Activists dying for justice on unregulated arms trade.

bristol | protests | event notice Thursday May 31, 2012 13:24 by Ben Walshe bwalshe at oxfam dot org dot uk

The world spends $1.600 billion on arms which is more than it spends on health or education. Yet, as a result of this unregulated and wreckless trade more than 36 million people face hunger due to armed conflicts. Come and join on Friday the 8th of June who will be staging a ‘die-in’ in Bristol’s outdoor gallery ‘The Bear Pit’. The campaigners will ceremoniously ‘die’ in front of a grave every minute, on the minute for an hour between 12am and 1pm to represent the fact that someone dies every minute from armed violence. They are hoping to highlight the need for a bullet proof set of regulations on the international trade in arms which is currently less tightly controlled than the banana trade. On the 2nd of July UN talks begin which could put into place a life saving treaty on the international arms trade. The actvists want to put pressure on the UK governement to make sure a strong arms treade treaty is put into place during the conference. These talks are the culmination of years of campaiging and are not likely to occur again, so if you are intertested in joining this once in a lifetime chance to put an end to the wreckless trade in arms please contact Ben by emailing bwalshe@oxfam.org.uk or by phoning 07595624070.

Speaking about why they are holding the event, local Oxfam activist Holly Speed said that “Arms and munitions are often sold irresponsibly without little consideration of who the buyer is; fuelling conflict, poverty and human rights abuses. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to help save millions of lives by controlling the international trade in arms. As such, we are asking people to sign the Control Arms Campaign petition and to contact their local MPs urging them to ensure a robust Arms Trade Treaty is put into place during the UN of 2nd-27th July.”

Currently there are 300,000 child soldiers around the world and 12 billion bullets are produced every year. As testament to how vital an international arms trade treaty is, there will be cross party support for activists on the day with Kerry McCarthy (Labour MP for Bristol East), Jon Rogers (Liberal Democrat councilor for Ashley, Bristol) and Toby Eliot (Conservative party member and PA to Charlotte Leslie, MP for Bristol North West) all attending. Paul Sherlock, a local Oxfam supporter and veteran Oxfam water engineer will also attend the event.

Upon hearing about the demonstration, J Paul Dunne, Professor of Economics at the University of Cape Town and Emeritus Professor at UWE, said, “The Control Arms campaign is hugely important. It is attempting to bring control to the international arms trade, a hidden world of corrupt practices that facilitate death and destruction worldwide. The more one discovers about this trade the more one is appalled. The negotiations for an arms trade treaty provide the opportunity to provide control and regulation, but pressure is needed to force governments to produce a treaty that will be strong, robust and effective. I wholeheartedly support the campaigners in their attempt to achieve this.”.

For more information, and if you would like to join the event please contact Ben Walshe by phoning 07595624070 or by emailing bwalshe@oxfam.org.uk .

Speak out now and sign the Control Arms Campaign petition at http://www.controlarms.org/home. Watch this video for more information on why we need a robust arms trade treaty http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si8rRi2ZkiI