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UK government moves step closer to unaccountable self-regulation for deadly Private Military and Security Companies industry
23 May 2013
The UK government has announced its latest step towards the adoption of voluntary standards for Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs). Mark Simmons, the Foreign Office Minister, announced this month that the UK will shortly launch a pilot scheme to approve national commercial certification bodies that will audit companies according to a set of national standards. The government has not made clear how these certification bodies will operate and how their independence will be guaranteed in light of their commercial relationship with PMSC’s that have to pay a fee for the certification.
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G8: the problem, not the solution
22 May 2013
This June, the G8 is meeting on the lakes of Lough Erne in the north of Ireland, its first summit hosted under a UK presidency since the 2005 gathering at the Scottish golf resort of Gleneagles. That year was notable for the mass mobilisation organised by the Make Poverty History coalition, which saw a quarter of a million people take to the streets of Edinburgh in protest at the G8’s economic policies. This year there is less excitement surrounding the G8, and questions abound as to the continuing relevance of the grouping in the brave new world of the twenty-first century. So who are the G8, and are they part of the solution or just part of the problem?
Read more: G8: the problem, not the solution
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Alfamir Castillo receives another death threat
22 May 2013
Colombian human rights defender Alfamir Castillo has received yet another death threat in the run up to a court hearing in the case of the murder of her son and another man by the Colombian army. When Alfamir visited the UK in March, she described the terrifying attacks, persecution and threats which she and her family face: including having their home under constant surveillance by unidentified individuals and armed men arriving to their home to threaten and intimidate them.
Read more: Alfamir Castillo receives another death threat
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Matalan, Asda-Walmart and Gap pressed on safety
16 May 2013
War on Want today urged the public to step up the pressure on dissident retailers which failed to meet yesterday’s deadline to sign the Bangladesh Safety Accord.
Read more: Matalan, Asda-Walmart and Gap pressed on safety
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24 hours left – Mango joins Bangladesh safety agreement – Gap and Asda refusing to sign
15 May 2013
With less than 24 hours left before the deadline Mango, one of the major UK high street brands sourcing from the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh where over 1,000 people were killed, has joined other major retailers in signing the Bangladesh Safety Accord. Despite many major companies including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Next signing up, Gap and Asda Wal-Mart are both refusing to sign and are attempting to undermine this vital initiative.
Read more: 24 hours left – Mango joins Bangladesh safety agreement – Gap and Asda refusing to sign
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M&S, Tesco and Benetton sign Bangladesh safety agreement: Mango and others hold out
14 May 2013
Major UK retailers Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Benetton have all announced that they will be joining Primark and H&M in signing the Bangladesh Safety Accord. The announcement comes in the face of enormous public pressure for UK companies to ensure disasters like the Rana Plaza building collapse where over 1,000 people, mostly female garment workers, were killed, never happen again.
Read more: M&S, Tesco and Benetton sign Bangladesh safety agreement: Mango and others hold out
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Primark bows to pressure and signs safety agreement
13 May 2013
Retailers Primark and H&M have bowed to popular pressure and signed the Bangladesh Safety Accord after over one million people called on retailers demanding action to ensure disasters like this can never happen again through negligence.
Read more: Primark bows to pressure and signs safety agreement
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Alfamir update: out of town but not out of danger
10 May 2013
Last month almost 3,000 of you took part in our online action to send an email to the Colombian embassy demanding immediate protection for threatened Colombian human rights defender Alfamir Castillo, whose son was murdered along with a friend by the Colombian army in 2008.
Read more: Alfamir update: out of town but not out of danger
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CODEMUH: fighting back in Honduras
05 May 2013
This weekend, a War on Want delegation met members of CODEMUH, the Honduran Women's Collective, in the northern Honduran town of San Pedro Sula. We heard the testimony of women workers from the maquila (garment sector) around San Pedro Sula, many of whom have been permanently disabled as a result of their work in factories supplying well known Western brands with clothes. The videos below offer a brief sample of their stories, and of the importance of CODEMUH in organising women workers and providing them with the confidence to continue their struggle.
Read more: CODEMUH: fighting back in Honduras
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Shack dwellers fighting for ‘Marikana’ land in Cape Town
02 May 2013
The homes of hundreds of shack dwellers have been repeatedly destroyed by South African government agents this week in a settlement named Marikana in Philippi East, Cape Town.
Marikana was so named to honour the workers who died for a living wage in the miner strikes last year and because the residents are also “organising ourselves peacefully and are willing to die for our struggle” says Sandile Ngoxolo. Many residents have rebuilt their homes three times in as many days and seen it torn down each time, but this is the only home they have.
Read more: Shack dwellers fighting for ‘Marikana’ land in Cape Town
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