News

Stop the Italy-Libya Memorandum

On October 15^th, global protests will take place outside Italian embassies to oppose the renewal of the Italy-Libya Memorandum of Understanding. This memorandum is the backdoor of the cooperation of the EU with the militia-led Libyan coast guard, the hellish detention system, and the silent tragedies of thousands of invisible deaths in the Sahara at the southern border. Refugees in Libya started their protests 329 days ago in October 2021 but they are still exposed to structural violence, arbitrary detention in inhumane conditions, torture, enslavement and murder. People are still drowning in the Mediterranean daily or being pulled back by both the so-called Libyan coast guard and the newly established Stability Support Apparatus.

Join us on the 15^th to oppose the renewal of this inhumane memorandum. We will be outside the Italian embassy (14 Three Kings Yard, London, W1K 4EH) from 2pm to hear from Migrant Rights, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Global Women Against Deportation and the mic will be open to people with lived experience of migration. You can find out more details here and there is also a Facebook event – feel free to share that.

What else are we up to?

We are continuing to promote our petition to remove the advert for BAE Systems from Westminster tube station. Another successful leafleting session saw an increase in signatures and we have plans to return to the station with an eye-catching action so do come along to a meeting to find out more about that! (details below).

We are also planning some work around borders and migration. After our film on the Arab Spring uprisings, we are working on another film about militarised borders, UK complicity in them and how arms companies profit from war and the refugees war creates. We are also planning a launch event for this new film so keep an eye out for that.

London CAAT meetings

Our meetings are on the third Tuesday of every month at 6.30pm and are still taking place online. If you want to attend a meeting, please reply to this email and we will send you details.

In peace

London CAAT

One year to the next DSEI arms fair

The DSEI arms fair will be returning in September 2023 to darken our shores again. The 2021 edition saw over 30,000 arms buyers and dealers gather to network and make deals. Governments and military delegations from countries with dubious human rights records and those involved in military conflicts and at war browsed the wares of 1,600+ arms companies selling everything from guns and bombs to fighter jets and warships. This is where war starts but it is also where we can stop it.

The Stop the Arms Fair network (STAF) are having a planning meeting on September 24^th 11am-4pm at Friends House in Euston to discuss the future of STAF and how they can plan the opposition to DSEI 2023. This is a kick off meeting and there will be other meetings in the year running up to DSEI to further plans to take action against the fair. You can find out more about the meeting here or if you’re not on Facebook here. Please share details about the meeting widely.

No to BAE Systems advert in Westminster tube

We did another leafleting session at Westminster tube station to promote our petition calling on TfL to remove the advert for BAE Systems from the station. As the situation in Yemen continues to be horrendous and the lasting peace the citizens of Yemen so direly need is denied to them, having an advert for a company that supplies billions of pounds of weapons to the Saudi regime that is carrying out the brutal bombardment of Yemen is morally reprehensible. The public were again receptive to the message behind the petition and signatures are still going up. We have other plans surrounding the petition with the next action in October so please reply to this email if you want to get involved.

Liz Truss asked to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia

On the day Liz Truss took office as the UK’s new Prime Minister, we joined CAAT and numerous activists to hand in an open letter to Downing Street, signed by 7385 people, calling on the new Prime Minister to stop arming the Saudi-led coalition. As stated above, the war in Yemen is ongoing and the value of UK arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition since the war began is at least £23 billion. Thousands of innocent civilians have been killed by the coalition’s indiscriminate bombing including 232 in the last month.

Liz Truss was Secretary of State for International Trade leading on military and security exports during the period CAAT took the government to court over UK arms exports to the Saudi-led Coalition. Despite the Court of Appeal finding in CAAT’s favour, in July 2020, Truss determined that any violations of international law were “isolated incidents” and the arms sales continued.

After talks from Andrew Feinstein, author of ‘The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade’ and others as well as some loud chanting we handed in the petition and will keep the pressure on Truss and the goverment to end the arms sales.

