Resisting War Crimes Is Not A Crime – Defend the Raytheon 9!

It has been confirmed that the trial of Derry Anti War Coalition (DAWC) activists, the Raytheon 9, will start on Monday May19th, in the Laganside Courts in Belfast. The Raytheon 9 are charged with criminal damage and affray as a result of the non-violent direct action taken by DAWC on 9th August 2006 at the height of the Israeli assault on Lebanon.

There will be a mass protest outside the Court (opposite the Waterfront) from 9.30 to 10.30 on Monday 19th and every Monday morning as long as the trial continues. One of the defendants, journalist and civil rights’ activist Eamonn McCann, told Non Violent News “we can’t ask people to protest on a daily basis, but those who can spare an hour would be very welcome inside the Court to show support. Also, we will be gathering outside the Court every morning at 10.00am and we would be delighted to see anyone who wants to come along for just five minutes, to cheer us on, read a poem, do a piece of street theatre or anything else.”

Meanwhile, support for the Raytheon 9 is flooding in from across Britain and Ireland and as far afield as Australia. The Derry Anti War Coalition, which organised the action that led to the arrest of the nine, has linked up with campaigners in Wales who oppose British government plans to build a massive £14 billion Military Academy.

Davy McAuley, travelled to Cardiff recently to speak on behalf of the DAWC at a protest rally called by the Stop the St Athan's Military Academy Campaign. He says the proposed military academy “looks set to become Britain's 'School of the Americas' - a centre for counterinsurgency training and future imperialist adventures abroad.”

“The creation of a military super-academy at St Athan, between Cardiff and Swansea, was announced as a done deal in January 2007. Despite the fact this represented the biggest PFI in history, involving £14 billion of taxpayers' money, there had been no debate in either Westminster or the Welsh Assembly (Senedd).
“DAWC were invited to speak”, he says, “because the winning bidders for the project were the Metrix consortium. This consortium includes Raytheon and the anti-war people of Wales are as unhappy with their taxes pouring profits into the coffers of arms traders as are the anti-war people of Derry.

“The consortium also includes Qinetiq, the privatised research and development wing of the MoD. Qinetiq was recently the subject of intense criticism by the National Audit Office. Its privatisation was proposed by MoD managers - who then saw their shares rise 10,000% on the day of the sale!
Davey says that, in any case, “people need to imagine think about what else could be done with £14 billion! With hospitals and schools closing throughout Wales and the North of Ireland, with a desperate need to improve social facilities, create sustainable sources of energy etc, such public money could be invested in socially useful projects rather than the preparation for future wars of occupation like Iraq. For more information on Stop the St Athan's Military Academy Campaign, see http://www.cynefinywerin.org.uk/
There will be daily updates on this website during the trial.

Anyone who thinks they can help in any way should email resistderry@aol.com. There is a Raytheon 9 support group in Belfast to organise solidarity during the trial. It will try to provide accommodation for travelling supporters. Contact Gordon on 07742531617. For buses from Dublin, contact Mary on 0872917415 For buses from Derry, contact Davy on 07521527208 or Goretti on 07973528772

Touring bus joins Derry anti-munitions protestDerry Today - Derry,Northern Ireland,UKA touring bus warning people against cluster bombs joined a protest outside Derry-based munitions company, Raytheon, this week. The Cluster Munitions ...See all stories on this topic

Raytheon looking at Derry futureDerry Today - Derry,Northern Ireland,UKThe US-based company has been involved in controversy in the city because it supplies munitions software to countries across the world, although it has ...See all stories on this topic
Raytheon looking at Derry future
Global weapons giant Raytheon has confirmed it is "assessing its workload" at its Derry plant amid speculation that it is planning to axe staff. However a company spokesperson said no decisions have been made to reduce jobs.
One source told the Journal that the company, which operates a software development facility at Springtown, was considering cuts.The source said: "The future of the entire Derry operation is currently being discussed closure."However the company spokesman said yesterday evening: "While we are currently assessing our workload at the NISSC facility, no decisions have been made to reduce staffing levels. Our NISSC employees have exceptional skills and we fully anticipate the need for these skills in the future. Any decisions that are made with regard to staffing levels would, in the first instance, be communicated to our employees."

The US-based company has been involved in controversy in the city because it supplies munitions software to countries across the world, although it has denied that military work is carried out locally. A number of protests have been carried out at the Derry plant, with a protest against cluster bombs held there on Wednesday.The trial of a number of local people in connection with a protest at the company offices is due to begin next week in Belfast.
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GLAD TO SEE THE BACK OF THEM.
Raytheon are manufacturers of weapons of mass destruction which have been used around the world to kill innocent men, women and children. Their claim that the work carried out in Derry is not of a military nature is nonsense. Much of the work in Derry is on internal Raytheon projects that directly support the running of the company. To claim that the Derry operation is not in support of Raytheons main business of arms manufacturing is daft. If I were to assist someone to murder a person by facilitating that murder and providing the means to do it then in a court of law I would be as guilty as they were. Why should the Derry Raytheon plant be any different. If the don't close down then they should be forced out as act act of solidarity with the many people around the world that their weapons are deployed against daily. Oh and what about the very secretive JETS program that is currently running down there at the minute. Are they still claiming that isn't a armaments program.

