No minarets for dangerous Muslims in Switserland but weapons for Saudi
Arabia and Pakistan. Sometimes I just do not get people's priorities....
Wendela


Roy Isbister schreef:
>
> Andreas
>
> Sorry that you didn't get the result you were hoping for, but
> congratulations for all the magnificent work you have so obviously done.
>
> And if the arms vote didn't swing the right way, at least I can rest
> easy in my bed tonight, secure in the knowledge that the fifth Swiss
> minaret will remain but a demented dream in the twisted minds of those
> mad Mullahs whose cunning architectural vision would have in all
> likelihood laid complete waste to all Swiss (and potentially Western)
> civilisation.
>
> Best,
> Roy
>
> Small arms and transfer controls
> Saferworld
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: ENAAT@yahoogroups.com <mailto:ENAAT%40yahoogroups.com> on behalf
> of Andreas Weibel (GSoA)
> Sent: Mon 30/11/2009 23:09
> To: ENAAT@yahoogroups.com <mailto:ENAAT%40yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [ENAAT] Swiss referendum: 31.8 % yes / minaret shame
>
> Hi all,
>
> Yesterday, the Swiss people had the opportunity to vote to stop the
> export of arms. 31.8 % of the electorate decided to say yes to our
> proposition to ban all arms exports. This result is what about we
> expected during the last months, but it's less than what we hoped for
> after the latest polls.
>
> The voting day is worsened by the unexpected result of the other
> referendum on the ballot yesterday: As you might have read in the
> press, the Swiss decided to accept a ban to construct new minarets.
> The polls had predicted that only 39% of the voters would back this
> xenophobic and utterly absurd initiative (there are only 4 minarets in
> Switzerland and no plans to build many more.) It's hard not to think
> about emigrating from this country in these days...
>
> There are a few reasons for the relatively clear majority against the
> export ban. All pundits agree that the economic situation made it much
> easier for the arms industry lobby to promote their job fear campaign.
> Of course, our financial means were much lower than theirs (roughly 10
> times lower), which allowed them to advertise for people in rural
> places that we simply couldn't. Further, our main political in many
> debates was the very popular centrist minister of economic affairs.
> Although we could cast some doubts about her policies, she probably
> was able to convince many female centrist voters, which likely were
> the "swing voters" in this campaign. In addition, the minaret campaign
> obviously managed to mobilize the right wing voters in an unexpected
> and unprecedented fashion, which was detrimental for our result.
>
> While we could convince only one third of the voters overall, we were
> much better in the urban areas: Out of the 5 largest cities, we have
> won Geneva, Berne and Lausanne and missed the majority in Zurich and
> Basle only by a few percents. Probably, the younger voters were much
> more favorable to our initiative than the older ones (Though, this
> will be definitive only after the results of the post-election polls
> are published in a few weeks.)
>
> Still, we consider the arms export campaign a success. The public
> debate ahead of the vote was quite intense in all newspapers. We have
> distributed 400'000 leaflets, which is about one for every tenth
> eligible voter. Hundreds of people got active in the campaign in one
> way or the other; many of them were involved in politics for the first
> time. When we started in 2005, a lot of people weren't aware that
> Switzerland actually exports arms. This definitively has changed.
>
> We will continue to look very closely at how the government handles
> arms exports. Especially, we will see if the minister of economic
> affairs holds her promise not to grant new export licenses to Saudi
> Arabia and Pakistan.
>
> Thank you for your helpful support during the campaign! We hope that
> some of the things we did can be an inspiration of you in one way or
> the other...
>
> Best regards,
> Andreas
>
> Our campaign websites are here
> English: http://www.gsoa.ch/english/ <http://www.gsoa.ch/english/>
> German: http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch>
> <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch/ <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch/>>
> French: http://www.materieldeguerre.ch
> <http://www.materieldeguerre.ch> <http://www.materieldeguerre.ch/
> <http://www.materieldeguerre.ch/>>
> Italian: http://www.materialebellico.ch
> <http://www.materialebellico.ch> <http://www.materialebellico.ch/
> <http://www.materialebellico.ch/>>
>
> --
> GSoA-Logo<https://mailgate.saferworld.org.uk/exchange/Roy/Drafts/RE:%20
>
<https://mailgate.saferworld.org.uk/exchange/Roy/Drafts/RE:%20>[ENAAT]%20Swiss%2\
0referendum:%2031.8%20%25%20yes%20_xF8FF_%20minaret%20shame.EML/1_multipart/GSoA\
-Logo.jpg>
>
>
> Andi Weibel
>
> Gruppe für eine Schweiz ohne Armee GSoA
>
> M: 079 383 41 40 // www.gsoa.ch <http://www.gsoa.ch/
> <http://www.gsoa.ch/>> // andi@... <mailto:andi%40gsoa.ch>
>
> Unterstütze unser Engagement gegen die Waffenlobby mit einer
> Online-Spende <http://www.gsoa.ch/gsoa/spenden
> <http://www.gsoa.ch/gsoa/spenden>>
>
> Am 29. Nobember 2009: 'JA' zum Verbot von Kriegsmaterial-Exporten
>
> www.kriegsmaterial.ch <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch/
> <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch/>>
>
> __________________________________________________________
> This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
> __________________________________________________________
>
>


--
Campagne tegen Wapenhandel
Phone +31 (0)20 6164684
GSM +31 (0)6 506 522 06
Skype wendela_de_vries
www.stopwapenhandel.org
www.stoparmstrade.org

Andreas

Sorry that you didn't get the result you were hoping for, but congratulations
for all the magnificent work you have so obviously done.

And if the arms vote didn't swing the right way, at least I can rest easy in my
bed tonight, secure in the knowledge that the fifth Swiss minaret will remain
but a demented dream in the twisted minds of those mad Mullahs whose cunning
architectural vision would have in all likelihood laid complete waste to all
Swiss (and potentially Western) civilisation.

Best,
Roy

Small arms and transfer controls
Saferworld





________________________________

From: ENAAT@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Andreas Weibel (GSoA)
Sent: Mon 30/11/2009 23:09
To: ENAAT@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ENAAT] Swiss referendum: 31.8 % yes / minaret shame


Hi all,

Yesterday, the Swiss people had the opportunity to vote to stop the export of
arms. 31.8 % of the electorate decided to say yes to our proposition to ban all
arms exports. This result is what about we expected during the last months, but
it's less than what we hoped for after the latest polls.

The voting day is worsened by the unexpected result of the other referendum on
the ballot yesterday: As you might have read in the press, the Swiss decided to
accept a ban to construct new minarets. The polls had predicted that only 39% of
the voters would back this xenophobic and utterly absurd initiative (there are
only 4 minarets in Switzerland and no plans to build many more.) It's hard not
to think about emigrating from this country in these days...

There are a few reasons for the relatively clear majority against the export
ban. All pundits agree that the economic situation made it much easier for the
arms industry lobby to promote their job fear campaign. Of course, our financial
means were much lower than theirs (roughly 10 times lower), which allowed them
to advertise for people in rural places that we simply couldn't. Further, our
main political in many debates was the very popular centrist minister of
economic affairs. Although we could cast some doubts about her policies, she
probably was able to convince many female centrist voters, which likely were the
"swing voters" in this campaign. In addition, the minaret campaign obviously
managed to mobilize the right wing voters in an unexpected and unprecedented
fashion, which was detrimental for our result.

While we could convince only one third of the voters overall, we were much
better in the urban areas: Out of the 5 largest cities, we have won Geneva,
Berne and Lausanne and missed the majority in Zurich and Basle only by a few
percents. Probably, the younger voters were much more favorable to our
initiative than the older ones (Though, this will be definitive only after the
results of the post-election polls are published in a few weeks.)