Join us to protest against the heinous Farnborough arms fair

Arms companies Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Raytheon, Leonardo, Elbit Systems, Rafael and many more will be exhibiting their deadly wares in Farnborough in July. The event has previously featured a public airshow, which has now become an industry recruiting day.

Local and national groups will be taking action on July 18^th to oppose the fair. A peaceful protest begins at 9am and local Quakers will be holding a meeting for Worship and sharing silence. All groups and individuals committed to peace are welcome to bring banners, flags, posters to say no to this awful event. More details can be found here.

Get BAE Systems advert out of Westminster tube

We have launched a petition to get the advert for BAE Systems that has been in Westminster tube station for years removed. It is an indication of the close relationship between the arms company complicit in the devastating war on Yemen and the Government. Such a heinous company should not be getting a prime advertising spot near the seat of power. We are calling on the advert to be removed and to put an end to any other commercial links TfL might have with BAE Systems. Please sign and share the petition. We have done leafleting sessions outside the tube station to promote the petition and plan to do so again in the future. Please reply to this email if you want to join us and we will let you know when the next one is.

Bahraini sportswashing at Horse Show opposed

The Royal Windsor Horse was again used by the Bahraini royal family to sportswash their reputation and distract attention from their human rights abuses. London CAAT members joined the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD to protest against their sportswashing attempts.

The Queen was there to welcome the King of Bahrain and Bahraini troops even escorted the Queen during her Platinum Jubilee event. The Show itself features the King’s Cup and the Bahraini regime provides participants, with Prince Nasser often taking part in the endurance race.

The Bahraini regime has a shocking human rights record, jailing and torturing pro-democracy activists during the Arab Spring and making threats to dissidents and their families.

BIRD and London CAAT took action outside the Horse Show to draw attention to the Bahraini royals’ presence and ask why the Queen was welcoming them to the Show. We also sent a joint letter with 7 other NGOs to Land Rover, sponsors of the show, asking them to withdraw their sponsorship and refrain from supporting the event in the future should Bahrain’s involvement continue.

You can read CAAT blog’s about the protests here and the UK press picked it up as well, for example in the Guardian.

Arms dealers dine while the war on Yemen continues

March 23^rd will see the UK arms trade hold its annual fancy black tie dinner in central London. Join us to tell them we do not approve of their immoral and destructive business. The Aerospace, Defence and Security dinner will bring arms dealers, MPs and military personnel together to schmooze, swill champagne, and feast on expensive food.

The companies attending this dinner are responsible for much death and destruction around the world. From supplying weapons to the Saudi-led coalition for their war on Yemen, facilitating oppression in Bahrain and contributing to Israel’s occupation of Palestine, they cause so much misery around the world.

Their business cannot go unchallenged. Bring your placards, noise and passion to oppose this horrendous event. More details can be found here. The venue is not something they advertise (not so proud of their deadly business perhaps?!) so keep checking this page for details of the location.

Seven years of the war on Yemen – join us to mark this inauspicious milestone

On March 26^th, it will be seven years since the Saudi-led coalition started their brutal assault on Yemen. The UN estimates that 377,000 war related deaths will have occurred by the end of 2021, including 12,000 civilians in directly targeted attacks. At the same time, over 16 million Yemeni people face acute hunger. The war in Yemen has caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

Join us at 12pm on Saturday March 26^th outside Downing Street to stand in solidarity with the people of Yemen and commemorate all the lives unnecessarily lost in this brutal war. We hope to hear from those affected by the war before lighting candles to commemorate those who have lost their lives. Please find more details here.

Liberation have organised an online meeting at 5pm so please check that out as well – details here. Speakers include Shireen Al-Adeimi, Jeremy Corbyn and our very own Kirsten Bayes.

Yemen lobby day, March 10^th

To mark the anniversary of the start of the war on Yemen, CAAT have organised a lobby day – please sign up to talk to your MP and urge them to do everything in their power to stop the war on Yemen. This war has been fuelled by British arms exports, with sales worth more than £20 billion made to Saudi Arabia since the conflict began.

