In addition to protesters who were surrounding the building holding anti-G4S placards, two campaigners climbed on top of the London Olympics security contractor’s base on June 2 early morning to unfurl banners challenging the company’s profiteering from “Israeli Apartheid, Prison Slavery, Deadly Deportations”.
While the private security company G4S faces serious accusations of involving in abuse of rights by providing equipment to the Israeli regime’s prisons, it was awarded contracts to provide security for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Insisting that the demonstration was only one of a series of attempts to bring the company’s ties to light, one of the rooftop protesters, Tom Hayes from the Boycott Israel Network, said he planned to stay indefinitely in solidarity with over 1,600 Palestinians on hunger strike in Israeli regime’s “security prisons,” including Ktziot, Megido and Damon, which are all serviced by the G4S.
“Brutal systems of discrimination such as Israeli Apartheid are maintained because companies like G4S are willing to do business with them, in total disregard of the human consequences and of international law. G4S is an example of a business that cynically views the practices of such regimes as good for business,” Hayes said.
Furthermore, the other protester, Sean Flint from No Borders UK, said he wanted to highlight the G4S’s role in Britaish prisons as it runs six private prisons, three detention centers and housing for asylum seekers in the UK.
“Awarding control of the police, justice and prison systems to a company with such a blatant disregard for basic human rights, as the government has shown its willingness to do, is truly frightening,” Flint said.
Earlier on June 7, more than 70 human rights campaigners demonstrated outside London Stock Exchange against the G4S as its Annual General Meeting took place.
The activists, who joined anti-deportation and anti-austerity groups for the demonstration in London, urged the G4S firm to end its involvement in human rights abuses around the world and handed shareholders an “Alternative Annual Report” detailing the company’s violations of international laws.
Palestinian organizations have called for action against the G4S over its contract with the Israeli Prison Service to supply security equipment to Israeli prisons in which Palestinian political prisoners are held.
SSM/HN/HE
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