Campaign of the Month: I stop the arms trade

European arms are present in wars and human rights abuses worldwide. Whilst Europe pleads for peace and civilisation, European arms are changing hands in the Middle East.
This is not surprising. Our arms export rules aren't watertight at all.
I stop the arms trade .eu gets the arms dealers out of anonymity and intervenes in the places where we can stop the arms trade.

I stop the arms trade .eu

Inform, Expose, Take Action. Those are the three main features of I stop the arms trade .eu.

We map the arms trade, force arms dealers out of their comfortable grey zone and take action to stop the arms trade.

Inform

Knowledge is power. Not many people know that the European member states taken as a whole is one of the biggest arms exporters in the world. On the international stage Europe likes to present itself as a continent that stands for democracy and peace, but this façade does not correspond to reality.

Inform as many people as possible about the extent of European arms exports and its disastrous consequences. Where do all these arms end up? Who profits? Who is taking the bullets? Why is there so little control? Is it true that Europe only rarely refuses an export licence? And who still dares to claim that Europe promotes peace?

And you?

- Take a look at the new campaign website: www.Istopthearmstrade.eu

- Like and share our Facebook page facebook.com/Istopthearmstrade.eu

- Book a lobby tour 'Lobbying for war'! Not far from the Berlaymont building in Brussels we find the most important umbrella-organisations of the defence industry. That's how the arms manufacturers make sure that European policy has a strong military component. You can find out how this works and who controls what by participating in the lobbytour, an alternative walk around the city.

Interested? The Vredesactie guides are ready to take groups of ten to a maximum of twenty people on a tour. For further information please contact lobby@vredesactie.be.

- Help us inform others by mapping the arms trade, spreading information and looking for innovative ways to spread our knowledge on social media. Contact us for more info.

Expose

The trade in arms takes place in grey areas and behind closed doors. European policy-makers, arms dealers and lobbyists meet up at conferences, networking events and during lunch meetings. They make deals, plead for lax export rules and acquire subsidies for the development of new arms technology.

Who are these lobbyists, managers and politicians who shamelessly plead for more weaponry? They prefer to hide behind complicated structures and acronyms (EADS, BAE, ASD, ESRAB, EDA,...). But behind these acronyms there are people like you and me, real men and women who organise and visit these networking events and arms lobby trade fairs. Who supports the arms industry? Find out together with Vredesactie and Agir pour la Paix.

With the website armsdealers.eu we'll push the arms industry lobbyists out of their comfortable grey area. We'll go searching for arms dealers at the entrance of their offices, meetings and events of the arms industry. We'll take pictures of those who walk in and out and publish these online. Those who visit arms events will no longer be able to do this anonymously. We'll reveal the faces and names of the arms lobby so everyone can see who's responsible.

And you?

Join us, go look for arms dealers yourself in any European country. You can do this on your own or with a group of friends.

• You can choose a time and a place in the arms dealers spotters' calendar at armsdealers.eu.

• Take position at the entrance of an office, meeting or event of the arms industry.

• Take pictures of everyone who walks in or out.

• Check armsdealers.eu to see if the people you have spotted are listed as known arms dealers, identify them and upload your photo.

Stop the arms trade

Our European arms trade keeps bloody conflicts going. This must stop and preferably right now. It's a matter of life and death, to be sure. Put I stop the arms trade into practice and prevent arms dealers from selling their weaponry or striving for lax export rules in a non-violent way. We take action during arms trade fairs, conferences of arms lobby groups, lobby events,...

And you?

We will organise action training courses 'I stop the arms trade' in Belgium to actively prepare people for direct non-violent action against arms dealers and lobbyists. Discover the pitfalls, learn how you can handle possible provocations in a non-violent way and what could happen in case of arrest, outline scenarios for actions, ... Dates can be found on the website Istopthearmstrade.eu. Find out where arms dealers meet in your country and join us to put I stop the arms trade into practice.