It’s more vital than ever that the UK government stop enabling this war, end arms sales, and make serious efforts to bring the war to an end and promote accountability for atrocities committed by all sides.

If you would like to take part in this Lobby Day, please contact your MP to book a meeting via this link CAAT will send you a briefing pack with the latest information. There will also be an optional online training session to help you make the most of this meeting. Sign up the stop the immoral and deadly arms exports, end the war in Yemen and ensure all those complicit in the death and destruction caused by the war are held accountable.

It’s been a busy year of campaigning for London Campaign Against Arms Trade so we thought we would have a look back at what we got up to in 2021. From informative videos, lively panel discussions and moving vigils, it’s all here!

Yemen day of action

We started with the International Day of Action on Yemen on January 25^th – we joined a student-led rally and then the global rally (you can see the large number of organisations who supported the day and called for an end to the war on Yemen here). We made a short video highlighting BAE Systems’ involvement in the war and you can watch that here.

Security & Policing Fair

Next up was the Security & Policing Fair in March, a fair where arms, border, policing and surveillance companies gather to exhibit equipment and technologies. It took place online so we went online too with a video parodying the Policing Minister’s plug for the fair. London CAAT members also produced a number of articles covering issues related to the fair, such as this piece on the increasing militarisation of police and border forces, drone usage and universities involvement in related research and this one challenging the government’s notion of security. Finally we also produced a map showing the links between universities and Academic RiSC, a network that links academia and national security research.

Yemen vigil

On March 26^th, we marked the anniversary of the start of the war on Yemen with an online vigil. We had a video from the Yemeni freelance journalist Ahmad Algohbary a reading of a poem by Amina Atiq and we finished by lighting candles and holding a powerful period of silence for the victims of the war. Our vigil was preceded by Stop the War Coalition’s rally, which you can watch here.

Black Lives Matter

Next up we produced a video highlighting the UK’s complicity in the violence meted out to Black Lives Matter protesters in the US, which you watch here. This was an online version of our walking tours, highlighting the companies whose equipment was likely used against protesters.

Pension funds

London CAAT member Neil took up the important issue of councils’ pension funds being invested in the arms trade and had a letter on the topic featured in the Islington Tribune. He also wrote a blog post for the CAAT website, as well as securing a follow up article in the paper.

Arab Spring

In July we launched our video marking ten years since the Arab Spring and UK complicity in the suppression of the uprisings. We held a well-attended launch event with excellent contributions from David Wearing (author of the book “AngloArabia: Why Gulf Wealth Matters To Britain.”) and Sayed Alwadaei (Director of Advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy) – you can watch that here.

DSEI arms fair

In August, we held our first in-person event of the year – a walking tour to highlight some of the arms companies that would be exhibiting at the DSEI arms fair the following month. We visited Boeing, Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. DSEI itself was met with a strong and varied resistance including military helicopters being scaled, lock-ons and car blockades to disrupt the fair and themed days of action covering vital issues such as Stop Arming Israel, borders and migration and climate justice. Read more about this resistance here and Phoenix Coops’ day by day summaries are here. Art the Arms Fair were back with another fantastic exhibition and there was also a Portrait of Resistance exhibition featuring CAAT campaigners and activists, including those of Yemeni heritage – it was accompanied by this amazing short film.

Saudi Arabian grand prix

In October, we held a protest outside the Formula 1 headquarters to highlight the fact that a grand prix was going to be held in Saudi Arabia for the first time, despite the regime’s human rights abuses and continued brutal war on Yemen. We followed this up with a series of infographics in the run up to the December grand prix that highlighted the regime’s various human rights issues. On the day of the grand prix, we held a panel discussion with Madawi Al-Rasheed (Visiting Professor at the LSE Middle East Centre) and Andrew Feinstein (author of the Shadow World book about corruption in the arms trade) to discuss the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia and UK complicity in the war on Yemen (video of that to come). We also sent a letter to Lewis Hamilton asking him to speak out on the issue and he did so – see here.

