United Kingdom

Across Europe, activists have been resisting arms sales to Saudi Arabia, destined to be used the ongoing war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign has seen many thousands of civilians killed.

In London, activists arrested taking nonviolent direct action against the DSEI arms fair have been in court in a series of trials. A large number of the defendants – mainly accused of obstruction of the highway – have been acquitted or had their cases dropped, successfully arguing that they were acting within their human rights to protest peacefully.

The British government sanctioned the sale of spy equipment – capable of intercepting, tracking, and monitoring emails, mobile phones, and messaging services like WhatsApp – to Honduras, shortly before a recently disputed election.

Each month, we will feature a different WRI affiliate. This month it's the Peace Pledge Union from the UK.

The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) is the British section of War Resisters’ International. As a pacifist network, we challenge militarism, campaign for dis- armament, promote active nonviolence and produce resources to provide education for peace.

As a police force, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) is unique in the way that it is organised and operates. It describes itself as an armed force.

Officers are known as ‘griffins’ because a griffin icon forms part of their logo.

The CNC was established in 2005, replacing the Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary which had been established in 1955.

Sam Walton and Rev Daniel Woodhouse were recently found not guilty of criminal damage by a judge in the UK, after breaking into BAE Warton to disarm planes bound for Saudi Arabia.

Xstrata, a UK-registered company part of Glencore plc (an Anglo–Swiss commodity trading and mining company) is in court in London accused of hiring the Peruvian National Police (PNP) to oppress environmental protesters who were demonstrating against the Tintaya copper mine in a remote region of the Andes in 2012.

Using leaked documents, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has disclosed details of an extensive “weapons laundering scheme” involving Ukrainian companies and authorities.

In London, thousands of protesters have been taking direct action to shut down one of the world’s biggest arms fairs.

In September 2017, hundreds of weapons companies gathered in London for the Defence and Security Equipment International arms fair, to meet representatives from militaries all over the world. WRI produced a booklet profiling some of the companies attending.

Our friend Howard Clark was Chair of War Resisters' International when he died in 2013. Leeds Beckett University are hosting the first "Howard Clark Memorial Lecture on Nonviolence", which will be presented by George Lakey, an activist, writer, and friend of Howard's. He will speak on the subject "A divided Britain: what can we learn from the Nordics?"

In September 2017 War Resisters' International members gathered in London to help disrupt preparation for the DSEI - the London arms fair. A week of action had taken place from 4th September, with hundreds of activists disrupting the setup of the fair. Over a hundred people were arrested.