Its nice to see Oxford still in action. - sorry I can´t make it to DSEi but "givem hell" from me.

You guys are great.
Loads of love your pal
Chakas

Thomas Wakley founded The Lancet in 1823 as a beacon of medical
knowledge and as a powerful ethical voice. "A lancet", he announced,
"can be an arched window to let in the light, or it can be a sharp
surgical instrument to cut out the dross, and I intend to use it in
both senses." Wakley's successors have continued to challenge the
political, social, and commercial forces that undermine medical
values. In recent years, The Lancet has published groundbreaking work
on the effect of conflict on public health, including a major 2004
study of civilian deaths in Iraq. Its work with the Peace Through
Health programme at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada,
is further evidence of the journal's leadership in this field.

Today The Lancet finds itself connected to the profits of the global
arms trade: a trade that inflicts physical and social harm in the
poorest and least stable regions. Since 2003, The Lancet's owner and
publisher, Reed Elsevier, has organised some of the world's largest
arms fairs through its exhibition wing, Reed Exhibitions. On Sept
13-16, 2005, Spearhead, a Reed Exhibition company, will stage the
world's largest triservice (land, sea, and air) arms fair-Defence
Systems and Equipment International (DSEi)-in London, UK. DSEi
promotes arms sales ranging from warships to small arms (the cause of
an estimated 500?000 fatalities annually) and cluster bombs. Military
buyers from some of the world's most serious human-rights-abusing
regimes, including Syria, Colombia, and Saudi Arabia, were invited to
the last DSEi fair. There is a demonstrable lack of effective
regulation at these events. For example, although organisers asked
exhibitors in 2003 not to promote cluster munitions, journalists
found cluster bombs openly on display.

Professionals and practitioners who use Reed Elsevier's numerous
medical and biomedical publications hold to principles that include,
at their most basic, the maxim to "do no harm". Reed Elsevier's
involvement with the arms trade seems incompatible with this
principle. It also contradicts Reed Elsevier's own subscription to
the UN Global Compact, which aims to prevent conflicts and human
rights abuse.

As researchers, scientists, medical professionals, and campaigners
concerned about the damaging effects of the arms trade on the health
and wellbeing of many populations, we call on Reed Elsevier to end
its international promotion of the arms trade. It is incompatible
with The Lancet's guiding principles, Reed's subscription to the UN
Global Compact, and the ethics of many of its contributors, readers,
editors, and reviewers.

Signed by Gene Feder, Jon E Rohde, Miguel San Sebastian,
Urban Janlert, Masamine Jimba, Enrico Materia, Anna-Karin Hurtig,
Stephen Goldin, Tom Stafford, Berit Edvardsson, Bjorn Hilt,
Stuart Parkinson, Marion Birch, Anna Jones, Kathy Archibald and John
O Pastore.

 http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673605673072/fulltext

Reed Elsevier and the arms trade (editorial)

Prof Gene Feder and colleagues claim in this week's issue that The
Lancet finds "itself connected to the profits of the global arms
trade", a situation that, they say, is "incompatible with The
Lancet's guiding principles". During Sept 13-16, 2005, Spearhead
Exhibitions-a part of Reed Elsevier, The Lancet's current
publishers-is hosting one of the largest military exhibitions in the
world, the Defence Systems and Equipment international (DSEi). The
Lancet has a long record of drawing attention to the adverse health
consequences of war and violence. We reject completely any perceived
connection between the journal and the arms trade, no matter how
tangential it might be. The Lancet is an entirely independent
publication, editorially and financially. It is not subsidised by
profits from any other part of Reed Elsevier.

DSEi takes place in association with the UK's Ministry of Defence.
Over 1000 companies will exhibit their weapons and related systems at
the arms fair in London's Docklands. In their promotional literature,
our owners emphasise the "selling process" at DSEi, which is cited as
a "key event for the total supply chain" of arms. At the last DSEi,
held in 2003, this "selling process" included technologies such as
cluster bombs, which are widely deplored by UN agencies and human
rights organisations.

