Disarm08- action camp against Swedish arms industry

From the 12th to19th of June the peace action camp Disarm08 took place in Kalskoga, the heart of the Swedish weapons indsutry. Karlskoga is the home of the two big companies BAE Systems Bofors and Saab Bofors Dynamics (together known as "Bofors"). Weapons produced in Karlskoga is used in wars all around the world and Sweden is today the 9th biggest seller of weapons in the world.

During the camp discussions and lectures where held and people from Sweden, Finland, Canada, Colombia and Germany met and exchanged experiences. The overall theme for the manifestations and actions during the camp was to perform a crime scene investigation. Weapons produced in the factories are not only morally wrong but also used in wars breaking international law and sold to countries not respecting human rights, even though the Swedish laws prohibits this.

During the week a total of 12 activists went into the special security area surrounding the weapons factories to perform civil weapons inspections. With the demand that production should be closed until proven unharmful and that the selling of armaments should be open to public debate, the activists searched buildings for illegal activities. A manifestation with speeches, music, street theatre and performances from the clown army, was held outside of the main office of Bofors. On the last day of the camp 3 activist occupied the same office refusing to leave, claiming that production of weapons can not go on undisturbed. A few hours later, two activists entered the security area to decorate a tank with a peace message, writing "you can change" and painting a weapon broken in half on the tank.

In total 14 activists were arrested during the camp and will probably await trials. During the whole camp the dialogue with the police was good and a public meeting on the main square in Karlskoga returned many interesting meetings with the people living and working in Karlskoga.

For more information:
http://ofog.org