Urge Congress to STOP ARMING nations that abuse human rights!

On May 13, 2020, a smart, savvy non-profit organization that works for peace — World BEYOND War (www.worldbeyondwar.org) — urges us to persuade Congress to pass the Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act.

HERE IS WHAT THEY SAID (edited here for brevity):

The U.S. government, according to its own reporting, accounts for 66% of all the weapons exported to the least democratic quintile of nations on earth. Of the 50 most oppressive governments identified by a U.S.-government-funded study, the U.S. arms 82% of them.

The Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act (H.R. 5880) would prevent U.S. weapons sales to nations (other than the United States) that are in violation of international human rights law or international humanitarian law.

Click here to email your Representative and Senators:  https://actionnetwork.org/letters/pass-the-stop-arming-human-rights-abusers-act/?link_id=1&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-pass-the-stop-arming-human-rights-abusers-act&email_referrer=email_795584&email_subject=pass-the-stop-arming-human-rights-abusers-act

The U.S. government allows, arranges for, or in some cases even provides the funding for, U.S. weapons sales to 41 of the 50 most oppressive countries in the world. That’s 82 percent of them. (This figure is based on a U.S.-funded categorization of “not free” nations, and on U.S. weapons sales between 2010 and 2019 as documented by either the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Arms Trade Database, or by the U.S. military in a document titled “Foreign Military Sales, Foreign Military Construction Sales And Other Security Cooperation Historical Facts: As of September 30, 2017.” Here are the 41: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa), Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ethiopia, Gabon, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen.) Of course, an extremely oppressive government, that of Israel, is not in that list but is the top recipient of “aid” funding for U.S. weapons from the U.S. government.

Here’s an easy step to radically reduce violence in the world. Stop arming it!

World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, activists, and allied organizations advocating for the abolition of the very institution of war. Our success is driven by a people-powered movement – support our work for a culture of peace.

World BEYOND War 513 E Main St #1484 Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA
www.worldBEYONDwar.org

 

 

About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org