Tuesday, August 28, 2018
You CAN do something!
Opposing injustice is not only an option, it is a moral duty.
To oppose Canadian weapons exports and military co-operation with Israel, Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, you can:
- Contact your Member of Parliament and other political figures.
- Sign this online petition to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: https://www.change.org/p/justin-trudeau-end-weapons-exports-and-military-relations-with-israel-indonesia-turkey-and-saudi-arabia
End weapons exports and military relations with Israel, Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia
- Organize a protest.
- Print and disseminate material to inform the public.
- Engage in other forms of non-violent activism to oppose these crimes.
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Selling and enabling oppression
The
Canadian military is seen by many in the world as a force for good. The
Canadian Armed Forces, not without reason, are often associated with
peacekeeping and humanitarian work. The Canadian military helped to stop intercommunal
fighting in Cyprus since 1964, took part in opposing the North Korean
invasion of South Korea during the Korean war, and Canadian military medical
staff are helping fight the spread of Ebola in Western Africa. It is true
also that our military has intervened at Oka to repress First Nations
demonstrators, and we have played a role in supporting the American led
invasion of Afghanistan. However, a mostly positive perception of our armed
forces remains.
It is
also true that Canadian soldiers have indeed served bravely and honorably and
have done many good things in the world, regardless of the motives of the
politicians who send them.
Unfortunately,
our military also exports weapons to and in other ways cooperates with some
countries that are notorious for serious human rights violations like murder
of civilians, torture, displacement, and ethnic cleansing. These nations,
among others, include Israel, Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are
perpetrating these crimes on the soil of nations of other people whom they
occupy. This document focuses on crimes committed by these nations against
people in the territories that they are occupying; and in the case of Saudi
Arabia, invading. Respectively, these places are Palestine, West Papua,
Kurdistan, and Yemen. Human rights abuses are perpetrated by these nations
against their own people as well also, though they are not addressed here.
The
government of Israel is currently engaged in a military occupation of
Palestine that began in 1948 and continues to this day. Palestinians in the
West Bank live under a regime where they are subjected to checkpoints,
punitive home demolitions, unequal access to water and electricity and other
discriminatory and racist measures. Israeli settlers in many cases attack,
beat and in some cases even kill them, with usually no punishment. In 2017,
423 Palestinian homes were demolished. (1) Palestinians in Gaza live in a
situation where Israel severely limits access to food and other basic
necessities. They are forced to live on 2-4 hours of electricity per day. (2)
This sometimes results in situations where hospitals are unable to help
patients who need medical procedures. Palestinian farmers and fishermen are
regularly shot at by Israeli soldiers, for getting too close to Israel’s
separation barrier or sailing further than the small area allotted for
fishing. Palestinians in other parts of occupied Palestine face
discrimination in housing, education, and other aspects of civil life.
Protest against these abuses, whether peaceful or violent, are met with
arrests, beatings, teargassing, being shot with rubber coated steel bullets
and live ammunition. Between March 30 and November 12, 2018, two hundred
fourteen Palestinian protesters in Gaza were shot and killed by the Israeli
Army, and eighteen thousand have been wounded. (3) The number of killed grows
week by week.
In 2016, the Canadian government sold $9,725,298.07 worth of weapons to Israel’s government. Our military exports to Israel among others included missiles and ground vehicles and components. (4) The Canada Israel Strategic Partnership signed in 2014, facilitates defence relations with the Israeli military. (5) In October 2016, Lieutenant General Michael J Hood visited Israeli Air Force bases “with the purpose of acquainting himself with the force and tightening the cooperation between the forces and the personal relations between the commanders”. (6) Israeli military drones are purchased by Ottawa and are used in the Royal Canadian Air Force. (7)
The
government of Indonesia has been military occupying the island nation of West
Papua since 1969, when the entire area was forcibly annexed after a vote by
one thousand island elders were forced at gunpoint to “vote” to join
Indonesia. Since 1969, Indonesia has been waging a murderous occupation of
the island that has of now claimed the lives of an estimated 400,000 people.
(8). In the last ten years, one hundred West Papuans were murdered by the
Indonesian military and police forces. On January 10, 2016, Otis Pekei was
arrested and tortured to death by Indonesian police.(9) West Papuan
protesters have been shot at, arrested, and in many cases tortured in
custody. On December 1st, 2018, more than 500 West Papuan and Indonesian
solidarity demonstrators were arrested for raising the West Papuan flag.