In short, it was a busy 2021 for London CAAT and we will continue to challenge the arms trade in 2022, covering issues such as militarised borders. Thank you to everyone who got involved and supported us in any way. Our meetings are on the third Tuesday of every month at 6.30pm – please email us at londoncaat at riseup.net if you want to get involved!

Sign up for a panel discussion with Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed and Andrew Feinstein

On December 5th at 7pm we will host what is bound to be a fascinating discussion about Saudi Arabia, human rights and the UK’s complicity in the war on Yemen. We will be joined by Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed (Visiting Professor at the LSE Middle East Centre) and Andrew Feinstein (author of the arms trade expose Shadow World). They will provide important insights into the issues above and there will be time for questions. You can register for the event here.

This event is taking place on the day of the grand prix being held in Saudi Arabia. We believe Formula 1 should not be hosting the grand prix in the country due to its appalling human rights record and its continued brutal war on Yemen. To drew attention to this, we will be posting a series of infographics in the run up to the grand prix highlighting the many reasons why this is a bad decision. Check out our Facebook and Twitter pages for these images and please share them.

Arms trade activists call for Formula One to Put the Brakes on Saudi

London Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) group is calling for Formula One to put the brakes on the Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia on December 5th, because of the Kingdom’s blood stained human rights record.

CAAT campaigns to end the use of military and security equipment against civilian populations. It says Saudi Arabia misuses weapons and military equipment in attacks that kill and maim civilians – including children – in Yemen. It wants organisers to quit holding international sports fixtures in Saudi because:

• Since 2015 the Saudi led intervention in Yemen has caused the deaths of more than 6,000 civilians.
• Airstrikes by the Saudi led coalition have hit hospitals, schools and markets in Yemen. In 2018 a bus filled with children was bombed, killing at least 26 children.
• Since 2015 Saudi Arabia has purchased £20 billion worth of military equipment from the UK alone.

On November 2^nd 2021 Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was given two Spoilers of Peace awards for Committing Atrocities and Severe Rights Violations, and Violations against Children (https://caat.org.uk/news/boris-johnson-mohammed-bin-salman-named-two-of-the-top-spoilers-of-peace-in-yemen/).

London CAAT says that by hosting events like the Formula One Grand Prix, Saudi Arabia is able to distract from its appalling human rights record and ensure continued support from governments like the UK and USA. They are calling on the Formula One leadership to denounce Saudi Arabia’s undeniably dire human rights record and pledge to not hold further races in the Kingdom whilst its bombardment of Yemeni civilians continues.

London CAAT member Ian Pocock says:

“Fans, sportspeople, sponsors and other stakeholders are becoming much more sensitive to the ethical standards of the brands they support. We recognise that F1 provides thrilling entertainment as well as economic benefits. But we want this to be the very last time F1 is hosted in Saudi Arabia whilst the Kingdom continues to abuse the human rights of innocent civilian families in Yemen.”

CAAT supporter Adhiyan Jeevathol says:

“I’m a huge F1 fan but the thought of Saudi bombs dropping on defenceless civilians in Yemen makes me feel sick. I don’t want my favourite sport to be tarnished by a partnership with a regime that bombs innocent children and abuses the human rights of its own citizens, including women, journalists and political dissidents.”

London CAAT will be posting a series of social media infographics on @londoncaat and facebook.com/londoncaat/ in the run up to the grand prix, starting on November 25^th. Fans can use #PutTheBrakesOnSaudi to air their views about the Saudi Grand Prix on social media.

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For more information on the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen visit: https://caat.org.uk/data/countries/saudi-arabia.

Say no to the Malvern arms fair

Another arms fair but another chance for resistance. Join Three Counties CAAT and others to take action against the Malvern arms fair (otherwise known as the 3CDSE Defence and Security Expo) on November 4th. With delightful companies such as BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Thales attending, they are but three reasons to join the actions against the fair. Full details here. You can also sign the petition against it here.

