Action Against Oxford War Crimes
We are a coalition of local activists demanding that Oxford University cuts all ties with the arms industry and Ministry of Defence. We fight for an end to all imperialist wars of agression, and this is just the first step of the that fight. We will not stand by whilst the University is complicit in death and destruction.
Who we Are
We are a coalition of local activists demanding that Oxford University cuts all ties with the arms industry and Ministry of Defence. We fight for an end to all imperialist wars of agression, and this is just the first step of the that fight. We will not stand by whilst the University is complicit in death and destruction.We are fighting an escalting campaign of actions against the Universtiy, and vow to keep on fighting until they accept our demands in full. It is the minimum of what the imperialised people affected by the arms that Oxford helps manufacture and the armed forces of this country deserve. Total liberation now.Follow us to keep an eye on our progress:
Press Releases
Oxford War Crimes
Get Involved
Whilst we don't recruit members directly, we welcome all to our public events:
UPCOMING EVENTS
- 11/06/23 11am Demo outside Oxford University Administration buildings - No Arms on Campus
29/05/23 - Relaunch
ACTION AGAINST OXFORD WAR CRIMES
FOR IMMEADIATE RELEASE:29/05/23
PRESS RELEASE
ACTIVISTS CONDEMN OXFORD UNIVERSITY'S TIES TO THE ARMS TRADEIn 2021, Action Against Oxford War Crimes (AAOWC) organised a protest in collaboration with students and local activists to demand the university cut ties with arms companies supplying militaries that engage in war crimes and other flagrant violations of international law.1 Disarm Oxford, founded in 2020,2 has also had involvement in this movement.3 Action Against Oxford War Crimes promised to continue to escalate action, and claims they are reaffirming this commitment. On Monday 29th April 2023, AAOWC deployed banners outside four locations: Oxford University’s Physics Department, Engineering Department, the Said Business School and the Radcliffe Camera. They plan a further action, a demo open to all, on 11am 11/06/23 outside the University’s administration buildings on Little Clarendon Street.Feel free to use the following pictures, attributed to Action Against Oxford War Crimes:https://drive.proton.me/urls/YWHEK40RP8#yBGidooy5644Local people and students have joined forced to relaunch the campaign to protest Oxford University’s collaboration with arms companies involved in war crimes across the Middle East and elsewhere. The group has vowed to ensure there are “reputational and financial consequences” for the University’s continued collusion with weapons manufacturers supplying states responsible for major human rights violations and breaches of international law. Monday’s action was the first in what they claim will be another escalating series of actions to force the University to sever contracts with these arms companies. A spokesperson for the group said that “On behalf of all those directly and indirectly affected by imperialist wars of aggression, we will not give up our fight until Oxford University cuts all ties with those arms dealers who arm murderers and war criminals and the armed forces who continue perpetuate colonial violence.”Oxford University has accepted millions in research and consultancy funding from arms companies in recent years.4 The University, already the second richest university in the country, is one of the top five recipients of such funding.5 Companies including Rolls Royce, Airbus and Lockheed Martin who have confirmed ties to the university were all shown by Amnesty International to fail to “demonstrate adequate human rights due diligence”.6 The Saïd Business school bears the name of the orchestrator of an arms contract worths tens of billions of sales to Saudi Arabia, a deal which involved billions in bribes.7These companies are intimately involved in the production of “killing machines” according to a spokesperson for the group, who claims that “instruments of imperial terror are designed and manufactured with crucial support from Oxford University and used to kill and mutilate innocent civilians”. BAE systems is manufacturing a custom jet for the Turkish Air Force that will be used against Kurds;8 Lockheed Martin (with Rolls Royce components) builds weapons used by Israel to bomb the world’s largest open air prison, Gaza;9 and billions of pounds worth of weaponry (not including on the ground technical support) have been sold to Saudi Arabia during its ongoing bombardment of Yemen, causing an international humanitarian catastrophe.10Oxford University also has ties with the Ministry of Defence and the British Armed Forces. Their careers service openly promotes the Army, Navy and Air Force, responsible for war crimes from Ireland to India spanning their entire history, as potential future destinations for graduates.11 The university also directly works with the so-called Ministry of Defence on a variety of projects, although the MoD has withheld specific information as to the details of this.12AAOWC calls for a complete cessation of ties, financial and otherwise, between the University and arms manufacturers, along with the MoD and armed forces, and claims they will escalate action until their demands are met.—
CONTACT:
[email protected]
https://twitter.com/OxWarCrimes
https://instagram.com/actionagainstowc
1https://www.cndsalisbury.org.uk/news_items/1541-protest-against-oxford-universitys-involvement-in-weapons-development
2https://twitter.com/DisarmOxford/status/1313508420666953730?t=FckAaEHXzBcQXb3HAO9n8w&s=19
3https://cherwell.org/2021/11/21/disarm-oxford-posters-criticise-oxford-universitys-ties-to-the-arms-trade/
4https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-nine-uk-russell-group-universities-that-have-links-with-arms-dealers-arms-fair-excel-londonuk613f47c1e4b090b79e86c2e2
5https://aoav.org.uk/2021/uk-universities-funded-190-million-from-major-arms-manufacturers-since-2013/
6https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/arms-companies-are-washing-their-hands-their-responsibilities-new-report
7https://isismagazine.org.uk/2019/11/funding-under-fire/
8https://www.lancashirebusinessview.co.uk/latest-news-and-features/bae-systems-to-develop-turkish-fighter-jet
9https://www.972mag.com/israeli-arms-companies-surveillance-gaza/
10https://caat.org.uk/homepage/stop-arming-saudi-arabia/uk-arms-to-saudi-arabia/
11https://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/armed-forces-uniformed-services#collapse1517656
12https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/modresearchfundingatoxford_u