Raytheon war machine disrupted again

By Goretti Horgan

On Monday 12th Jan, nine women from the Derry Anti War Coalition tried to decommission the computer systems in the Raytheon plant.

Raytheon is one of Israel’s main suppliers of the weapons that were used in the attacks on Gaza .

We hoped to do what the Raytheon 9 did during the Israeli assault on Lebanon in Aug 2006 and prevent or delay war crimes being committed by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza with the use of Raytheon weapons.

It became clear during the trial of the Raytheon 9 that the company doesn’t care that its weapons are used to commit war crimes.

We knew that the security had been increased since the occupation in 2006 and particularly since the protestors were found not guilty of any crime. However, we did hope to disrupt the activities at the Raytheon plant for a while – which we succeeded in doing and to try to force a criminal investigation into the activities of the Raytheon company in Derry which, we believe, amount to complicity in war crimes.

Five women were arrested during the occupation and are in court on the 5th February. The nine women who joined the occupation are to be questioned under caution on suspicion of burglary, criminal damage and common assault.

In the course of trying to get us to leave, the PSNI agreed to meet a deputation from the Derry Anti-War Coalition to present evidence which, we believe, warrants a criminal investigation into the Raytheon company.

Adossier we presented has been sent to the PSNI’s legal officers and human rights’ officer. But after the political interference seen in the Saudi Arabian BAE bribe scandal, no one expects Raytheon to be prosecuted.

If, as expected, nothing happens with the police investigation, the Anti War Coalition will have exhausted the possibility of State intervention to hold Raytheon responsible for war crimes and we will be able to consider what other course of action to take.