Contents
1. Summary
2. Background
3. Action Required
4. Sample Letters
1. Summary
IHRC are urging campaigners and activists to protest against G4S for their provision of expertise and security systems to Israeli prisons, and their complicity in the detention and torture of Palestinian children.
2. Background
G4S is a British-Danish security firm. Among some of the provisions made by G4S to the Israeli security apparatus include a perimeter defence system and command control centre for Ofer prison in occupied Palestine, and security systems for the al-Jalame interrogation centre in Israel.
Ofer and al-Jalame are notorious for having housed Palestinian children in solitary confinement. The internment of children in solitary confinement, as well as their interrogation and torture, is made possible by the technological and logistical support provided by G4S.
G4S have also provided support to illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, and have business interests in maintaining Israeli checkpoints and the Apartheid Wall.
3. Action Required
This protest is part of an ongoing campaign by IHRC against Israeli apartheid and this protest is just but one that will be targeting those that profit from the Occupation of Palestine. On our last protest on 12 October 2012, IHRC managed to hand in their letter to the G4S reception in person (https://www.ihrc.org.uk/news/articles/10305-video-ihrc-hands-in-letter-to-g4s), this time we will be staging a stunt and need as many participants as possible.
Massoud Shadjareh, the chair of IHRC, said:
“Complicity in torture for profit will not go unnoticed. G4S has contributed to the degradation of human rights in Palestine and the occupied territories in its dealings with the Israeli apartheid state, and this protest will ensure that the public are made aware of this.”
We need all activists to participate in this direct action. We cannot allow G4S to get away with their actions, and by protesting we will be raising awareness of their crimes against the Palestinian people. IHRC requests all individuals who are conscious of civil liberties and human justice to:
1. Write letters and emails to the Foreign Minister of their country urging them to do whatever they can to persuade G4S to discontinue all business with Israel with immediate effect.
2. Attend the protest on Friday 09 November 2012 (details below)
Date: Friday 09 November 2012
Time: 2:30pm – 4:30pm
Venue: G4S London Headquarters, Southside, 105 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6QT.
Nearest Train/ Tube: Victoria Tube Station
4. Sample Letters
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Sample letters are given below for your convenience. Please note that model letters can be sent directly or adjusted as necessary to include further details. If you receive a reply to the letter you send, we request you to send a copy of the letter you send and the reply you received, to IHRC. This is very important as it helps IHRC to monitor the situation with regards to our campaigns and to improve upon the current model letters.
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a. Minister of foreign affairs in your country (UK campaigners can write to the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office using the details below)
[Your name]
[Your address]
[Date]
The Rt Hon Baroness Warsi of Dewsbury
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
Dear Rt Hon Baroness Warsi,
Re: Complicity of G4S in the illegal occupation of Palestine and its involvement in numerous human rights abuses
I am deeply concerned over the complicity of G4S in the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and its involvement in numerous human rights abuses. G4S is providing security systems to help Israel secure prisons and interrogation centres where Palestinian children are being caged and tortured. These include:
• Ofer prison in the occupied territory, where G4S provides the perimeter defense system and the central command control room for the entire facility.
• The Al Jalame interrogation centre in northern Israel. Cell 36 where Defence for Children International reported that children are locked in small filthy cells in solitary confinement, some for 65 days, with their only escape being the interrogation room where they are shackled by their hands and feet to a chair whilst being abused, sometimes for hours. G4S provides the security system that keeps this torture den operational.
I urge you to do whatever you can to persuade G4S to discontinue all business with Israel with immediate effect. This ongoing oppression of individuals which is a clear violation of human rights law must not be tolerated by the British government who claims to stand for justice.
I look forward to hearing back from you regarding this urgent matter.
Yours sincerely,
[Your signature]
[Your name]
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b. Nick Buckles, CEO of G4S
[Your name]
[Your address]
[Date]
G4S UK & Ireland Head Office
Southside
105 Victoria Street
London, SW1E 6QT
Dear Mr. Buckles,
Re: Abduction Complicity of G4S in the illegal occupation of Palestine and its involvement in numerous human rights abuses
I am deeply concerned over the complicity of G4S in the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and its involvement in numerous human rights abuses. G4S is providing security systems to help Israel secure prisons and interrogation centres where Palestinian children are being caged and tortured. These include:
• Ofer prison in the occupied territory, where G4S provides the perimeter defense system and the central command control room for the entire facility.
• The Al Jalame interrogation centre in northern Israel. Cell 36 where Defence for Children International reported that children are locked in small filthy cells in solitary confinement, some for 65 days, with their only escape being the interrogation room where they are shackled by their hands and feet to a chair whilst being abused, sometimes for hours. G4S provides the security system that keeps this torture den operational.
I urge you to raise this matter with your Executive Committee as a matter or urgency and subsequently discontinue all business with Israel with immediate effect.
I look forward to hearing back from you regarding this urgent matter.
Yours sincerely,
[Your signature]
[Your name]
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For more information, please contact the office on the numbers or email below
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“And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! Cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper.”
Holy Qur’an: Chapter 4, Verse 75
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