Still, we consider the arms export campaign a success. The public debate ahead
of the vote was quite intense in all newspapers. We have distributed 400'000
leaflets, which is about one for every tenth eligible voter. Hundreds of people
got active in the campaign in one way or the other; many of them were involved
in politics for the first time. When we started in 2005, a lot of people weren't
aware that Switzerland actually exports arms. This definitively has changed.

We will continue to look very closely at how the government handles arms
exports. Especially, we will see if the minister of economic affairs holds her
promise not to grant new export licenses to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Thank you for your helpful support during the campaign! We hope that some of the
things we did can be an inspiration of you in one way or the other...

Best regards,
Andreas

Our campaign websites are here
English: http://www.gsoa.ch/english/
German: http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch/>
French: http://www.materieldeguerre.ch <http://www.materieldeguerre.ch/>
Italian: http://www.materialebellico.ch <http://www.materialebellico.ch/>


--
 
GSoA-Logo<https://mailgate.saferworld.org.uk/exchange/Roy/Drafts/RE:%20[ENAAT]%2\
0Swiss%20referendum:%2031.8%20%25%20yes%20_xF8FF_%20minaret%20shame.EML/1_multip\
art/GSoA-Logo.jpg>


Andi Weibel


Gruppe für eine Schweiz ohne Armee GSoA

M: 079 383 41 40 // www.gsoa.ch <http://www.gsoa.ch/>  // andi@...

Unterstütze unser Engagement gegen die Waffenlobby mit einer Online-Spende
<http://www.gsoa.ch/gsoa/spenden>


Am 29. Nobember 2009: 'JA' zum Verbot von Kriegsmaterial-Exporten

www.kriegsmaterial.ch <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch/>



______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
______________________________________________________________________

Norway Supports the Political Declaration on the Level Playing Field for the European Defence Equipment Market

Gidday

I'm definitely no expert on military list category details, but at first glance
I would say you need to be very careful.

Comparing what you wrote in the original email ...

"We claim that this device is not covered by the Munitions List, because this
engine component is only modified, but not specifically designed for military
use and therefore the device does not fall under the definition of ML10 d."

With that relevant bit of the Wassenaar List ...

"Aero-engines specially designed or modified for military use, and specially
designed components therefor"

I gather your argument is that because this is only a COMPONENT for an engine,
rather than a whole engine, then no licence is required.  But the question then
shifts to whether a modification of a component for military use would need to
be specially designed.  And I would have thought it quite feasible to argue that
yes indeed this would require design.  In which case, you would need a licence.

However, I want to stress again that I am not an expert on this, and there may
be an accepted way of interpreting it that I know nothing about.  Certainly I
would not be the right person to put in front of a camera or microphone on the
subject.

Have you thought of contacting the Wassenaar Arrangement Secretariat direct?  If
you couch your enquiry along the lines of this general question of
interpretation, rather than the specifics of this particular case, they may be
able to help.  I doubt they would be willing to appear in front of the media, in
fact I'd bet a lot of money they wouldn't, but you might be able to reference
them as having given a definitive answer.

Then again, there may not be a definitive answer.  It is in fact quite likely
that at least some states will make decisions about modifications of this type
on a case-by-case basis (in the UK there is the mechanism known as a Ratings
Enquiry -- exporters contact the authorities to find out whether they need to
apply for a licence -- I imagine other states will have something similar).

Sorry not to be of more help or more definitive.

Best of luck,
Roy

-----Original Message-----
From: Rolf Lindahl [mailto:rolf.listor@...]
Sent: 17 November 2009 10:11
To: ENAAT@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Roy Isbister; Berkol Ilhan
Subject: Re: [ENAAT] Swiss referendum: Some news and an important question

Dear Andreas
I guess Ian Anthony or Sibylle Bauer at Sipri would be able to comment on that:
http://apps.sipri.org/sipri/staff_dep.php

