CT Anti-War Coalition announces protest action against international weapons fairby awc-ct Wednesday, Sep. 13, 2006 at 7:25 AM
Cape Town Anti-War Coalition Press Statement - Tuesday September 12th 2006 9am - The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition will hold two protests at the Africa Aerospace and Defence weapons fair, to be held from 20th - 24th September at the AirForce Base in Ysterplaat, Cape Town.
Cape Town Anti-War Coalition Press Statement - Tuesday September 12th 2006 9am - The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition will hold two protests at the Africa Aerospace and Defence weapons fair, to be held from 20th - 24th September at the AirForce Base in Ysterplaat, Cape Town.
The first protest will be held on the day the arms dealers arrive - Wednesday 20th September 2006 at 9am. The second protest will be held on Saturday 23rd September 2006 at 10am, and thousands of people from the Cape Town Anti-War Coalition, Sanctions Against Israel Coalition, Umzabalazo we Jubilee, Ceasefire, and the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign are expected to attend.
The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition firstly calls on the SA Department of Trade and Industry to explain why its website says it is supplying helicopter and aeroplane parts to Israel, while Cabinet ministers keep claiming that there is no weapons trade with Israel.
The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition is disgusted that the most unscrupulous companies in the world, and their wholly owned South African subsidiaries, responsible for the deaths of millions of civilians across Africa and the Middle East, among other places, have been invited to exhibit their weapons of death in a carnival like atmosphere.
A brief look at some of the "exhibitors" is truly alarming. Truvelo, for example, is busy manufacturing a new assault rifle. This company is expert in manufacturing sniper guns. The company refuses to say exactly which groups it is supplying in conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. It will only say that its weapons are "sold by manufacturer to Government Authorities".
The Eurocopter group is another disturbing exhibitor. This company makes 14 different military helicopters, including the "Tiger" which they supply to Israel, among other repressive regimes. The Tiger helicopter has recently been adapted to include an "air to ground missile" manufactured by Israeli company Rafael. Missiles from helicopters have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians, Lebanese and Iraqi people and are being used by the Israeli army to this day in highly populated areas.
One of the most alarming exhibitors is BAE Systems. This company is currently manufacturing over R40 million worth of ammunition for the American military, to be used in their illegal and vicious occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan against "air, surface and ground targets" as they euphemistically describe the thousands of innocent civilians who will be affected by these weapons. "With an effective range of nearly nine miles, the 57mm Mk 295 projectile achieves devastating effects against all target types in any selected mode of fuze operation," boasts the BAE Systems website. "
These arms companies will exhibit the latest and greatest in machinery designed for only one purpose, the killing of human beings. Husbands, fathers, son, daughter and infants will all die because of this machinery. This is the harsh truth behind arms expos; they supply arms for countries to go to war with other countries and against their own citizens," said the Ceasefire and Umzabalazo we Jubilee campaigns about the weapons fair.
The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition is horrified that the public is not being made aware of the reality of weapons dealings. BAE Systems alone last year sold more than R150 billion worth of weapons! Arms sales from the United Kingdom alone to Africa have almost quadrupled over the past five years and last year reached the R13 billion level!
We are also totally against the practices of Denel, which behaves like any other profit seeking arms dealer, entering into partnerships with the European weapons manufacturers to bid for contracts like supplying repressive regimes such as Turkey with attack helicopters.
Many of the arms companies "exhibiting" at the weapons fair are allegedly involved in dealing weapons through third party front companies to countries with extremely poor human rights records, like America, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Angola, Eritrea, Sudan and Nigeria.
T his method involves direct purchases by the foreign aid recipient from a government weapons manufacturer contractor, without direct government involvement in the process. O thers are involved in further impoverishing poor countries like Malawi who have no need for military equipment but who are forced by the World Bank into taking out loans to buy weapons in exchange for aid.
"Often, as was in the case of South Africa's own Arms Deal, these weapons are bought on credit, essentially diverting the country's future resources away from much needed social investments like healthcare and education. Not only do innocent civilians die from missiles, they also die because funds were diverted from clean water to arms purchases," said the Ceasefire and Umzabalazo we Jubilee campaigns. The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition calls on the public to boycott the weapons fair.
We demand jobs, bread and houses not weapons for imperialist war. We demand education, not missiles.
.../ends
For further info please contact: · Shaheed Mahomed, Cape Town Anti-War Coalition on 082 2020617 · Makoma Lekalakala, Ceasefire National Executive Member and Umzabalazo we Jubilee Coordinator on 082 682 9177
