47 arrests were made on the morning of 7 October in front of a crowd of more than130 protesters and assembled local TV, radio and print media. As the protestors crossed from the car park, where they were allowed to legally protest, over toward the main building of Alliant Techsystems, they were arrested one by one. All were handcuffed, including three Sisters of Saint Joseph aged between 63 and 76. Those who went limp and would not walk were cuffed AND placed on stretchers or in wheelchairs before being hauled off. Chief Earl Johnson confirmed to Human Rights Watch by telephone that 47 people, including a juvenile, were arrested by the Hopkins Police Department, booked with trespassing, processed at a nearby ice arena and released this morning. He said that the City Attorney's Office will make the final decision on charges against the protesters in a few weeks.
Three protest leaders (Marv Davidov, Tom Bottolene and William Barnett) and one protestor who went limp (Joel Kilgour) were arrested by but taken to the St. Louis Park Police station to be held for 36 hours on charges of trespassing at the specific request of the Hopkins City Attorney Wynn Curtiss as Hopkins police have no holding facilities. It is likely that these protesters were detained to prevent them from participating in further demonstrations planned for the next day outside Alliant Techsystems. They were released after demonstrations were over on 8 October 1998. A further 19 people were arrested including three juveniles on the second day of protests.
To assist the Alliant Techsystems protesters YOU CAN:
Call Wayne Gilbert, Vice President and Director of State and Community Affairs, Alliant Techsystems. Tel. +1-612-931-6000 or direct 931-5422. The fax is: +1- 612-931-5920. Or email: wayne_gilbert@atk.com
Tell him that Alliant's continued refusal to renounce its involvement in the production of antipersonnel mines is unacceptable as it flies in the face of worldwide revulsion for this inhumane and indiscriminate weapon. Ask them to renouce future production of antipersonnel landmines.
Other News:
A steady number of letters from companies which continue to refuse to renounce their involvement in the antipersonnel mine business is being forwarded to me at Human Rights Watch. They include Lockheed Martin, General Electric and Ensign Bickford Industries Inc. Their correspondence reveals that they have NOT changed their positions to a statement renouncing past, current and FUTURE involvement in the production of components for antipersonnel landmines. Please continue to forward any correspondence to us and please keep up this very important effort.
This update is the third in a series of Stigmatization Campaign Update which update the April 1997 Human Rights Watch report: Exposing the Source, a comprehensive expose of U.S. companies involved in the manufacture of antipersonnel mine components. Following correspondence prior to the report's release seventeen of the forty-seven corporations identified agreed to renounce all future involvement in antipersonnel landmine production. HRW in cooperation with the US Campaign to Ban Landmines launched a "stigmatization campaign" against the remaining 30 recalcitrant companies and grassroots pressure resulted in two companies renouncing their involvement by the end of 1997, Unitrode Corporation in New Hampshire and Thiokol Corporation in Utah (See Stigmatization Campaign Update #1: 12 Jan. 1998).
Since the release of Exposing the Source in April 1997, Human Rights Watch has continued its dialogue with the identified mine producers.
We are delighted to report that two additional companies, Unitrode Corp. (11/20/97), and Thiokol Corp. (12/9/97), have reversed course and renounced all future mine production and supply activities. Both companies had received a deluge of letters, emails and faxes from the
public. We wish to thank everyone who is involved in the campaign to ban mines in the US. (Update posted on 12/16/97)
Campaign Updates
(Last Updated on October 15, 1998)
Sixty-Six Arrests At Minnesota Mine Manufacturer Alliant Techsystems
(October 8,1998) -- Sixty-six people were arrested in two days of demonstrations outside the headquarters of mine manufacturer Alliant Techsystems headquarters in Hopkins, Mininesota. Protesters are calling for Alliant to reverse its continued pledge to produce antipersonnel landmines for the U.S. military.
Other demands by the protesters united under the banner of Alliant Action include a call for Alliant Techsystems to cease development of the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (year 2005 replacement of the M-16 rifle), cease development of the delivery systems for the First Strike Trident II Nuclear Missiles, and explore meaningful peace conversion.
Alliant Techsystems continues to refuse to renounce its involvement in the production of antipersonnel landmines and is extremely defensive of its self-destructing antipersonnel mines which it claims have a reliability factor of 99.99996 percent. It is likely that the company will bid for the $210 million U.S. Government contract to redesign the remote anti-armor (RAAM) system to include ADAM antipersonnel mines, thus making the Remote Area Denial Artillery Munition, or RADAM. In his 31 August 1998 letter to the US Campaign to Ban Landmines, President Clinton defended development of RADAM as "necessary because of the system's potential role in replacing our current method of employing two separate munitions (the ADAM APL and the RAAM anti-tank mine) that form an important artillery-fired anti-tank capability." The President's defense of this unnecessary and costly design contradicts his stated goal of signing the Mine Ban Treaty by 2006 and gives further incentives to Alliant Techsystems to continue its stance in favor of antipersonnel landmines.
To Assist the Alliant Techsystems Protesters
What You Can Do
Call
Wayne Gilbert,
Vice President and Director of State and Community Affairs,
Alliant Techsystems,
Tel. +1-612-931-6000
direct: +1-612-931-5422
Fax: +1- 612-931-5920
E-mail: wayne_gilbert@atk.com
Mary Wareham
Senior Advocate, Arms Division
Human Rights Watch
1522 K St. NW, #910
Washington DC 20005
Tel. +1-202-371-6592 (dir. 6599 x 103)
Fax. +1-202-371-0124
E-mail: wareham@hrw.org
