The UK and other western governments' verbal support for the 'Arab Spring' does not sit well with their sale of arms to repressive dictatorships in the same region. The UK government hastily cancelled export licences to Libya when it found itself committed to toppling Gaddafi but many of his weapons came from Britain.
This site will try to
provide ways to put pressure on financial institutions (e.g. banks), manufacturers, politicians and others involved to reduce the arms trade. It will be open to your
suggestions.
Our
world is awash
with
weapons - machines to
destroy human bodies and kill people. The boy in the background is carrying a
Kalashnikov AK47, the most widespread of all. In some countries there
are probably more guns than people.
Yet we accept this as normal.
About one person every minute is killed by small arms. The majority of war deaths are from small arms, most of them civilian. Another 200,000 people are killed in peacetime shootings each year. In addition an estimated 1.5 million people are wounded by small arms each year.
There are many
organisations dedicated to
arms trade control
and arms reduction with their own campaigns and web
sites and there have been some real achievements -
The holding of negotiations towards drafting an Arms Trade Treaty is a cause for real hope but it is at a very early stage and its future is uncertain.
Meanwhile the weapons proliferate and are used.
Libya and Arms + other news that relates to the arms trade.
Email the chief executive or write to the chairman of your bank asking him not to fund the arms trade - names, addresses, background info
Email or write to the manager of your pension fund asking him not to fund the arms trade - names, addresses, background info
A 13/12 download of the US embassy cables part of Wikileaks site -arms and banks scandals I plan to pick out later.
Making sure our money isn't used to fund the arms trade by banks, investment and pension fund managers. Information, advice and links on this subject.
There are links in other sections but this brings together the most important in a general list, including major weapons manufacturers' sites
Demos, protests, lectures, meetings, exhibitions, arms fairs