/rolf





Campagne tegen Wapenhandel - Frank Slijper skrev:
>
>
> Roy from Saferworld or Ilhan Berkol from GRIP?
>
>
> _________________________
>
> Frank Slijper
> Campagne tegen Wapenhandel
> Postbus 7007
> 9701 JA Groningen - NL
> T: +31 (0)50 3133247
> M: +31 (0)6 28504778
> E: frank@... <mailto:frank@...>
> www.stopwapenhandel.org <http://www.stopwapenhandel.org>
> www.stoparmstrade.org
>
> Op 17 nov 2009, om 10:55 heeft Andreas Weibel (GSoA) het volgende
> geschreven:
>
>> Dear Frank,
>>
>> Thank you for your answer!
>>
>> We completely share your analysis. The problem is that we're
>> currently in a situation where we say that these devices are not
>> covered by the munitions list and our opponents say they are... The
>> media and the voters don't know whom to trust now. Therefore: Does
>> anyone know somebody who might get through as "independent expert" on
>> the topic (maybe someone without a "tegen wapenhandel"-label ;-) )
>> and who would be available to speak with Swiss media? This would be a
>> real asset to our campaign!
>>
>> Best,
>> Andreas
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dear Andreas,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Looks fantastic how support for your ban is growing - very exciting!
>>>
>>> On Wassenaar: I certainly would not say that I'm an expert there,
>>> but just looking at the Wassenaar website
>>> (http://www.wassenaar.org/controllists/index.html
>>> <http://www.wassenaar.org/controllists/index.html>) you can see that
>>> they do cover both military goods (on the oddly called 'munitions
>>> list') and dual-use, though they use two clearly distinguished lists
>>> for each of them which all Wassenaar member states incl. Switzerland
>>> are supposed to use for export control purposes.
>>> Then I am almost 100% sure that your vibration sensor is covered by
>>> dual-use list, depending on precise specifications, either through
>>> the section 7 on navigation/avionics (7.E.4.b) or section 9
>>> aerospace/propulsion (9.B.6).
>>> Else, it should have the specifiction included that it has been
>>> 'specifically designed' for military purposes - that might make it
>>> on the munitions list, but given that you say that it is widely used
>>> in civil avionics I would doubt that.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps,
>>> best wishes and good luck!
>>>
>>> Frank
>>> _________________________
>>>
>>> Frank Slijper
>>> Campagne tegen Wapenhandel
>>> Postbus 7007
>>> 9701 JA Groningen - NL
>>> T: +31 (0)50 3133247
>>> M: +31 (0)6 28504778
>>> E: frank@... <mailto:frank@...>
>>> www.stopwapenhandel.org <http://www.stopwapenhandel.org>
>>> www.stoparmstrade.org
>>>
>>> Op 17 nov 2009, om 03:11 heeft Andreas Weibel (GSoA) het volgende
>>> geschreven:
>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Here are some news on the referendum on a ban on arms exports that
>>>> will be hold in Switzerland on November 29, as well as an important
>>>> question to all of you who might have some knowledge on the details
>>>> of international arms control regimes...
>>>>
>>>> *Here are some news from our campaign*
>>>>
>>>> *  *17/11/2009*: Even before the vote on the arms export ban is
>>>> over, we can conclude that our campaign has been a major success.
>>>> Arms exports have become a major topic in the Swiss public.
>>>> National and regional newspapers are covering the topic very
>>>> intensely. New scandals with Swiss arms exports are unveiled with a
>>>> rate of one or two per week. The latest are: The Iranian military
>>>> apparently uses Swiss anti-aircraft artillery to protect its
>>>> uranium enrichment facilities; Swiss rifles were sold to the state
>>>> police of Chhattisgarh this year. According to Human Rights Watch,
>>>> this police force recruits child soldiers to fight in the armed
>>>> conflict against the Naxalites.
>>>> *  *12/11/2009*: Religious leaders of all major Swiss congregations
>>>> speak out in favor of an arms trade at press conference in the
>>>> central protestant church of Berne. In addition, five out of the
>>>> big six Swiss foreign aid agencies support the initiative. (The
>>>> sixth does not want to take a position.) *  *06/11/2009*: Watch
>>>> more campaign video clips:
>>>> http://gsoa.ch/themen/kriegsmaterial-exporte/01015/neue-clips/
>>>> *  *02/11/2009*: Two Nobel peace prize laureates, Archbishop
>>>> Desmond Tutu of South Africa and human rights activist Adolfo Pérez
>>>> Esquivel of Argentina have publicly endorsed our campaign - Read
>>>> more in English =>
>>>> http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/suche/Result.html?siteSect=882&ty=nd&si
>>>> d=11439856 (At one point in time, we tried to assemble a few
>>>> European MPs behind our initiative. We finally gave up on that,
>>>> first because the feedback was rather sparse and second, because
>>>> the support by the two Nobel peace prize laureates already allowed
>>>> us to underscore the international dimension of our campaign.) *
>>>> *01/11/2009*: The "NZZ am Sonntag" newspaper has revealed that the
>>>> Federal Council is still granting export licences for ammunition to
>>>> Pakistan. This is a clear contradiction to previous statements of
>>>> the Federal Council this year. The Federal Council justifies the
>>>> grants by claiming that only spare parts were delivered - implying
>>>> that ammunition is some kind of spare part.
>>>> *  *29/10/2009*: Watch this report on our campaign in the French
>>>> speaking evening news broadcast:
>>>> http://www.tsr.ch/tsr/index.html?siteSect=500000&bcid=711600#vid=11
>>>> 423642 *  *28/10/2009*: UNIA, Switzerland's largest trade union,
>>>> has decided to support our campaign.
>>>>
>>>> In short: I think we're rocking quite a bit. On Thursday, exactely
>>>> on 18:00, there will be a Switzerland-wide 4-minute-long "die-in"
>>>> in all major train stations. So far, 5000 people have announced on
>>>> Facebook that they will participate. Even if only a portion of them
>>>> will actually show up, this will be a lot of fun.
>>>>
>>>> Up to now, no new official polls have been released. We expect the
>>>> result of the second poll within the next few days, though. Rumors
>>>> say that we're still a few points behind, but not trailing
>>>> significantly. We'll keep you posted.
>>>>
>>>> We are trying to keep our English summary somewhat updated at
>>>> http://www.gsoa.ch/english/
>>>>
>>>> *Question =>
>>>> Do you know an independent expert on the Wassenaar Arrangement?*
>>>>
>>>> The Wassenaar Arrangement is of crucial importance to our
>>>> referendum, because its Munitions List defines which goods are
>>>> affected by the ban and which are not. One of our arguments is that
>>>> the Munitions List is very clear and only covers "real arms" (as
>>>> opposed to dual-use goods). Of course, our opponents are trying to
>>>> seed uncertainty and doubt about the scope of a possible ban,
>>>> claiming much more companies would be affected than in reality.
>>>>
>>>> In the last days, there has been a public debate on one very
>>>> specific device. The opponents of the ban say that it is a
>>>> basically civilian good that would be affected by the ban. We say
>>>> that this device would not be affected by the ban. Swiss
>>>> authorities - which would be the experts on that topic - are
>>>> keeping silent (and thus helping our opponents with their
>>>> uncertainty-campaign, of course). The public debate around this
>>>> device is a bit of a placeholder discussion and the result of the
>>>> debate could be decisive for the result of the vote.
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone of you know an expert in the field of the Wassenaar
>>>> Arrangement who would be available to speak with Swiss media?
>>>>
>>>> Specifically, the discussion revolves around a vibration sensor for
>>>> jet engines. It is used for engines for civil aircraft and in a
>>>> slightly modified version for military aircraft. A short
>>>> description of that device can be found in this 4 minute documentary:
>>>> http://videoportal.sf.tv/video?id=e62c8d0a-f361-4b49-87e0-03f4158c1
>>>> 722;c=white
>>>>
>>>> We claim that this device is not covered by the Munitions List,
>>>> because this engine component is only modified, but not
>>>> specifically designed for military use and therefore the device
>>>> does not fall under the definition of ML10 d.
>>>>
>>>> *<= End of the Question*
>>>>
>>>> Best regards and thanks for any help!
>>>> Andreas
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> PS: Our campaign websites in German / French / Italian are:
>>>> http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch
>>>> http://www.materieldeguerre.ch
>>>> http://www.materialebellico.ch
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> <GSoA-Logo.jpg>
>>>>
>>>> Andi Weibel
>>>>
>>>> Gruppe für eine Schweiz ohne Armee GSoA
>>>>
>>>> M: 079 383 41 40 // www.gsoa.ch <http://www.gsoa.ch/> //
>>>> andi@...
>>>>
>>>> <mailto:andi@...> *Unterstütze unser Engagement gegen die
>>>> Waffenlobby mit einer Online-Spende
>>>> <http://www.gsoa.ch/gsoa/spenden>
>>>>
>>>> **
>>>> Am 29. Nobember 2009: 'JA' zum Verbot von Kriegsmaterial-Exporten
>>>> **
>>>> *www.kriegsmaterial.ch <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> <GSoA-Logo.jpg>
>>
>> Andi Weibel
>>
>> Gruppe für eine Schweiz ohne Armee GSoA
>>
>> M: 079 383 41 40 // www.gsoa.ch <http://www.gsoa.ch/> // andi@...
>>
>> <mailto:andi@...> *Unterstütze unser Engagement gegen die
>> Waffenlobby mit einer Online-Spende <http://www.gsoa.ch/gsoa/spenden>
>>
>> **
>> Am 29. Nobember 2009: 'JA' zum Verbot von Kriegsmaterial-Exporten
>> **
>> *www.kriegsmaterial.ch <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch>
>
>


______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
______________________________________________________________________

Dear Andreas
I guess Ian Anthony or Sibylle Bauer at Sipri would be able to comment
on that:
http://apps.sipri.org/sipri/staff_dep.php