(10). While Indonesia allows multinational corporations to extract
natural resources from West Papua, its people are impoverished. The Grasberg
mine, which is the third largest copper mine in the world with reserves of
$100 billion dollars, operates in West Papua. The mine provides revenue to
Indonesia’s government. Despite this, West Papua has higher child, infant and
maternal mortality rates than anywhere in Indonesia (11). In 2018,
ninety five Papuan children died of malnutrition and measles.(12).
In 2016, the Canadian government exported $519,850.14 worth of weapons to Indonesia’s government. Our military exports to Indonesia included chemical or biological toxic agents, automatic weapons, and “riot control agents”. (13) Canadian and Indonesian military personnel cooperate to provide training in Indonesia to military personnel of other states, through a program called MTCP (Military Co-operation and Training Program). “Indonesia is both a priority member state of the MTCP and one of its top recipients, both in terms of budget and positions on courses”. (14)
The
government of Turkey in January 2018 launched an armed invasion of Afrin, a
Kurdish majority province in Syria. During the invasion of Afrin, hundreds of
Kurdish civilians were killed in Turkish military airstrikes and shelling.
Turkish bombs and munitions, which were often fired indiscriminately, in the
words of one Kurdish survivor who was interviewed by Amnesty International,
“fell on us like rain” (15). After conquering the province, the Turkish
government allowed allied Free Syrian Army militias to administer large areas
of territory. They went on a looting spree, and since January 2018 have been
taking over Kurdish homes refusing to return them to their owners. Kurds who
live in occupied Afrin are subjected to random acts of robbery by FSA
militias, and at random checkpoints set up by Turkish and FSA fighters alike,
Kurdish young men are often detained. The arrested are often held for ransom
and subjected to humiliations and beatings until the money is paid. Some have
died under the inhuman treatment. As of January 2018, one thousand Kurdish
men have been “disappeared” (16). Since taking control of Afrin, FSA militias
have destroyed an important Kurdish cultural monument, and have been accused
of renaming Kurdish street signs and placing Syrian and Turkish flags on
Kurdish buildings in what is seen by many to be an attempt to attack the
Kurdish local culture (17). Between July 2015 and December 2016, the Turkish
military killed hundreds of Kurds in Turkish occupied Kurdistan. As they
fought PKK fighters, Turkish forces according to the UN committed
extrajudicial executions, widespread destruction of property, torture, and
rape (18).
In
2016, the Canadian government sold Turkey $3,994,423.41 of military
equipment. Military exports to Turkey included automatic weapons, missiles,
and ground vehicles and components. (19) According to the Canadian
government, “Turkey and Canada's Armed Forces have enjoyed a longstanding
cooperation. They are both committed to defending democratic values and
global security within the framework of international law and global
security. Both military forces are excellent partners in the multilateral
sphere and work together well within NATO.” (20)
Since
2015, the government of Saudi Arabia has been heavily engaged in a civil war
in Yemen that has contributed to the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent
civilians. Saudi Arabia began bombing Yemen to try to stop the Houthi
rebellion against President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other nations in its coalition have imposed a blockade on Yemenis who oppose the president. This has resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis in what is one of the most impoverished nations in the world. The blockade blocks access for millions of Yemenis to basic essentials of survival, like food and medication. (21) Save the Children shipments have been refused entry. Under the conditions of the blockade, Yemen suffers from the worst cholera epidemic in the world. (22) In 2017 alone, fifty thousand Yemeni children died of starvation (23). Saudi armed forces have been indiscriminately bombing Yemen, using weapons that are illegal according to international law. Munitions used by the Saudi Coalition, including “large bombs with a wide impact radius that caused casualties and destruction beyond their immediate strike location” (24) have killed many civilians. Such bombs have among other things hit schools, markets, residential areas, health centres, water and sanitation structures, and even funeral gatherings. Cluster bombs, which explode upon impact into smaller bomblets that in many cases detonate only later, have also been used in heavily populated civilian areas. (25) These bombs are prohibited internationally. Of the 15,489 air attacks by the Saudi and Coalition Air Force in Yemen, one of every three strikes has hit non-military targets. (26).
In
2016, the Canadian government sold $142,207,669.41 of military equipment.
This hardware included automatic weapons, ammunition, ground vehicles, missiles,
and military aircraft (27). Saudi pilots are among the foreign military
personnel who come to Canada to receive training in the NFTC (NATO Flying
Training in Canada) program (28).
By
exporting weapons to nations like Israel, Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia
and conducting military training and other forms of relations with them, the Canadian
government, including the Canadian military, are complicit in the human
rights violations these nations commit against the Palestinian, West Papuan,
Kurdish and Yemeni people. We have a moral responsibility to end military aid
and co-operation with the leaders of these countries- as well as all other
human rights abusers- until they end their murderous practices.
References
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