Stop the Shipment

I've just signed an on-line petition regarding the shipment of arms currently trying to get to Zimbabwe.

This ship carrying arms, including 3 million rounds of ammunition, bound for Zimbabwe is currently trying to find a way of delivering its deadly cargo. It is highly likely that these weapons will be used to fuel violence, killings and intimidation in Zimbabwe’s growing political crisis.

The Chinese ship, carrying 77 tonnes of arms and ammunition has been forced to leave the South African port of Durban after dockers refused to unload the shipment and a judge ruled that the weapons could not be transported across South Africa.

The ship is now trying to find another dock in order to unload its weapons and transport them to landlocked Zimbabwe. These 6 containers of arms must be offloaded from this ship and immediately impounded to stop them being sent to Zimbabwe. There is only a matter of days to stop this arms shipment. Please help stop this shipment.

Click here to sign the online petition to help stop the Zimbabwe arms shipment. The International Action Network on Small Arms will deliver the petition to the chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the governments of countries in the region with a port, including Angola, DR Congo, Mozambique, Namibia and Tanzania.

This shipment should never have been authorised in the first place. All governments must take action to strengthen controls on the international arms trade to prevent irresponsible arms deals such as this one fuelling conflicts, poverty and human rights abuses around the world.

The Olympic Torch

I have very mixed views on the protests surrounding the Olympic torch relay through London today.

China is undoubtedly guilty of mass human rights abuses, some of which - including the silencing of protests on Tibet and the treatment of construction workers - have been exacerbated rather than eased by the Olympics being awarded to Beijing.

It's quite obvious that the IOC should never have awarded the Olympics to China in the first place.

Having said that - I feel very uneasy about the protests that are taking place today. I believe firmly that the Olympic ideal can and does exist. I always cry at the opening ceremony especially when all the athletes come in and the torch is lit. There are thousands of competitors from across the world who have been working for years to achieve their goals, and more importantly there are thousands of young people who want to look ahead to London 2012. By attacking the torch and trying to douse it no damage is being done to China - only to the participants and viewers of the Olympics. By refusing to attend the opening ceremony Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy are showing a huge lack of respect for those representing their own nations.

I'm also quite concerned about the police presence for what was - in essence - a publicity stunt for a foreign nation and sponsors of the Olympics. I would love to see that many police on the street catching muggers. Miraculously all the paperwork that normally keeps the cops busy was missing today and they were free to rugby tackle demonstrators. Always a good show.

Like I say - I'm a huge fan of the Olympics so to see it brought into disrepute the way it has been today is a sad event. I hope that Tessa Jowell and Gordon Brown took the opportunity to strongly condemn his it government's behaviour to the Chinese Ambassadoe - but I very much doubt.

For a great piece defending the protests go to today's Sunday Times.

The Moral Imperative - Where and When?

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the other day that the UK has a moral imperative to intervene to spread democracy.

"My plea is not to let divisions over those conflicts obscure our national interest, never mind our moral impulse, in supporting movements for democracy."

And generally I tend to agree. I would have supported the Iraq war if Blair had said it was intended to remove Hussein from office as Britain could no longer stand by while dictators perpetrate genocide on their own citizens. I would have welcomed it rather than opposing it, and asked if he'd be taking out Mugabe next.

So with Miliband saying that we have a moral duty can I direct him to one country in particular?

The country where an illiterate woman faces beheading for being a witch after hearings she and her representatives were unable to attend.

The country where flower and gift shops were raided this week to remove roses, wrapping paper and teddy bears in an attempt to stop the un-Islamic sin of celebrating (St) Valentine's Day.

The country where two gay men were recently sentenced to 7,000 lashes each for sodomy.

The country where rape victims are sentenced to lashings for adultery, and then further punished for speaking out.

Or does Saudi Arabia, a country with some of the most shocking human rights violations in the world, not count?

Hat-tip to Mr Eugenides for the Valentine story