/rolf





Campagne tegen Wapenhandel - Frank Slijper skrev:
>
>
> Roy from Saferworld or Ilhan Berkol from GRIP?
>
>
> _________________________
>
> Frank Slijper
> Campagne tegen Wapenhandel
> Postbus 7007
> 9701 JA Groningen - NL
> T: +31 (0)50 3133247
> M: +31 (0)6 28504778
> E: frank@... <mailto:frank@...>
> www.stopwapenhandel.org <http://www.stopwapenhandel.org>
> www.stoparmstrade.org
>
> Op 17 nov 2009, om 10:55 heeft Andreas Weibel (GSoA) het volgende
> geschreven:
>
>> Dear Frank,
>>
>> Thank you for your answer!
>>
>> We completely share your analysis. The problem is that we're
>> currently in a situation where we say that these devices are not
>> covered by the munitions list and our opponents say they are... The
>> media and the voters don't know whom to trust now. Therefore: Does
>> anyone know somebody who might get through as "independent expert" on
>> the topic (maybe someone without a "tegen wapenhandel"-label ;-) )
>> and who would be available to speak with Swiss media? This would be a
>> real asset to our campaign!
>>
>> Best,
>> Andreas
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dear Andreas,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Looks fantastic how support for your ban is growing - very exciting!
>>>
>>> On Wassenaar: I certainly would not say that I'm an expert there,
>>> but just looking at the Wassenaar website
>>> (http://www.wassenaar.org/controllists/index.html
>>> <http://www.wassenaar.org/controllists/index.html>) you can see that
>>> they do cover both military goods (on the oddly called 'munitions
>>> list') and dual-use, though they use two clearly distinguished lists
>>> for each of them which all Wassenaar member states incl. Switzerland
>>> are supposed to use for export control purposes.
>>> Then I am almost 100% sure that your vibration sensor is covered by
>>> dual-use list, depending on precise specifications, either through
>>> the section 7 on navigation/avionics (7.E.4.b) or section 9
>>> aerospace/propulsion (9.B.6).
>>> Else, it should have the specifiction included that it has been
>>> 'specifically designed' for military purposes - that might make it
>>> on the munitions list, but given that you say that it is widely used
>>> in civil avionics I would doubt that.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps,
>>> best wishes and good luck!
>>>
>>> Frank
>>> _________________________
>>>
>>> Frank Slijper
>>> Campagne tegen Wapenhandel
>>> Postbus 7007
>>> 9701 JA Groningen - NL
>>> T: +31 (0)50 3133247
>>> M: +31 (0)6 28504778
>>> E: frank@... <mailto:frank@...>
>>> www.stopwapenhandel.org <http://www.stopwapenhandel.org>
>>> www.stoparmstrade.org
>>>
>>> Op 17 nov 2009, om 03:11 heeft Andreas Weibel (GSoA) het volgende
>>> geschreven:
>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Here are some news on the referendum on a ban on arms exports that
>>>> will be hold in Switzerland on November 29, as well as an important
>>>> question to all of you who might have some knowledge on the details
>>>> of international arms control regimes...
>>>>
>>>> *Here are some news from our campaign*
>>>>
>>>> •  *17/11/2009*: Even before the vote on the arms export ban is
>>>> over, we can conclude that our campaign has been a major success.
>>>> Arms exports have become a major topic in the Swiss public.
>>>> National and regional newspapers are covering the topic very
>>>> intensely. New scandals with Swiss arms exports are unveiled with a
>>>> rate of one or two per week. The latest are: The Iranian military
>>>> apparently uses Swiss anti-aircraft artillery to protect its
>>>> uranium enrichment facilities; Swiss rifles were sold to the state
>>>> police of Chhattisgarh this year. According to Human Rights Watch,
>>>> this police force recruits child soldiers to fight in the armed
>>>> conflict against the Naxalites.
>>>> •  *12/11/2009*: Religious leaders of all major Swiss congregations
>>>> speak out in favor of an arms trade at press conference in the
>>>> central protestant church of Berne. In addition, five out of the
>>>> big six Swiss foreign aid agencies support the initiative. (The
>>>> sixth does not want to take a position.)
>>>> •  *06/11/2009*: Watch more campaign video clips:
>>>> http://gsoa.ch/themen/kriegsmaterial-exporte/01015/neue-clips/
>>>> •  *02/11/2009*: Two Nobel peace prize laureates, Archbishop
>>>> Desmond Tutu of South Africa and human rights activist Adolfo Pérez
>>>> Esquivel of Argentina have publicly endorsed our campaign - Read
>>>> more in English =>
>>>>
http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/suche/Result.html?siteSect=882&ty=nd&sid=11439856
>>>> (At one point in time, we tried to assemble a few European MPs
>>>> behind our initiative. We finally gave up on that, first because
>>>> the feedback was rather sparse and second, because the support by
>>>> the two Nobel peace prize laureates already allowed us to
>>>> underscore the international dimension of our campaign.)
>>>> •  *01/11/2009*: The "NZZ am Sonntag" newspaper has revealed that
>>>> the Federal Council is still granting export licences for
>>>> ammunition to Pakistan. This is a clear contradiction to previous
>>>> statements of the Federal Council this year. The Federal Council
>>>> justifies the grants by claiming that only spare parts were
>>>> delivered - implying that ammunition is some kind of spare part.
>>>> •  *29/10/2009*: Watch this report on our campaign in the French
>>>> speaking evening news broadcast:
>>>> http://www.tsr.ch/tsr/index.html?siteSect=500000&bcid=711600#vid=11423642
>>>> •  *28/10/2009*: UNIA, Switzerland's largest trade union, has
>>>> decided to support our campaign.
>>>>
>>>> In short: I think we're rocking quite a bit. On Thursday, exactely
>>>> on 18:00, there will be a Switzerland-wide 4-minute-long "die-in"
>>>> in all major train stations. So far, 5000 people have announced on
>>>> Facebook that they will participate. Even if only a portion of them
>>>> will actually show up, this will be a lot of fun.
>>>>
>>>> Up to now, no new official polls have been released. We expect the
>>>> result of the second poll within the next few days, though. Rumors
>>>> say that we’re still a few points behind, but not trailing
>>>> significantly. We'll keep you posted.
>>>>
>>>> We are trying to keep our English summary somewhat updated at
>>>> http://www.gsoa.ch/english/
>>>>
>>>> *Question =>
>>>> Do you know an independent expert on the Wassenaar Arrangement?*
>>>>
>>>> The Wassenaar Arrangement is of crucial importance to our
>>>> referendum, because its Munitions List defines which goods are
>>>> affected by the ban and which are not. One of our arguments is that
>>>> the Munitions List is very clear and only covers "real arms" (as
>>>> opposed to dual-use goods). Of course, our opponents are trying to
>>>> seed uncertainty and doubt about the scope of a possible ban,
>>>> claiming much more companies would be affected than in reality.
>>>>
>>>> In the last days, there has been a public debate on one very
>>>> specific device. The opponents of the ban say that it is a
>>>> basically civilian good that would be affected by the ban. We say
>>>> that this device would not be affected by the ban. Swiss
>>>> authorities - which would be the experts on that topic - are
>>>> keeping silent (and thus helping our opponents with their
>>>> uncertainty-campaign, of course). The public debate around this
>>>> device is a bit of a placeholder discussion and the result of the
>>>> debate could be decisive for the result of the vote.
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone of you know an expert in the field of the Wassenaar
>>>> Arrangement who would be available to speak with Swiss media?
>>>>
>>>> Specifically, the discussion revolves around a vibration sensor for
>>>> jet engines. It is used for engines for civil aircraft and in a
>>>> slightly modified version for military aircraft. A short
>>>> description of that device can be found in this 4 minute documentary:
>>>>
http://videoportal.sf.tv/video?id=e62c8d0a-f361-4b49-87e0-03f4158c1722;c=white
>>>>
>>>> We claim that this device is not covered by the Munitions List,
>>>> because this engine component is only modified, but not
>>>> specifically designed for military use and therefore the device
>>>> does not fall under the definition of ML10 d.
>>>>
>>>> *<= End of the Question*
>>>>
>>>> Best regards and thanks for any help!
>>>> Andreas
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> PS: Our campaign websites in German / French / Italian are:
>>>> http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch
>>>> http://www.materieldeguerre.ch
>>>> http://www.materialebellico.ch
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> <GSoA-Logo.jpg>
>>>>
>>>> Andi Weibel
>>>>
>>>> Gruppe für eine Schweiz ohne Armee GSoA
>>>>
>>>> M: 079 383 41 40 // www.gsoa.ch <http://www.gsoa.ch/> // andi@...
>>>>
>>>> <mailto:andi@...> *Unterstütze unser Engagement gegen die
>>>> Waffenlobby mit einer Online-Spende <http://www.gsoa.ch/gsoa/spenden>
>>>>
>>>> **
>>>> Am 29. Nobember 2009: 'JA' zum Verbot von Kriegsmaterial-Exporten
>>>> **
>>>> *www.kriegsmaterial.ch <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> <GSoA-Logo.jpg>
>>
>> Andi Weibel
>>
>> Gruppe für eine Schweiz ohne Armee GSoA
>>
>> M: 079 383 41 40 // www.gsoa.ch <http://www.gsoa.ch/> // andi@...
>>
>> <mailto:andi@...> *Unterstütze unser Engagement gegen die
>> Waffenlobby mit einer Online-Spende <http://www.gsoa.ch/gsoa/spenden>
>>
>> **
>> Am 29. Nobember 2009: 'JA' zum Verbot von Kriegsmaterial-Exporten
>> **
>> *www.kriegsmaterial.ch <http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch>
>
>

 

Dear Andreas,

Looks fantastic how support for your ban is growing - very exciting!