Rate payer, Derry 16/05/2008 18:03:10
Good Riddance! Let the free market fundamentalists and the Gerry Murrays of this world froth at the mouth, but let this be the beginning of the end of Raytheon globally.Now, let's take the massive state subsidy Raytheon have been getting (out of our taxes) and spend it on some sustainable jobs in Derry. Some co-operative business seed money? a plant for developing computer-based teaching aides for autistic children?a specialist cancer treatment and research centre for the north west of Ireland?

Anti-metrix demo

New Trial Date for Raytheon 9

New Trail Date For Raytheon 9
By Reibiliun(Reibiliun)
The Raytheon 9 have been given another date for their trial to start. This time it's April 7th. For those not living in Derry, it has been hard to find out what is happening in relation to the trial of the Raytheon 9. ...
Reibiliun - http://reibiliun.blogspot.com/

The trial process is dragging on in a way that is very unfair to the defendants, their families, and the Derry Anti War Coalition (DAWC). The Nine are charged with affray and criminal damage and, if found guilty, could face long prison sentences.

In Derry over the New Year, I learnt that the lack of information is due to a gagging order that has been imposed by the Judge, Corinna Philpot, and enthusiastically obeyed by the media.

Wed January 7th will see the latest episode in this long-running saga. It seems that delays to the trial happening are caused by the State’s determination to shift the trial away from Derry and to keep the issues at stake hidden from the public.

Read the full story at:raytheon9

Related Link: http://www.swp.ie/news/latest/raytheon-9-trial-derailed....html

PM Brown 'response' to cluster bombs

The Prime Minister's Office has 'responded' to the petition asking the Prime Minister to "Ban the use and manufacture of Clusterbombs. This is incomprehensible meaningless jargon not a proper response to a very serious matter. UK at the forefront of States dealing with the problems caused by cluster munitions not to eliminate their use or condemn those countries who use them nor to shun companies connected to their manufacture or use in any way such as RAYTHEON who the government keep awarding contracts to..like the training academy at St Athan - Raytheon 100,000 cluster bombs dropped on Lebanon?

See Raytheon cluster bomb demonstration in Derry photos.

Raytheon and Cluster Bombshttp://www.cynefinywerin.org.uk/index.php?docid=287

Government's response

The Government recognises that certain cluster munitions can cause unacceptable harm to civilians. That is exactly why the UK has consistently been at the forefront of States urging all key users and producers of cluster munitions to address the problems caused by such munitions. The Government led the way internationally by taking two types of cluster munitions out of service. And now, the Government is working also for an international ban on the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of those cluster munitions which cause unacceptable harm to civilians - our aim is to a achieve a new legally binding instrument.

The Government also takes very seriously its responsibility for taking action against other instruments that cause unaccpetable civilian deaths. So, as small arms kill every 90 seconds, Britain is calling for a legally binding Arms Trade Treaty and is willing to extend its export laws to control extra-territorial brokering and trafficking of small arms, and potentially other weapons

view it here: http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page14156.asp

Petition information - http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Clusterbombs/

Support Derry Anti War Protesters (The Raytheon 9)

Support Derry Anti War Protesters (The Raytheon 9)

Show Support and sign their petition - at least they fight back hard in Derry - show them the Welsh can do it to!

Derry Anti War Coalition statement on Raytheon occupation

Support the Raytheon 9

Irish anti-war movement

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'.


Latest ....

On the September 14th court appearance of the Raytheon 9, the trial date was finally been set for 12^th November 2007. However, it is generally thought that this date will not see the actual start of the trial. This is because the prosecution have asked for the trial to be moved out of Derry. It wants the judge to rule that a fair trial would not be possible in Derry because i) there have been protestors outside the court every time they appeared and ii) the local press has reported about the protest action. DAWC lawyers argued that i) we are part of a far broader movement and therefore there will be protests anywhere they appear and ii) our action has also been reported in the regional press. The judge heard arguments from both sides and reserved judgement. There are also likely to be further court cases about Raytheon’s refusal to provide the documents requested by the defence team as part of the ‘discovery’ process.

The charges of criminal damage to the building to the amount of £22,000 and to Raytheon computer equipment and office furniture (no amount stated) have been restored, as expected, and it was confirmed that no more than nine of the protesters are being charged.