28 September 2005
Auckland University Students for Justice in Palestine
Military Exporter To Be Picketed In Auckland
This Thursday the 29th of September a coalition of Auckland peace activists will picket the offices of Oscmar
International, a local manufacturer of military training systems, at 25 Shaddock St, Mt Eden at 4pm. The picket will
last an hour and a half.
Oscmar exports weapons training systems to the Israeli Defence Force, the United States Army, and it is highly suspected
that they also export to the Indonesian, Colombian and Indian armed forces. The weapons training systems that Oscmar
makes are used to improve the killing capacities of armies of occupation in Palestine, West Papua and Aceh, and Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Earlier this year controversy surrounded the export of Oscmar developed military software to Israel, but the company is
thought to have bypassed New Zealand laws concerning export requirements by exporting to Israel via a parent company in
the US. Little is known about the secretive company but they are probably still engaged in the development of products
destined for the Israeli Defence Force.
Israel has one of the worst records in relation to respecting human rights and International law. Between January and
December 2004 the Israeli Defence Force killed "more than 700 Palestinians, including some 150 children. Most were
killed unlawfully - in reckless shooting, shelling and air strikes in civilian residential areas; in extrajudicial
executions; and as a result of excessive use of force," reported Amnesty International.
Military training systems developed in central Auckland are also most probably being used to train Indonesian soldiers
who in 2001 were told by Megawati Sukanoputri, the then Indonesian president that, "You must do your duty.according to
your oath of service and your vows as a soldier. In this way you can carry out your duty without having to worry about
human rights." In West Papua, an Indonesian province whole villages have been destroyed and nearly 100,000 have died in
the ongoing resistance to the Indonesian occupation.
The Auckland University Students for Justice in Palestine is opposed to the export of training systems to the Israeli
Defence Force and all other repressive armed forces.
"Oscmar is creating the training equipment that is teaching soldiers how to increase their effectiveness at brutally
oppressing civilian populations all over the world," said student Omar Hamed.
"Allowing exports of military software to the Israeli Defence Force from Auckland is hypocritical in light of the
Israeli secret service agents caught stealing New Zealand passports, and the IDF's disgusting behaviour in the West Bank
and Gaza strip where they routinely murder innocent Palestinians.
"New Zealanders have a right to know which countries the Government is approving military exports to. The conflict in
the West Bank is one of the most destabilising conflicts in the world today, the New Zealand government should not allow
New Zealand companies to destabilise it further. Why is the New Zealand government continuing to grant export licenses
to a company which makes weapon systems for armies of occupation?
"If the New Zealand Government was serious in its opposition to exports that fuel regional conflicts then it would deny
export licenses to Oscmar when it seeks to export military training systems to countries with poor human rights
records," said Mr. Hamed.
ENDS