On Wassenaar: I certainly would not say that I'm an expert there, but just looking at the Wassenaar website (http://www.wassenaar.org/controllists/index.html) you can see that they do cover both military goods (on the oddly called 'munitions list') and dual-use, though they use two clearly distinguished lists for each of them which all Wassenaar member states incl. Switzerland are supposed to use for export control purposes.

Then I am almost 100% sure that your vibration sensor is covered by dual-use list, depending on precise specifications, either through the section 7 on navigation/avionics (7.E.4.b) or section 9 aerospace/propulsion (9.B.6).

Else, it should have the specifiction included that it has been 'specifically designed' for military purposes - that might make it on the munitions list, but given that you say that it is widely used in civil avionics I would doubt that.

Hope this helps,

best wishes and good luck!

Frank

_________________________

Frank Slijper

Campagne tegen Wapenhandel

Postbus 7007

9701 JA Groningen - NL

T: +31 (0)50 3133247

M: +31 (0)6 28504778

E: frank@stopwapenhandel.org

www.stopwapenhandel.org www.stoparmstrade.org

Op 17 nov 2009, om 03:11 heeft Andreas Weibel (GSoA) het volgende geschreven:

Hi all,

Here are some news on the referendum on a ban on arms exports that will be hold in Switzerland on November 29, as well as an important question to all of you who might have some knowledge on the details of international arms control regimes...

Here are some news from our campaign

•  17/11/2009: Even before the vote on the arms export ban is over, we can conclude that our campaign has been a major success. Arms exports have become a major topic in the Swiss public. National and regional newspapers are covering the topic very intensely. New scandals with Swiss arms exports are unveiled with a rate of one or two per week. The latest are: The Iranian military apparently uses Swiss anti-aircraft artillery to protect its uranium enrichment facilities; Swiss rifles were sold to the state police of Chhattisgarh this year. According to Human Rights Watch, this police force recruits child soldiers to fight in the armed conflict against the Naxalites.
•  12/11/2009: Religious leaders of all major Swiss congregations speak out in favor of an arms trade at press conference in the central protestant church of Berne. In addition, five out of the big six Swiss foreign aid agencies support the initiative. (The sixth does not want to take a position.)
•  06/11/2009: Watch more campaign video clips: http://gsoa.ch/themen/kriegsmaterial-exporte/01015/neue-clips/
•  02/11/2009: Two Nobel peace prize laureates, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and human rights activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel of Argentina have publicly endorsed our campaign - Read more in English => http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/suche/Result.html?siteSect=882&ty=nd&sid=11439856
(At one point in time, we tried to assemble a few European MPs behind our initiative. We finally gave up on that, first because the feedback was rather sparse and second, because the support by the two Nobel peace prize laureates already allowed us to underscore the international dimension of our campaign.)
•  01/11/2009: The "NZZ am Sonntag" newspaper has revealed that the Federal Council is still granting export licences for ammunition to Pakistan. This is a clear contradiction to previous statements of the Federal Council this year. The Federal Council justifies the grants by claiming that only spare parts were delivered - implying that ammunition is some kind of spare part.
•  29/10/2009: Watch this report on our campaign in the French speaking evening news broadcast: http://www.tsr.ch/tsr/index.html?siteSect=500000&bcid=711600#vid=11423642
•  28/10/2009: UNIA, Switzerland's largest trade union, has decided to support our campaign.

In short: I think we're rocking quite a bit. On Thursday, exactely on 18:00, there will be a Switzerland-wide 4-minute-long "die-in" in all major train stations. So far, 5000 people have announced on Facebook that they will participate. Even if only a portion of them will actually show up, this will be a lot of fun.

Up to now, no new official polls have been released. We expect the result of the second poll within the next few days, though. Rumors say that we’re still a few points behind, but not trailing significantly. We'll keep you posted.

We are trying to keep our English summary somewhat updated at http://www.gsoa.ch/english/

Question =>
Do you know an independent expert on the Wassenaar Arrangement?

The Wassenaar Arrangement is of crucial importance to our referendum, because its Munitions List defines which goods are affected by the ban and which are not. One of our arguments is that the Munitions List is very clear and only covers "real arms" (as opposed to dual-use goods). Of course, our opponents are trying to seed uncertainty and doubt about the scope of a possible ban, claiming much more companies would be affected than in reality.

In the last days, there has been a public debate on one very specific device. The opponents of the ban say that it is a basically civilian good that would be affected by the ban. We say that this device would not be affected by the ban. Swiss authorities - which would be the experts on that topic - are keeping silent (and thus helping our opponents with their uncertainty-campaign, of course). The public debate around this device is a bit of a placeholder discussion and the result of the debate could be decisive for the result of the vote.

Does anyone of you know an expert in the field of the Wassenaar Arrangement who would be available to speak with Swiss media?

Specifically, the discussion revolves around a vibration sensor for jet engines. It is used for engines for civil aircraft and in a slightly modified version for military aircraft. A short description of that device can be found in this 4 minute documentary:
http://videoportal.sf.tv/video?id=e62c8d0a-f361-4b49-87e0-03f4158c1722;c=white

We claim that this device is not covered by the Munitions List, because this engine component is only modified, but not specifically designed for military use and therefore the device does not fall under the definition of ML10 d.

<= End of the Question

Best regards and thanks for any help!
Andreas


PS: Our campaign websites in German / French / Italian are:
http://www.kriegsmaterial.ch
http://www.materieldeguerre.ch
http://www.materialebellico.ch

--
<GSoA-Logo.jpg>

Andi Weibel

Gruppe für eine Schweiz ohne Armee GSoA

M: 079 383 41 40 // www.gsoa.ch // andi@...

Unterstütze unser Engagement gegen die Waffenlobby mit einer Online-Spende


Am 29. Nobember 2009: 'JA' zum Verbot von Kriegsmaterial-Exporten

www.kriegsmaterial.ch

--

Andi Weibel

Gruppe für eine Schweiz ohne Armee GSoA

M: 079 383 41 40 // www.gsoa.ch // andi@...

Unterstütze unser Engagement gegen die Waffenlobby mit einer Online-Spende


Am 29. Nobember 2009: 'JA' zum Verbot von Kriegsmaterial-Exporten

www.kriegsmaterial.ch

EU decision on Uzbekistan appalls human rights groups

"Die Deutschen machen sich von einem Diktator abhängig",
Alain Délétroz in Die Zeit

20 Oktober 2009
Die Zeit

* SIPRI Background Paper
Arms Transfers to the Middle East *
/Sam Perlo-Freeman/
The levels of military expenditure and arms imports in the Middle East
have increased in recent years. The region receives substantial major
conventional arms transfers relative to its economic size. Many states
in the region are modernizing their military equipment holdings. United
Nation member states are currently discussing the feasibility of an arms
trade treaty (ATT) which would seek to create better controls on
international arms transfers. This Background Paper is one of a series
produced by SIPRI to inform these discussions. Read more and download
the Background Paper here
<http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=388>.





* SIPRI Background Paper
Arms Flows to the Conflict in Chad *
/Pieter D. Wezeman/
It is estimated that arms imports by Chad were five times higher in
2004-2008 than in 1999-2003. The rebel forces in Chad have obtained
weapons from the Sudanese Government and from the large pool of weapons
available throughout the region, although accurate information is
scarce, especially about transfers of small arms and light weapons.
Read more and download the Background Paper here
<http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=389>.





	 * SIPRI Background Paper
Arms Transfers to the Americas *
/Mark Bromley/
Arms transfers to the Americas, particularly to South America, have
risen sharply in recent years. Illicit transfers of small arms and light
weapons can have a particularly destabilizing effect on all states in
the region. A number of transparency and confidence-building measures
have been developed. One of the series of SIPRI Background Papers
prepared to inform discussions on the arms trade treaty. Read more and
download the Background Paper here
<http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=381>.


