by INNATE (Irish Network for Nonviolent Action Training and Education) in Belfast...

Despite two men being found guilty of minor miscellaneous charges, there was another great victory for Derry Raytheon protesters and for opposition to the arms trade when all nine women charged were acquitted by a jury at Belfast Crown Court on 4th June after a trial spread out over 3 weeks.

An evening full of inspiring actions and new ideas

May 28 in Amsterdam / May 28 live on internet

Venue of meeting Lombokstraat 40 Amsterdam
Chatroom http://www.stoparmstrade.org

Venue and chatroom open 19.30 h.-22.00 h.

Read the article 'Mouse against the elephant; campaigning against arms trade' (http://www.stoparmstrade.org/publicaties/2010/friedensforum_english.html)

Program

Press release the 5th of May 2010

They hammered on weapons – were sentenced to prison

Today the sentence for the two peace activists, Anna Andersson and Martin Smedjeback, was announced. The Svea court of appeal gave them four months in prison for the disarmament action in the city of Eskilstuna in October 2008, where they disarmed fourteen bazookas at Saab Bofors Dynamics weapons factory in Eskilstuna.

For many who are involved in campaigning against war profiteers, spring in the northern hemisphere means it's time for shareholders actions! This is when most major companies hold their Annual Shareholders Meeting. Companies are obliged to announce the date of their shareholders' meetings and you can usually find this on their website. Annual General Meetings (AGMs) are good opportunities to bring up campaign issues to the owners and smaller shareholders of the company.

The Transnational Awareness Group (TAG) collects and spreads information about the way companies contribute to armed conflicts. Initiated in Belgium by Vredesactie (Peace Action), this form of action - to track, expose and label war businesses - is now spreading internationally.

Rafael Uzcategui

On his most recent visit to Venezuela, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin revealed that the value of arms bought by the government in Caracas amounted to over five billion US dollars.

According to statistics provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in the past ten years, 77.6% of total arms imports to Latin American countries were from Russia. Amongst these acquisitions, Mi-17 and Mi-35 Sukhoi fighter planes , Kalashnikov assault rifles, and an agreement to install a factory which produces rifles and munitions, S-300 tanks, and anti-aircraft missiles.

CACI, founded in the early 1960s as California Analysis Center Inc., is almost entirely a Beltway Bandit—some 94 percent of its revenue is derived from contracts with the U.S. government. About two-thirds of that revenue comes from the Pentagon, but CACI also enjoys the patronage of the Departments of Homeland Security, State, Commerce, Justice and Transportation. At the end of its last fiscal year, CACI had a contract backlog worth some $6.4 billion.

Denunciation in the board of shareholders of BBVA

Today on Friday March 12th, whilst a protest took place on the other side of Palacio Euskalduna where the board meeting of shareholders the BBVA bank had begun, eight activists disguised as BBVA shareholders were able to fool the police cordon and throw red paint over themselves. As stated by one of them, the red paint represented the blood, which resulted from the investments made in the production and exportation of arms, the basic rights instilled/ inculcated of many people by destructive projects financed by the bank, which also finances the environmental destruction of climate change, and the economies of many countries which affects the well being of its citizens.

Do people have a right to voice their concerns? Can people peacefully speak out against something they consider as injustice? It would seem not if you go by the recent action of Gujarat state and Police.

That Gujarat has one of the worst Human Rights track records in the country is no secret. That it is only hell bent on worsening it, if recent developments are to be believed, is new.

Welcome to the first issue of 2010. Here at the WRI office we have been busy these first two months of 2010. During the last two weeks of January, WRI held its International Conference in Ahmedabad, India. In this issue we report on some of the sessions which were related to the topic of war profiteering. The conference was an important opportunity for campaigners and researchers on the issue of war profiteers to meet and make connection beyond particular regions and areas of work.