York Uni People & Planet Arms Trade Campaign

What's happened in York?
One person dies every minute from armed conflict around the world. By holding shares in weapons manufacturers our University is condoning and financially supporting this global tradgedy.

Throught direct holdings, and via their Scroders pension fund, the University of York has over £1.5 million shares in in BAE Systems (Admin, CAAT) and £1.35 million in GKN. Whilst both have dubious records it is British Aerospace that has caught international attention from repeated allegations of fraud, corruption and exploitation conflict zones - bribing officials to seal deals, and encouraging arms in areas where peace is desperatly needed.

People & Planet joined forces with Amnesty International, Freesoc, and Student Action for Palestine societies to pressure the university to sort out their investments. We passed a motion in the SU, raised the issue in the student press (Vision and Nouse), wrote letters to admin, and staged a Day of Action on *campus, collecting over 1000 signatures supporting a new ethical investment policy.

The result? We got an agreement from the University to set up a working group made up of students and representatives from admin to draw up a policy, allowing for investments to be withdrawn. As a result People & Planet has handed the campaign over to a group of students meeting weekly to discuss this task. If you want to get involved go to the Yahoo Group and sign up!

People & Planet also collected your faces for the Millon Faces petition, which sent a powerful message to world leaders who, unfortunatly, failed to reach an agreement on how to control the illegal trade in small arms at the UN conference in New York. However, we have to keep the issue on the agenda. Visit www.controlarms.org for more, and have a look at this video.

What's wrong with the Arms Trade?
Links coming soon!

What's the problem in the UK?
Orders for UK manufactured defence equipment averaged approximately £5bn between 1997 and 2001, making Britain one of the top five arms exporters in the world. The British company BAE Systems is Europe's single largest weapons manufacturer.

When allowing companies to export weapons it is the responsibility of government to ensure that equipment is for legitimate defence purposes only. This means it must not be used to violate human rights, and threaten or attack other countries.

The 1998 EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports was an encouraging first step in international efforts to control the arms trade. Before transferring armaments, countries must consider eight criteria including:


 * Respect for human rights in the country of final destination
 * Whether the export would provoke or prolong armed conflicts, or aggravate existing tensions.
 * The risk that the export might be used aggressively or to assert by force a territorial claim.
 * The possibility that the export might be diverted to undesirable end-users.
 * The effect the financial cost might have on human and economic resources (e.g. health services) in the recipient country.

As a 'code of conduct', however, this is not legally enforceable. The Export Control and Non-Proliferation Act 2002 is the current legislation controlling UK arms exports. Before exporting defence equipment companies are required to apply for a license from the Department of Trade and Industry.

However, despite these legal measures, and pressure from MPs, campaign groups and the general public, UK defence exports have and continue to visit violence and suffering on innocent people across the globe.

Ethical Investment on Campus
by Haydn Lewis. Thursday 1st June 2006, The Press (formerly York Evening Press)
 * A Question of Ethics


 * Student outrage at arms shares by Toby Green, Editor. May 26th, 2006, Nouse


 * You're Cantor Productive by David Martin, Politics Editor. Tuesday May 9, 2006, York Vision


 * University Shares in Arms Company Exposes Impotent Ethical Policy. Tuesday October 11, 2005, Nouse

BAE Systems Corruption

 * Indonesia deploys British arms against protesters by Antony Barnett, investigations editor. Sunday November 27, 2005, The Observer


 * Arms Firm 'Linked to Human Rights Abuse' by Aidan Radnedge. December 2005, The Metro


 * BAE condemned for targeting 'trouble spots' to sell arms by Heather Tomlinson. 14th September 2003, The Independent.  "BAE Systems, the UK's largest defence company, is targeting exports of civil aerospace equipment to trouble spots like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iran to gain a prime position to sell arms when government restrictions are lifted."


 * Loophole 'let BAE sell arms to Uganda' by Richard Norton-Taylor. Wednesday 1st March 2006, The Guardian


 * The SFO is investigating allegations that BAE has been running a £60m slush fund which secretly made corrupt payments to the Saudi royal family. by David Leigh and Rob Evans. Thursday December 22 2005, The Guardian


 * Britain's deadliest exports to resume by Katherine Butler. 18th January 2000, The Independent.  "The lifting of the EU embargo on arms trade with Indonesia is a cause for celebration for British Aerospace (BAe), the maker of Hawk ground-attack jets, and for a Coventry-based company called Alvis, the manufacturer of armoured vehicles."


 * BAE fires back at slush fund claims by Michael Harrison, Business Editor. 12th September 2003, The Independent. "BAE Systems, Britain's biggest defence contractor, was engulfed in sleaze yesterday after allegations that it operated a £20m "slush fund" to bribe Saudi officials in connection with the giant Al Yamamah arms-for-oil deal."

Ethical Investment Successes

 * Arms trade investment 'alarming'. Friday, 26th May 2006, BBC News Online


 * Soas sells off arms shares by Donald MacLeod. Wednesday 9th November 2005, The Guardian

Links

 * Campaign Against the Arms Trade
 * People & Planet National - Arms Trade
 * Control Arms from Amnesty International, IANSA and Oxfam
 * Ethical Investment Research Service
 * Ethical Investment Wiki set up by St. Andrews One World Society

York Uni People & Planet

 * York Uni People & Planet Wiki Home
 * York Uni People & Planet website