Some inspiring ways the arms trade has been resisted recently

The last month has seen some excellent work to take on various aspects of the arms trade and related issues of oppression. Firstly, a group of lawyers have filed a dossier on war crimes in Yemen to British police and prosecutors, calling for the arrest of 20 people from two Gulf countries if they step foot in the UK. Read more about that here.

The wonderful media organisation Declassified UK released an excellent short film about Britain’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, primarily focusing on an arms factory in Lancashire that sends a supply flight to Saudi Arabia every week. In another example of the UK supplying weapons to countries with dubious human rights records, Byline Times exposed that the UK government has approved sniper licences to three countries on its own list of countries of concern. Read more about that here. In Bahrain, the jailed academic Dr Abduljalil AlSingace has embarked on a hunger strike to protest against his poor treatment in jail where he is a serving a life sentence due to his role in the pro-democracy uprising in 2011. You can read more about his case here and sign a petition calling for his release here.

No to Saudi Arabian sports-washing!

Saudi Arabia is hosting a Formula 1 grand prix for the first time later this year. Join us on October 16^th at 2pm to call out this blatant example of sports-washing. The Saudi Arabian regime has carried out a brutal war on Yemen, causing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and killing thousands of civilians. They have bombed schools, funerals and hospitals as well as being involved in other atrocities such as the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The World Food Programme has recently said that 5 million people in Yemen are facing famine and another 16 million are close to starvation.

The UK is complicit in this crisis due to its continued supply of weapons to the Saudi Arabian regime and the support it provides to the regime’s bombing campaign. Since the war began in 2015 the UK has licensed £5.3bn worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia. Join us to protest against Formula 1 allowing Saudi Arabia to whitewash its crimes – see here for more details. You can also share the Facebook event.

The DSEI arms fair was resisted!

As the DSEI arms fair rolled into town again, it was met with two weeks of fierce and inventive resistance. From people getting on top of military helicopters to military vehicles being prevented from entering the fair to lock ons, people showed their strong opposition to its presence. As in previous years, there were themed days of action covering vital issues such as Stop Arming Israel, borders and migration, climate justice and, particularly pertinently, solidarity with Afghanistan. It was great to see so many varied groups involved in taking action, including Friends of Al Aqsa, Kurdistan Solidarity Network, Palestine Action and many others. The police’s handling of the protests has rightly been condemned and you can read more about that here. Phoenix Coop did great summaries of each day of action and you can find them all here.

London CAAT meetings

Our meetings are on the third Tuesday of every month at 6.30pm and are still taking place online. If you want to attend a meeting, please reply to this email and we will send you details.

The DSEI arms fair arrives in London again and we must oppose it

The DSEI arms fair, which is euphemistically called the Defence and Security Equipment International, is one of the world’s largest arms fairs. In 2019 it brought together over 36,000 arms buyers and dealers from 114 countries to network and make deals. This year military delegations from oppressive regimes will be browsing the wares of 1,600+ arms companies selling everything from guns and bombs to fighter jets and warships. At the last DSEI, the UK invited delegations to DSEI from 67 countries, including countries involved in military conflicts and at war, and on its own list of human rights abusers. This fair is where war and conflict starts and it must be strongly opposed.

Between September 6^th and 16^th there is a whole range of actions taking place to oppose and disrupt the fair, starting with Disarm DSEI’s Critical Mass cycle ride and ending with a Palestinian-led rally. In-between you can join various themed days of action, check out the return of the awesome Art the Arms Fair and take part in the Tank the Arms Fair day of action on the opening day of the fair. Information about all these and more can be found on the Stop the Arms Fair website.

Say no to the Liverpool arms fair

London is not the only venue for an arms fair this month. The AOC Europe 2021 arms fair is scheduled to take place at the council-owned ACC Exhibition Centre and Liverpool Against the Arms Fair have called a demonstration against it on September 11^th. Join them to oppose another arms fair where lethal weapons and military technology will be marketed and sold. Full details here. You can also email the directors of the ACC asking them to revoke permission for the event here.