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EGYPT: War Resisters' International welcomes the overdue release in Cairo of pacifist blogger Maikel Nabil

26 Jan 2012

English

London, 26 January 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EGYPT: War Resisters' International welcomes the overdue release in Cairo of pacifist blogger Maikel Nabil

Maikel Nabil Sanad after his 302 days of an unjust detention aiming to suppress criticism of the Egyptian military. Detained on 29 March, Maikel was sentenced in April by a military court to three years' imprisonment for insulting the People’s Assembly, the Shura Council or any State Authority, or the Army or the Courts", and article 102, "spreading false information". This verdict was annulled but a new trial in December, also in front of a military court, sentenced Maikel to two years.

Maikel Nabil's first statement after his release

25 Jan 2012

English

Maikel Nabil's first statement after his release

Howard Clark and Penny Stone at War Starts Here

20 Jan 2012

English

Howard Clark and Penny Stone at the opening of the international seminar War starts here in Luleå, Sweden, 2011.

War Starts Here: Frida Berrigan at the opening of the International Seminar

20 Jan 2012

English

Opening speech by Frida Berrigan at the International Seminar: War Starts Here in Luleå, Sweden, 2011

War Starts Here: Anna Sanne Göransson at the opening of the International Seminar

20 Jan 2012

English

Opening speech by Anna Sanne Göransson at the International Seminar: War Starts Here in Luleå, Sweden, 2011

Obituaries

Pedro Otaduy: antimilitarist and war tax resister from Navarra

10 Jan 2012

English

Pedro Otaduy, who died on Sunday, 8 January, at the age of 53, was one of the historic figures of MOC in the State of Spain - specifically Navarra - and especially Objeción Fiscal a los Gastos Militares (war tax resistance).

The Right to Refuse to Kill

Job opening

15 Feb 2012

English

War Resisters' International is looking for a Right to Refuse to Kill programme worker (full-time)

The RRTK worker will share the responsibility for organising work from WRI's international office and have specific responsibility for running WRI's international work on conscientious objection and military recruitment. A commitment to pacifism, good computer skills, and language skills are desirable.

Salary: £23,296.68 per annum.
Deadline for applications: 1 April 2012
start date: 1 September 2012

Nonviolence

Editorial

27 Jan 2012

English

First of all apologies for the delay in sending out the newsletter. We hope to be back on track for the rest of the year.

In this issue two of the main stories look at areas of war profiteering not strictly related to the production or sales of weapons.

The main article in this newsletter is about the mining industry in Latin America and its impact on local indigenous communities. As Cesar Padilla says, mining continues to expand in Latin America and has more and more impact on the livelihood of people living in the region. This happens despite the rhetoric from "progressive" governments in the region and their posture of "anti-imperialism". Although there are efforts to nationalise mining, the transnational corporations remain the major beneficiaries of Latin American mining. Most countries in the region base their plans for economic growth on mining and other extractive industries - and this despite strong opposition to them from local communities.

Mining and resistance in Latin America

25 Jan 2012

English

Moving towards a ‘post-extractive model’ and living well?

By César Padilla*

The increase in mining activities in Latin America has not slowed since the middle of the 90s. The region attracts around 27% of all investment in this sector and there are many projects which are yet to start. Some countries base their exports on mining and others are trying to join the list.

Chile and Perú top the ranking of mining countries par excellence, whilst Colombia is trying to start the “mining engine” so as to be part of the club and Argentina is fighting to compete for the investments of the major transnationals. Bolivia, traditionally a mining country, this year has managed to revive the stagnant sector, reaching mineral export figures which are on a par with hydro-fuel exports. An effort to nationalise mining and sectoral law reforms are giving renewed spirit to this activity, which is increasingly in the hands of the State.

War Profiteer of the Month: Unisys Corp

25 Jan 2012

English

By Eric Töpfer

Once the forth largest Pentagon contractor, the Unisys Corporation has become one of the leading global suppliers of “Homeland Security” technology. Its business operations and politics are a telling example for the power of the security-industrial complex.

Studying the large technical projects of European cooperation in justice and home affairs can be astonishing. Whether it is the programming of the Prüm-CODIS-interface for the comparison of national DNA databases and their wire across the Atlantic, the upgrade of the Schengen Information System to SIS II and its “synergies” with the Visa Information System, the development of the Europol Information System, the networking of national vehicle registers in the context of the EUCARIS initiative, the standardisation of data exchange between national criminal records or a pre-study for the Critical Infrastructure Warning Network of the European Union – one name is always popping up: Unisys.

Campaign of the Month: Banca Cívica sin armas (Civic banking without arms)

25 Jan 2012

English

The coalition “Banca Cívica sin armas” (Civic banking without arms) was launched last December in front of the central offices of Banca Cívica (Civic Banking) in Pamplona-Iruña, State of Spain.

This coalition is formed by three collectives: SETEM Nafarroa, Iruña Group against the Palestinian War Elkartasuna Ekimena, and Alternativa Antimilitarista KEM-MOC.
The website http://www.bancacivicasinarmas.org/ was launched at the same time laying out the reasons why the three collectives joined together.