Our theme Brummies for Peace is all about putting human rights before the profits of the arms trade. The UK government claims that it carefully screens applications to sell weapons around the world, to make sure that they won’t be used for repression, human rights abuses or targeting civilians.
Yet the UK’s biggest customer for arms over the past decade is one of the world’s most repressive regimes: Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has used UK-made weapons to:
- repress its own population;
- attack Yemen, including bombing civilian areas.
Pop into Peace Hub to hear Salama’s story – a Yemeni man who lost his family in the bombing; and Loujain’s story – a Saudi women’s rights activist, currently in prison for campaigning against the regime.
With relentless negative news, how can we avoid hardening our hearts?
How can we overcome apathy?
The UK Court of Appeal recently found that these arms sales were unlawful, as the British government did not take account of Saudi’s human rights record and the risk that the weapons would be used to target civilians in Yemen, when allowing arms deals to go ahead.
But the government is likely to fight this decision, so now is the time to speak out.
Pop into Peace Hub to sign a template letter to your MP, asking them to hold the government to its own rules.
We also have a guide to writing a letter in your own words if you prefer.
Thanks to the court case brought by Campaign Against Arms Trade, there is a real opportunity to hold the government to account and take a stand against arming repression. Join us to say ‘Brummies for Peace!’