The British authorities in Northern Ireland are mounting a
very serious attack on the liberty and rights of anti-war
protestors. Nine activists who took part in an occupation of
the American arms corporation Raytheon's offices in Derry
have been charged with aggravated burglary and unlawful
assembly. The bail terms imposed on them effectively remove
their right to take part in political activity.
Raytheon is the fifth biggest arms manufacturer in the
world. It manufactured the 100 GBU-28 bunker buster bombs
urgently flown by the United States to Israel at the height
of the destruction of Lebanon by the Israel Defence Force.
Among the many services Raytheon has performed for Israel is
supplying electronic equipment for the apartheid wall being
built on Palestinian land. The National Lawyers Guild of the
US has accused Raytheon of being 'implicated in the
commission of war crime'.
On 9 August 2006 the Derry Anti-War Coalition organized a
non-violent occupation of Raytheon's plant in the Ulster
Science and Technology Park. This followed direct action
that has been mounted by anti-war protestors against US
military planes at Shannon airport near Limerick and
Prestwick airport near Glasgow. The Derry protestors
decommissioned computer equipment used by Raytheon to
produce software for its weapons systems.
Nine of them were arrested by the police, among them Eamonn
McCann, well-known as a civil rights activist and
campaigning journalist. They have been charged with
aggravated burglary and unlawful assembly. These are very
serious offences that could mean the accused could be denied
the right to trial by jury under British security
legislation prevailing in the north of Ireland.
The protestors' civil liberties are further threatened by
the terms under which they have been released on bail. They
are forbidden to communicate with each other or with anyone
working for Raytheon and may not take part in any public or
private anti-war meeting. These restrictions bear comparison
with those imposed by striking British miners brought before
courts during the 1984-5 strike.
It is particularly ironic that this attack on the right to
protest should be taking place under the authority of Peter
Hain, British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Hain
made his political reputation in the early 1970s as an
anti-apartheid activist who organized direct action against
tours by the South African rugby and cricket teams. As a
leading figure on the Labour left, he continued to endorse
direct action, writing in 1983: 'the more direct action
there is against nuclear weapons in Britain, the greater the
freedom a Labour government will have to get rid of them.'
The Raytheon Nine are facing imprisonment for staying true
to the principles Hain has abandoned. Like peace campaigners
elsewhere in Ireland and in the rest of the world, they took
non-violent direct action. Their trial is a threat to the
global anti-war movement. At a time when the clouds of war
are darkening and spreading over the Middle East, the right
to protest must be defended. We demand that all charges
against the Raytheon Nine be dropped immediately.
Send messages of support to
resistderry@aol.com
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