© SIPRI 2009. ISSN 1654-8264. Contact SIPRI by email: sipri@...;
telephone: +46 8/655 97 00; fax: +46 8/655 97 33;
or post: SIPRI, Signalistgatan 9, SE-169 70 Solna, Sweden, or visit us
online at www.sipri.org
This message was sent to mailbox@.... If you would prefer not to
continue receiving /SIPRI Update/, send an email to sipri@...
<mailto:sipri@...?subject=unsubscribe> with the subject line
'unsubscribe'


--
Campagne tegen Wapenhandel
Phone +31 (0)20 6164684
GSM +31 (0)6 506 522 06
Skype wendela_de_vries
www.stopwapenhandel.org
www.stoparmstrade.org

Dear ENAAT

Hillary Clinton has issued a statement that the US to supporting a
strong ATT:

www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/10/130573.htm
<http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/10/130573.htm>

The details are that the US will support the resolution at First
Committee of the UN General Assembly establishing a negotiating
conference in 2012. It will do this if the conference works on the basis
of consensus.

We feel this is a great success for our members in the US and worldwide
who have been trying to change the US position for many years, though
with strong reservations about the possible harm of the insistence on
working by consensus, which may provide opponent states with a veto
(though we know this would likely have been the case anyway, even if
there was not an explicit reference to consensus).

We think it is great news that the US and EU are now working together
for a strong treaty, and we need to urge EU governments to seize this
opportunity to ensure we have a strong treaty in 2012. We’ll circulate a
draft media release later, if you would like to adapt it for your
national media; but you obviously don’t need to wait if you would like
to start contacting journalists now.

Amnesty International and Oxfam International have already issued their
own joint media release.

Cheers,

Alun

Alun Howard PhD

Policy Officer
IANSA - International Action Network on Small Arms

Development House
56-64 Leonard Street
London EC2A 4LT (UK)

Tel: +44 20 7065 0866
Fax: +44 20 7065 0871
alun.howard@... <mailto:alun.howard@...>
www.iansa.org <http://www.iansa.org/>

• Our campaign has been officially launched on 8 October. At our press conference, additional three important organisations declared that they will join our referendum campaign: Greenpeace Switzerland, SWISSAID and HEKS (the aid agency of Switzerland's protestant churches). Our coalition comprises almost 50 organisations now.
• This Sunday, a group of 70 university professors in law, representing all law departments of Swiss universities, published an open letter that states that the administration violates applicable law by allowing exports to countries that are involved in an armed conflict*. They say that 8 our of the 10 top costumer countries of Swiss arms are involved in an armed conflict and cannot be supplied with arms legally. This open letter has made headline news in all major media for several days now - the debate on arms trade has flipped from unemployment to the legality of arms exports to countries such as Pakistan or Saudi-Arabia. This is good news.
• Yesterday, our campaign song and video clip was released. There was excellent media coverage about that as well. You can find the song, the lyrics and the video here: http://gsoa.ch/trouble/
  Feel free to spread the link. The video is indeed gorgeous!
• Earlier, further internal documents about the infiltration attempt against the GSoA were leaked to the public. The PR agency "Farner PR" had to acknowledge that they really tried to spy upon us. Fortunately, the damage caused by the infiltration doesn't seem to be too big. Nevertheless, it seems that there is an emerging pattern of the arms industry spying on us in all Europe - or maybe we just become better at uncovering such attempts.
  
• You can now find a Castellano translation of the campaign website here: http://antimilitaristas.org/spip.php?article4298 (Thanks to the translators!) You find the links to the official websites in German, French and Italian at the bottom of this mail.
  

• Make sure that all your friends with Swiss nationality are registered at an embassy or a consulate and will cast their vote on time.
• If you get hold of any information about Swiss arms being used anywhere in the world, please let us know.
  

--

Andi Weibel

Gruppe für eine Schweiz ohne Armee GSoA

M: 079 383 41 40 // www.gsoa.ch // andi@...

Unterstütze unser Engagement gegen die Waffenlobby mit einer Online-Spende


Am 29. Nobember 2009: 'JA' zum Verbot von Kriegsmaterial-Exporten


www.kriegsmaterial.ch

www.materieldeguerre.ch

www.materialebellico.ch

Campagne tegen Wapenhandel Phone +31 (0)20 6164684
GSM +31 (0)6 506 522 06 Skype wendela_de_vries
www.stopwapenhandel.org
www.stoparmstrade.org

Dear Cordula,
Did it, see
http://www.stopwapenhandel.org/actueel/acties/dsei.html
There is an impressive Dutch presence at DSEi, including a navy ship and
a undersecretary of defence.
Kind regards
Wendela de Vries


Ann Feltham schreef:
>
> _
>
> _I am writing to inform you that the Defence Systems and Equipment
> International, or DSEi, Arms Fair is taking place at the ExCel Centre
> in London's Docklands this September. DSEi is staged every other year
> and is one of the world's largest arms fairs. Campaign Against Arms
> Trade (CAAT) has long been campaigning for the closure of DSEi.
> Arms fairs such as DSEi play a key role in the devastating global arms
> trade; a trade which fuels conflict, undermines development, and
> exacerbates poverty and human rights abuses. While arms fairs cost the
> taxpayer millions of pounds through government support, arms companies
> make massive profits from the violence, death and destruction the arms
> trade perpetuates.
> The UK government actively supports this event. UKTI (UK Trade &
> Investment) is a government department that helps businesses sell
> their products worldwide. In 2008, it opened the Defence & Security
> Organisation to promote arms exports. Essentially, it now employs
> civil servants to help private companies sell arms. UKTI's support for
> the arms trade is totally disproportionate: arms sales account for
> just 1.5% of UK exports – yet UKTI now devotes as many staff to arms
> sales as it does to every other industry sector combined.
> CAAT wants to see an end to DSEi – and an end to the government
> support that makes it possible. We are seeking support from other
> organisations to call for an end to UKTI's support for arms sales.
> *Would your organisation consider adding its name to the attached
> statement?* The names of supporting organisations will be handed into
> UKTI as part of our campaign, and listed on CAAT's website:
> www.caat.org.uk <http://www.caat.org.uk/>.
> CAAT will be holding a peaceful demonstration outside the ExCel Centre
> on the first day of DSEi Tuesday, 8 September at 11am to call for an
> end to the fair. In the afternoon we will take our protest to UKTI
> DSO's office to expose its role in perpetuating this deadly trade.
> *Your organisation and its supporters are very welcome to join us on
> this day. We would also like to ask if it is possible that you could
> put information about the DSEi protest on your online events
> calendar?* – We would be happy to provide a description of the event
> to meet your specifications. You can find out more at:
> http://www.caat.org.uk/campaigns/ukti/dsei/joinus.php
> <http://www.caat.org.uk/campaigns/ukti/dsei/joinus.php>
> Thank you for taking the time to read this email!
> Yours sincerely,
> Cordula Bieri
> CAAT Intern
> CAAT
> 11 Goodwin Street
> London N4 3HQ
> UK
> +44-20-7281 0297
> www.caat.org.uk
>


--
Coördinator Campagne tegen Wapenhandel
Phone +31 (0)20 6164684
GSM +31 (0)6 506 522 06
Skype wendela_de_vries
www.stopwapenhandel.org
www.stoparmstrade.org
www.jsf-nee.nl

John

I very much support what Wendela says. The Campaign Against Arms Trade in the UK
agrees with an ATT in principle, but, since the Government and arms industry do
not think it will make any practical difference to UK exports, this is, for us,
a minor issue. You can read more at http://www.caat.org.uk/issues/att.php

For CAAT, the focus is to break the strong links between the arms industry and
the Government. In the UK, the Government promotes arms exports through UK Trade
& Investment. UKTI is supporting the DSEi arms fair in London Docklands from 8th
to 11th September and CAAT is using this to highlight this Government support
for an immoral trade.

