Dear friends, 

Thank you so much to all of you who have signed and shared our petition, and written to your MP for an immediate arms embargo on the UAE. Taking action in solidarity with the people of Sudan remains urgent. You can use CAAT’s new fact sheet on the genocide in Sudan for your campaigning, which is also accessible on our website here (make sure to scroll down towards the bottom of the web page). 

Early Day Motion 2451, which calls on the government to implement an arms embargo on the UAE, suspend all existing licences to the UAE, and commit to an independent investigation into the UK’s potential complicity in violations of international law in Sudan, was tabled on 8 December.

Send your MP an email urging them to sign onto the EDM. You can use our template email to send the call to your MP by clicking here. Personalising your email is a great way to ensure it has even more of an impact, and especially if you are emailing your MP again about the EDM, adding in some of your own words is welcomed. 

A whistleblower who works as an analyst at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has recently revealed to the Guardian that officials are censoring genocide risk in Sudan. The word “genocide” was removed from an FCDO report, despite a clear genocide risk in Sudan. The whistleblower presumes this was to protect the UK’s relationship with its ally, the UAE. It is evident that by refusing to consider the risk of genocide until a “competent court” has ruled on it, the British government is effectively nullifying its obligation to prevent genocide. 

Circumstances in Gaza remain dire as well. Since the ceasefire was enacted, Israeli forces have continued to target civilians with impunity. Repression continues against the Palestinian solidarity movement in the UK, and CAAT has recently signed an international solidarity statement in support of the legal challenge to the proscription of Palestine Action, which remains ongoing. 

As well, our friends at Demilitarise Education are fighting for UK universities to cut ties with the arms industry. Please take a moment to sign their open letter if you have a direct affiliation to a higher education institution in the UK, or are a representative of a non-governmental group or nonprofit organisation. If you do not fall within either of those categories, then please sign their petition.

CAAT could not continue to campaign without your support. As always, thank you very much for your concerted efforts. All actions make a big difference, such as sharing CAAT social media and blog posts, taking part in demonstrations against the arms trade, planning events with CAAT and any lobbying of your MPs and councils. Donations are intrinsic to the work of CAAT as well. 

Please support CAAT in our continuing work to STOP the arms trade by making a donation to keep CAAT campaigning.

While any donation is hugely appreciated, the sustained impact from choosing to make a regular monthly donation by Direct Debit supports CAAT with planning ahead. You can click the button above to set up a Direct Debit, which is easy to do and can be stopped at any time.

Thank you for your continued support in resisting the deadly arms trade,

Zoe and everyone at Campaign Against Arms Trade