Campaign Launched for Former Belmarsh Detainees Facing Deportation

A campaign has been launched by the families of the ten foreign nationals who were former detainees held in Belmarsh and Woodhill prisons for three years. All were detained without charge or trial under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, until this was ruled unlawful by the Law Lords.

The ten men were subsequently placed under controversial 'control orders' until August, when within hours of the government signing a treaty with Jordan, they were redetained with the aim of deporting them as a 'threat to national security'. The government claims that 'memoranda of understanding' with countries like Jordan and Algeria will ensure the men are not tortured or killed, although both countries have appalling human rights records and most independent observers believe these promises are not worth the paper they are printed on.

The men have been deliberately placed at distant locations, beyond the reach of their solicitors and their families. At least five of the men are currently on suicide watch and all have suffered from depression as the result of their detention. Some are single and have no families in the UK, and have receieved less than a handful of visitors or calls in the past 3-4 years that they have been incarcerated.

A website should be up and running soon as www.deporteesfamilycampaign.org.uk

Until then, the Deportees Family Campaign can be contacted at:

PO Box 273, London E7
Telephone 020 8555 8151
E-mail info@deporteesfamilycampaign.org.uk

Disappointing Turnout for Lacklustre Anti-War March

Perhaps inevitably, the police claimed (according to the BBC) there were only ten thousand on yesterday's march, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Socialist Worker inevitably claimed 100,000.

It's always hard to be accurate about this but from attending far too many demonstrations over the years, the truth is probably neared to 30,000 (about the same as at West Ham's nil-nil draw with Arsenal yesterday). Sadly, there was no more than 300 on the east London feeder march and no mass turnout from Tower Hamlets and Newham's Muslim communities.

Of course, before the enormous February 2003 demonstration, 30,000 would have been a respectable number. But the pre-publicity for yesterday's march was muted, as was the atmosphere on the day, and it felt like a gathering of the Left rather than of the much broader anti-war movement of 2003.

It is true that early 2003 was a 'tipping point' in public opinion on the war in Iraq and the march in February of that year was part of a rolling campaign of activities. This was not the case yesterday and it is hard to judge the impact of the London bombings in July. It may be that the impact of the proposed new and astonishingly draconian anti-terrorism laws begins to move public opinion again and it seems the US anti-war movement has been reinvigorated by the campaigning of military families - the Washington DC march looks to have attracted around 200,000 people (see the photo links below)

Photos of London Indymedia UK [1] [2] [3]
Photos of Washington Indymedia DC [1] [2] and William Hughes

Join the March for Peace and Liberty - Saturday 24 September

London march against war in Iraq - 15 February 2003

The Stop the War Coalition, the Muslim Association of Britain and CND are calling opponents of the war in Iraq out onto the streets once again for the March for Peace and Liberty on Saturday 24 September.

Assemble at 12 noon at Parliament Square and march to Hyde Park.

East London anti-war activists can join a feeder march assembling at 10.30am at Altab Ali Park [Map] on Whitechapel Rd (Aldgate East tube)

Feeder march flyer | Main March flyer

Banned Equipment Advertised at Arms Fair

The Guardian reports today that leg irons and stun batons, both banned for export under British law, are being advertised by an Israeli company, TAR Ideal, at the arms fair in Custom House.

Equipment that could be used for torture, including "portable devices designed or modified for riot control purposes, or self-protection to administer an electric shock, including electric-shock batons ... stun guns [and] leg irons" was banned in 1997.

Respect as ever to Mark Thomas for revealing this information.

A PDF of the Guardian article is available by clicking here

Photos from Direct Action Day at ExCel

Great photos by Josh Hall and on Indymedia [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Cluster Bombs on Sale at Arms Fair

The Independent today reports that cluster bombs are being offered for sale at the ExCel Centre arms fair. Unicef, the United Nations children's organisation, has reported that more than 1,000 children were injured by unexploded ordnance, including cluster bombs, after the official end of the Iraq war in 2003.

There was an intriguing comment in the report from Paul Beaver, spokesman for DSEi, on being told that at least one company was willing to sell the weapons at the fair (after insisting that cluster bonbs were "not for sale and not even a topic of conversation"). Beaver said:

"I'm surprised you have found that, but you have to remember they are not illegal. There are far worse weapons, you know."

So that's alright then...

Marching on the ExCel Centre...

Hundreds join Campaign Against the Arms Trade's march on the ExCel Centre yesterday - see more photos and a brief report on Indymedia [1] [2].

Direct action day is today and I have already seen the police vans on Green Street...

Doctors call for end to Lancet's link with arms trade

The Guardian reports today that editors of the Lancet have demanded that its publisher Reed Elsevier stop promoting the international arms trade.

Opposition to Reed Elsevier's involvement in the arms trade is voiced in an editorial and in a letter from doctors and public health professionals in the Lancet published today.

Click here for a PDF of the Guardian article

Public Meeting calls for Arms Fair out of Newham - Forever

Around 50 local people attended the NOWAR public meeting on 5 September and the clear message that came from those present was the need for a broad campaign to close down the arms fair permanently.

At the moment, the ExCel Centre has been booked for further arms fairs in 2007, 2009 and 2011. The meeting debated the disruption caused to local residents by the protests that will inevitably accompany these events, but there was argreement that the best way to avoid this was to ensure that 2005 is the last time that Spearhead Exhibitions, the organisers of DSEi, host an arms fair in Newham. This means targeting Reed Elsevier, the parent company that produces education, science and health publications (like The Lancet) and who will be hosting the London Book Fair later this year. It also means making the link between the international arms trade and those young potential competitors in the 2012 Olympics whose prospects may be destroyed by the weapons that arms manufacturers sell to fuel civil wars and repression.

But most importantly, it means bringing together a broad coalition of local people and community groups to put pressure on those in power. This is something that NOWAR intends to work on in the coming months.

The meeting also discussed the different protests that will be taking place next week and the approaches that those mobilising against DSEi 2005 intend to take. Inevitably, there were disagreements over what constitutes 'violent protest', particularly as many of us have experienced deliberate provocation by the police at previous protests against DSEi (if pushed by a police officer, is it OK to push back?) Whether 'fluffy' or 'spiky', NOWAR supports all the events that have been organised. We just hope this year is the last time they will be necessary.

Campaign Against the Arms Trade have produced an excellent briefing on DSEi 2005 that can be downloaded from here.