As Wendela says, the economic arguments do not hold up. UK Defence Equipment
Minister Quentin Davies MP questioned the idea that producing military equipment
is the way to stimulate the economy when he appeared before the Commons' Defence
Committee on 16th December 2008. He said that: ".. to use your money for maximum
impact you need to spend it on goods and services which are labour-intensive
rather than capital intensive in their manufacture so that the benefits flow
through into pay packets rather than into rewards for providers of capital -
banks and shareholders and so forth who would inevitably have a very high
propensity to save and a low propensity to consume. Ideally you need these wages
to flow through to people who are relatively low-paid. This is not the case with
defence; defence is capital-intensive rather than labour-intensive." By a
Government Minister's own admission, supporting military exports does not appear
to be a recipe for helping the UK out of recession.

In 2007 UK government-funded Research and Development for renewable energy was
around £42million, compared to £2,598million for arms (28% of all Government
R&D). A move of funds from arms to renewable energy is long overdue.

Ann

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
---------------------------------------------------------
Ann Feltham
Campaign Against Arms Trade
11 Goodwin Street
London N4 3HQ
UK

+44-20-7281 0297 (phone)
+44-20-7281 4369 (fax)
www.caat.org.uk

________________________________

From: ENAAT@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Wendela de Vries
Sent: Thu 20/08/2009 10:59
To: ENAAT@yahoogroups.com
Cc: berrigan@...
Subject: Re: [ENAAT] UK 'must tighten arms controls'



Dear John Jones,

I am not sure what you mean by that "all weapony, all armed personnel,
all arms manufacture to a global authority" should be under the control
of a global authority. Is this an indirect plea to support the UN Arms
Trade Treaty (ATT)?

In my opinion, the ATT is only a (small) step in a long process to
control the arms trade. It is losely based on the EU Common Position on
Arms Export with which we have experience now for more than 10 year. And
this experience learns us that these kind of control regimes need
permanent monitoring from NGO's because their intepretation is very
inconsistent. Which is easily possible because these control regimes are
deliberately phrased in a way that makes no juridical sense at all and
are completely open to any kind of political intepretation. Moreover,
these control regimes are in no way meant to limit the flow of arms or
work towards disarmament. They are only there to make it possible to
stop extremes (this is what NGO's want) to have a tool for foreign
relations policy (what governments wants) and to have a level playing
fiels (what industry wants, that is why the arms industry is so much in
favor of an ATT).

Coming back to your earlier argument that the arms industry gets support
because "at a time when jobs are scarce and ANY kind of trading seems
better than nothing" I would like to mention an analysis from the
University of Massachusetts' Political Economy Research Institute
<http://www.peri.umass.edu/Publication.236+M5165ab37bd4.0.html>, quoted
by Frida Berrigan, finding that, for every one billion dollars invested
in defense, 8,555 jobs are created. By contrast, the same billion
invested in health care would create 12,883 jobs, and in education,
17,687 jobs or more than double the defense stimulus payoff. See
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frida-berrigan/is-the-next-defense-budge_b_174293.\
html

The same is true for the Dutch plans to buy 80 F-35 Joint Strike
Fighters. Initially was preseneted as creating 50.000 manyears of
employment through offsetts in the Netherlands and therefor the deal had
the support of the trade unions. Now it is recalculated and it is
concluded that money invested elsewhere in the economy will create the
same amounth or even more jobs. (Which, unfortunately, does not mean
that our government reconsiders its plans to buy the JSF.)

Kind regards
Wendela de Vries



John Jones schreef:
>
>
> I welcome this attempt to ensure that the UK tightens its arms export
> control but I would again register my deeply held conviction that any
> attempt to control arms sales by national governments is likely to be
> half-hearted, especially in the present economic climate, simply
> because the argument will always be: if we do not provide these
> weapons, somebody else will.  The only way in which this hopeless
> situation can be remedied is by referring all weapony, all armed
> personnel, all arms manufacture to a global authority - which has yet
> to be set up but which is long overdue.
> John Jones
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> To: ENAAT@yahoogroups.com
> From: secgen@...
> Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:01:55 +0200
> Subject: [ENAAT] UK 'must tighten arms controls'
>
>
> WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2009
> 21:14 MECCA TIME, 18:14 GMT
>
> UK 'must tighten arms controls'
> http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/08/200981915830165247.html
> <http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/08/200981915830165247.html>
>
>
> *The report said UK arms were almost certainly used by Israeli forces
> during the recent conflict in Gaza [AFP]*
>
> The British government should do more to ensure UK arms exports are
> not used against civilians in conflict zones, an influential group of
> legislators in the country has said.
> The Committees on Arms Export Controls has called for closer scrutiny
> of export licences after confirmation by the UK government that
> Israeli weapons systems, used in the Gaza conflict, almost certainly
> contained British-built components.
>
> The annual report from the group, which is made up of senior members
> of the British parliament, includes scrutiny of export licences
> granted in 2008 and examines the policy and enforcement of UK arms
> export controls.
> The members said they were also concerned that UK arms, exported to
> Sri Lanka during the ceasefire between the government and the Tamil
> Tigers, may have been used against the civilian population when
> hostilities escalated in 2006.
> *Sri Lanka review*
> The group agreed that applications for licences for exports to Israel
> and Sri Lanka should continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
> It welcomed the government's review of existing export licences to
> Israel and also called for a review of all existing licences relating
> to Sri Lanka, recommending that the government assess what weapons
> used by the Sir Lanka armed forces against the Tamil Tigers were
> supplied by the UK.
> The MPs said they had noted that in the period April 1, 2008 to March
> 31, 2009, 34 licences had been issued for export to Sri Lanka,
> and said they would "be keeping a keen eye on all future exports".
> Roger Berry MP, chairman of the committees, said: "Sri Lanka
> highlights the need for the UK government to monitor closely the
> situation in countries recently engaged in armed conflict.
> "It must assess more carefully the risk that UK arms exports might be
> used by those countries in the future in a way that breaches our
> licensing criteria."
> Referring to the Israeli offensive in Gaza earlier this year, the
> report said we "conclude that it is regrettable that components
> supplied by the UK were almost certainly used in a variety of ways by
> Israeli forces during the recent conflict in Gaza".
> It said that "the government should continue to do everything possible
> to ensure that this does not happen in future".
> The politicians also raised concerns that British arms dealers had
> bought old Soviet weapons and sold them on to blacklisted countries.
> *Registration system*
> The report repeated strong recommendations from last year's findings
> that the government establish a register of UK arms brokers and that
> Britain extend certain trade controls on activities by UK persons
> anywhere in the world.
> The group called for all residents in the UK and British citizens
> overseas to obtain trade control licences, or be covered by a general
> licence, before engaging in any trade in the goods featured on what is
> called "the Military List" of weapons and military hardware
> classifications.
> Berry said: "The UK has a responsibility to ensure that its arms
> export industry, and individual UK citizens, working overseas are not
> engaging in the illegal arms trade and, therefore, we remain convinced
> that there is a need for a registration system for arms brokers.
> "In addition, the government must now work with NGOs and industry to
> bring forward draft proposals on extending the extra-territorial
> provisions of export control legislation."
>
> -------------------------------------------------
>
> Colin Archer, Secretary-General
> International Peace Bureau
> 41 rue de Zurich, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland.
> Tel: +41-22-731-6429, Fax: 738-9419
> secgen@... <mailto:secgen@...>_
> www.ipb.org <http://www.ipb.org/>
>
> _*The International Peace Bureau is dedicated to the vision of a World
> Without War. We are a Nobel Peace Laureate (1910), and over the years
> 13 of our officers have been recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. Our
> 300 member organisations in 70 countries, and individual members, form
> a global network which brings together expertise and campaigning
> experience in a common cause. Our main programme centres on
> **/Sustainable Disarmament for Sustainable Development. /**We welcome
> your participation.*
> - New: /IPB Call for Action on military and social spending/ - has
> your group signed it yet?
> - Annual conference 2009: Washington DC - Nov.14-18: /Rolling back
> Militarism - a task for the global movement/
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Windows Live Messenger: Happy 10-Year Anniversary-get free winks and
> emoticons. Get Them Now
> <http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/157562755/direct/01/>
>


--
Coördinator Campagne tegen Wapenhandel
Phone +31 (0)20 6164684
GSM +31 (0)6 506 522 06
Skype wendela_de_vries
www.stopwapenhandel.org
www.stoparmstrade.org
www.jsf-nee.nl



------------------------------------

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Dear John Jones,

I am not sure what you mean by that "all weapony, all armed personnel,
all arms manufacture to a global authority" should be under the control
of a global authority. Is this an indirect plea to support the UN Arms
Trade Treaty (ATT)?