It would be grossly naive for The Lancet to argue that nations do not
need responsible and well-managed defence industries as a means to
protect themselves from security threats. Without security, health
systems would be neither stable nor sustainable. But it would be
equally naive to argue that the legality of a weapon somehow absolves
a country, manufacturer, or even an exhibitions company from a
judgment about the weapon's use, sale, or promotion.

More reasonably, one would expect the world's largest medical
publisher to align its business values with the professional values
of the majority of those it serves. Values of harm reduction and
science-based decision-making are the core of public-health practice.
Certain military technologies that Reed Elsevier has allowed to be
showcased at DSEi are contrary to these values. In 2003, Reed
Elsevier allowed INSYS, Israeli Military Industries, and Raytheon
(all cluster bomb manufacturers) to exhibit at DSEi. The Campaign
Against the Arms Trade estimates that there will be at least 15
cluster bomb producers at DSEi in 2005. Cluster bombs have high
failure rates, creating de-facto minefields. Their effects do not
discriminate between military targets and civilian populations. They
are the worst kind of weapon.

The UN Mine Action Strategy specifically includes unexploded cluster
bombs in its vision of a mine-free world. UNICEF reported that over
1000 children were injured by unexploded ordnance, including cluster
bombs, after the Iraq war in 2003. Human Rights Watch has called for
a moratorium on the use of cluster bombs until their civilian effects
have been resolved. The Lancet has consistently opposed the use of
cluster bombs. It will be incomprehensible to the journal's readers
that our owners are engaged in a business that so clearly undermines
not only principles of public-health practice, but also the policies
of intergovernmental agencies.

Reed Elsevier's response is that the sale of military equipment is
legal, government supported, and tightly regulated. However, The
Lancet's collaborations in child survival and health-systems
strengthening, for example, risk being tainted by Reed Elsevier's
promotion of the "selling process" of arms. The arms industry draws
vital investment away from the health budgets of low-income nations.
In 2004, 59% of arms sales were to developing countries, at a total
cost to their economies of US$22 billion.

Reed Elsevier has provided enormous material support to The Lancet
during the past decade. It has never wavered in backing the journal's
editorial independence, as proven by the publication of this leader
comment. We cannot believe that Reed Elsevier wishes to jeopardise
that commitment by its presence in a business that so self-evidently
damages its reputation as a health-science publisher.

The Lancet's editors and the journal's International Advisory Board
were unaware of Reed Elsevier's involvement with DSEi until a few
weeks ago. We are deeply troubled by this connection to the arms
trade. On behalf of our readers and contributors, we respectfully ask
Reed Elsevier to divest itself of all business interests that
threaten human, and especially civilian, health and well-being.

 http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673605672923/fulltext

Reed's response is the usual bollocks, e.g.:

"The defence industry is central to the preservation of freedom and
national security."

 http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673605673072/fulltext

REED ELSEVIER -- MAKING THE DEATH FAIR RUN SMOOTHLY September 07, 2005

 http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=2008

Next week -- 13-16th September 2005, Europe's biggest arms fair will be held at the ExCel Centre, in London's Docklands area. Protestors are planning a week of events to oppose it, from 9-16th September. While the main dealers of death involved are the arms dealers themselves, the companies that host DSEI must also take a large share of the blame for any injuries, death or torture, that result from the use of the 'defence systems' on show at DSEI (aka 'Defense Systems and Equipment International).

These companies include the event's organisers, Reed Elsevier -- who are also part-owners of the ExCel Centre itself. By creating DSEI they are making the international arms dealers' work that much easier. So let's take a look at what Reed Elsevier-- hardly a household name -- actually does.

Exhibitions

If you search the main Reed website (www.reed-elsevier.com/) for 'DSEI', you get the result -- 'Searching on - dsei Found no documents'. This is not a surprise. Reed is a large publishing company, that only recently bought up Spearhead, the previous organisers of DSEI, and Reed's publicity does not exactly shout about its involvement in the arms fair. The division of Reed that has responsibility for DSEI -- Reed Exhibitions, within the business section -- organises '430 events in 32 countries. Reed Exhibitions has offices and agents in 43 countries'. This means that DSEI is a relatively small section of the business for even this sub-section of Reed Elsevier.

