Last but not least: product recall
A product recall notice for German small arms published in the Berlin daily newspaper *Taz* sparked a lot of discussion—and achieved the desired viral effect.
We are also familiar with the issue here in Switzerland: the arms industry not only exports a lot, but also to countries that enjoy a dubious reputation and do not always take human rights very seriously. Last September, the War Material Ordinance was even relaxed, and now "a license can be granted if there is a low risk that the war material to be exported will be used to commit serious human rights violations." (Source). This means that neutral Switzerland can once again welcome countries such as Pakistan, the Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to its customer portfolio. Out of sight, out of mind - after all, the buyers transfer money on time and thus secure Swiss jobs.
The question of which war material should be sold to whom is also preoccupying Germany. The German peace organization DFG-VK wants to stop arms exports and has achieved maximum attention with a newspaper advertisement. A fictitious product recall:
Independent tests have shown that fatal incidents can occur if the weapons are operated correctly. It must be assumed that millions of people worldwide have already been killed by these German weapons. The number of injuries is likely to far exceed these figures.
via Schleckysilberstein.com
It is unlikely that Heckler & Koch, Carl Walther and SIG Sauer will heed the call for a recall. The fact that the DFG-VK's action Waffenrueckruf.de but further sensitized to the problem of arms exports. (hae)