In my opinion, the ATT is only a (small) step in a long process to
control the arms trade. It is losely based on the EU Common Position on
Arms Export with which we have experience now for more than 10 year. And
this experience learns us that these kind of control regimes need
permanent monitoring from NGO's because their intepretation is very
inconsistent. Which is easily possible because these control regimes are
deliberately phrased in a way that makes no juridical sense at all and
are completely open to any kind of political intepretation. Moreover,
these control regimes are in no way meant to limit the flow of arms or
work towards disarmament. They are only there to make it possible to
stop extremes (this is what NGO's want) to have a tool for foreign
relations policy (what governments wants) and to have a level playing
fiels (what industry wants, that is why the arms industry is so much in
favor of an ATT).

Coming back to your earlier argument that the arms industry gets support
because "at a time when jobs are scarce and ANY kind of trading seems
better than nothing" I would like to mention an analysis from the
University of Massachusetts' Political Economy Research Institute
<http://www.peri.umass.edu/Publication.236+M5165ab37bd4.0.html>, quoted
by Frida Berrigan, finding that, for every one billion dollars invested
in defense, 8,555 jobs are created. By contrast, the same billion
invested in health care would create 12,883 jobs, and in education,
17,687 jobs or more than double the defense stimulus payoff. See
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frida-berrigan/is-the-next-defense-budge_b_174293.\
html

The same is true for the Dutch plans to buy 80 F-35 Joint Strike
Fighters. Initially was preseneted as creating 50.000 manyears of
employment through offsetts in the Netherlands and therefor the deal had
the support of the trade unions. Now it is recalculated and it is
concluded that money invested elsewhere in the economy will create the
same amounth or even more jobs. (Which, unfortunately, does not mean
that our government reconsiders its plans to buy the JSF.)

Kind regards
Wendela de Vries



John Jones schreef:
>
>
> I welcome this attempt to ensure that the UK tightens its arms export
> control but I would again register my deeply held conviction that any
> attempt to control arms sales by national governments is likely to be
> half-hearted, especially in the present economic climate, simply
> because the argument will always be: if we do not provide these
> weapons, somebody else will.  The only way in which this hopeless
> situation can be remedied is by referring all weapony, all armed
> personnel, all arms manufacture to a global authority - which has yet
> to be set up but which is long overdue.
> John Jones
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> To: ENAAT@yahoogroups.com
> From: secgen@...
> Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:01:55 +0200
> Subject: [ENAAT] UK 'must tighten arms controls'
>
>
> WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2009
> 21:14 MECCA TIME, 18:14 GMT
>
> UK 'must tighten arms controls'
> http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/08/200981915830165247.html
> <http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/08/200981915830165247.html>
>
>
> *The report said UK arms were almost certainly used by Israeli forces
> during the recent conflict in Gaza [AFP]*
>
> The British government should do more to ensure UK arms exports are
> not used against civilians in conflict zones, an influential group of
> legislators in the country has said.
> The Committees on Arms Export Controls has called for closer scrutiny
> of export licences after confirmation by the UK government that
> Israeli weapons systems, used in the Gaza conflict, almost certainly
> contained British-built components.
>
> The annual report from the group, which is made up of senior members
> of the British parliament, includes scrutiny of export licences
> granted in 2008 and examines the policy and enforcement of UK arms
> export controls.
> The members said they were also concerned that UK arms, exported to
> Sri Lanka during the ceasefire between the government and the Tamil
> Tigers, may have been used against the civilian population when
> hostilities escalated in 2006.
> *Sri Lanka review*
> The group agreed that applications for licences for exports to Israel
> and Sri Lanka should continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
> It welcomed the government's review of existing export licences to
> Israel and also called for a review of all existing licences relating
> to Sri Lanka, recommending that the government assess what weapons
> used by the Sir Lanka armed forces against the Tamil Tigers were
> supplied by the UK.
> The MPs said they had noted that in the period April 1, 2008 to March
> 31, 2009, 34 licences had been issued for export to Sri Lanka,
> and said they would "be keeping a keen eye on all future exports".
> Roger Berry MP, chairman of the committees, said: "Sri Lanka
> highlights the need for the UK government to monitor closely the
> situation in countries recently engaged in armed conflict.
> "It must assess more carefully the risk that UK arms exports might be
> used by those countries in the future in a way that breaches our
> licensing criteria."
> Referring to the Israeli offensive in Gaza earlier this year, the
> report said we "conclude that it is regrettable that components
> supplied by the UK were almost certainly used in a variety of ways by
> Israeli forces during the recent conflict in Gaza".
> It said that "the government should continue to do everything possible
> to ensure that this does not happen in future".
> The politicians also raised concerns that British arms dealers had
> bought old Soviet weapons and sold them on to blacklisted countries.
> *Registration system*
> The report repeated strong recommendations from last year's findings
> that the government establish a register of UK arms brokers and that
> Britain extend certain trade controls on activities by UK persons
> anywhere in the world.
> The group called for all residents in the UK and British citizens
> overseas to obtain trade control licences, or be covered by a general
> licence, before engaging in any trade in the goods featured on what is
> called "the Military List" of weapons and military hardware
> classifications.
> Berry said: "The UK has a responsibility to ensure that its arms
> export industry, and individual UK citizens, working overseas are not
> engaging in the illegal arms trade and, therefore, we remain convinced
> that there is a need for a registration system for arms brokers.
> "In addition, the government must now work with NGOs and industry to
> bring forward draft proposals on extending the extra-territorial
> provisions of export control legislation."
>
> -------------------------------------------------
>
> Colin Archer, Secretary-General
> International Peace Bureau
> 41 rue de Zurich, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland.
> Tel: +41-22-731-6429, Fax: 738-9419
> secgen@... <mailto:secgen@...>_
> www.ipb.org <http://www.ipb.org/>
>
> _*The International Peace Bureau is dedicated to the vision of a World
> Without War. We are a Nobel Peace Laureate (1910), and over the years
> 13 of our officers have been recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. Our
> 300 member organisations in 70 countries, and individual members, form
> a global network which brings together expertise and campaigning
> experience in a common cause. Our main programme centres on
> **/Sustainable Disarmament for Sustainable Development. /**We welcome
> your participation.*
> - New: /IPB Call for Action on military and social spending/ - has
> your group signed it yet?
> - Annual conference 2009: Washington DC - Nov.14-18: /Rolling back
> Militarism - a task for the global movement/
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Windows Live Messenger: Happy 10-Year Anniversary—get free winks and
> emoticons. Get Them Now
> <http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/157562755/direct/01/>
>


--
Coördinator Campagne tegen Wapenhandel
Phone +31 (0)20 6164684
GSM +31 (0)6 506 522 06
Skype wendela_de_vries
www.stopwapenhandel.org
www.stoparmstrade.org
www.jsf-nee.nl