However, the accounts for DSEI Limited, now a subsidiary of Reed Elsevier, showed a profit of £824,551 in 2000 (before its buy-out by Reed), this is no small potatoes, even for a company such as Reed Spearhead's remaining activities also include organising the 'Offshore Europe' exhibitions, a major event for petroleum companies, held in Aberdeen. The last event, in 2003, boasted an attendance of 26,337 industry personnel, and 'confirmed contracts totalling more than US$325 million announced or signed at the show'. This exhibition, plus DSEI, netted Spearhead profits of £2,258,800 before tax in 2003.

Reed Exhibitions organises many other events in the UK, including 'Cordia 2005: Europe's Premier Biotechnology Event', sponsored by Deloitte and Astra Zeneca; 'The National Direct Marketing Show' -- a junk maillers' jamboree; the 'British Travel Trade Fair', organised with VisitBritain, (formerly the various UK tourism board); and 'the London Book Fair'.

To find out about all Reed exhibitions in your area, look at  http://www.reedexpo.com/app/homepage.cfm?appname=100266&moduleID=575 and search by country.

Publishing

Reed's main business is as a supplier of information. It owns the Lexis/Nexis legal database, as well as many other info sources. As Elsevier, it runs a vast number of science journals, including some of the biggest and most reputable ones. Elsevier has offices across the world, including in Camberley (Surrey), London, Edinburgh, Devon, Norwich, Oxford and Cambridge.
Go to  http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/contact.cws_home/locations to find the offices closest to you.

In general, Reed-Elsevier is an information giant, holding together a host of companies, involved in legal,edication, medical and science publishing, as well as providing business information and putting on exhibitions. Most of the companies in the Reed group are probably unaware of their link to DSEI, but, with the arms fair now being organised by a much more diverse company that Spearhead ever was, protests may start to alert staff and management at Reed's diverse sites of their link to the arms trade.

For more info on the arms trade, see a comprehensive new report by Campaign Against the Arms Trade: 'DSEi Arms Fair 2005: The global arms trade comes to London'  http://www.caat.org.uk/armsfairs/dsei-2005.pdf

To get involved with anti-DSEI protests, go to  http://www.dsei.org

Reed Elsevier own Farmers Weekly too

As an employee of Reed Elsevier, I'd like to thank the demonstrators for raising an issue I hadn't been aware of. I regard myself as pretty clued-up politically, but I knew nothing until now about RE's links with DSEi. I can assure the demontsrators that you have stirred up debate about this issue at work, and RE bosses have been having to field irate emails from staff!

A Reed employee eh? Well, you must have been in a coma for about 4 or 5 years if you didn't know about Reeds involvement in DSEi.

Why anon ? I guess it's because you're no more a Reed employee than I'm an unwashed activist. A little false propaganda I guess.

Asked about cluster bombs, Paul Beaver, official spokesperson for the British government’s Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi) Arms Trade Fair which is currently taking place in London said:

“There are no restrictions on selling these, except that we need approval from our government. But I believe we would only export them to stable, mature sort of countries...you have to remember they are not illegal. There are far worse weapons, you know.” [sic]

“Mature” certainly means fully grown and responsible, for it clearly takes “wisdom” earned through many years of repressive fascist experience for a government to know effectively when to use these nice toys that can blow the kidneys and limbs of thousands of innocent civilians.

I kind of wonder what they mean by “stable” though…
Me thinks it’s probably some kind of “Nouveau Labour” technocratic euphemism standing for “financially sound” i.e. with large enough “free cash flows” and other forms of Arabian baksheesh needed to buy Tony and Cherie a little Caribbean love nest.

These days one is never too careful.

I'm going to sound like an old fart, but I really can't see what you intend to achieve. Your actions will have a similar effect to party politics in this country - i.e. people tend to vote against the party that they least like - i.e. not the party that they want in power. With your actions you have successfully antagonised people against you, in a much higher proportion than those that you might have added to your support.