Institutions like the Nobel Prize have helped link Sweden’s international reputation to peace and reconciliation. But few people know Sweden is also one of the world’s top exporters of weapons. Sweden is among the world’s top arms exporters in per capita terms. Its clients include the United States and Britain, with shipments more than doubling since 2000.
Alfred Nobel established Bofors company in Karlskoga for the weapons industry. One of its group is now owned by British Aerospace (BAE), Europe’s biggest weapons company. And the other group went into Saab, Bofors Dynamics, which is another company owned by—Swedish-owned, by Saab. General Motors owns Saab in the United States, the automaker, and Ford owns Volvo, another Swedish company. Saab is Sweden’s biggest weapons manufacturer.
There are protest against weapon export from sweden. Apart from more traditional political methods activists of ofog and avrusta do disarmament actions too. Using an ordinary hammer, starts the disarmaments by disabling parts of weapons or weapons, so that they can’t be used to kill or hurt anybody.
Swedish citizens doesn’t know about Sweden being one of the top ten largest arms producers in the world. But there’s also these laws that permit the weapons export and stop people from protesting against it, because then they will get fines and be put into prison.
A lot of people feel that quite radical action needs to be taken, also with this government, because there will be, next year probably, a new proposal for new regulations, guidelines for the weapons export, which then risks to be much more liberal than those that we have today. So it’s important to act at this moment.
Annika Spalde and Cattis Laska is going to trial and will be sentenced to prison. Its funny to know that at the time of the celebration of the Nobel Peace Prize in honor of Alfred Nobel peace activists of Sweden are going to prison.
Annika Spalde and Cattis Laska talking with Amy Goodman
Annika Spalde, Activist with the Avrusta (“disarm” in Swedish), which aims to stop Swedish arms exports to countries violating human rights.
Cattis Laska, Activist with the Swedish Christian peace network, Ofog.
– from democracynow. 9 Dec 2008
Saab Bofors Dynamics are spreading dangerous weapons around the world and son it will kill us all
hi it sachin,
saab bofors dynamics are doing an affirmative job in the weapon industry.
But they do need to bring some revulsion in their methods of weapon manufacturing.
i know that the future of weapon industry will be main framed with the HUMAN-Dna.
hi it sachin,
saab bofors dynamics are doing an affirmative job in the weapon industry.
But they do need to bring some revulsion in their methods of weapon manufacturing.
i know that in future of weapon industry will be co-axiled with the HUMAN-Dna & with the help of a single chip a weapon will be connected to the main frame of the Human Brain.
weapons should work on itself in terms of the handler who is using it.
so the future weapons will be complicated like the Human body but simply usefull.
hi it’s sachin,
saab bofors dynamics are doing an affirmative job in the weapon industry.
But they do need to bring some revulsion in their methods of weapon manufacturing.
i know that in future of weapon industry will be co-axiled with the HUMAN-Dna & with the help of a single chip a weapon will be connected to the main frame of the Human Brain.
weapons should work on itself in terms of the handler who is using it.
so the future weapons will be complicated like the Human body but simply usefull.
Haha what? Should we get fines and be put into prison if we protest? Are u sure u are talking about the right country?;)
I have been fascinated with this topic for a few years now. We all want to believe that there is an ethical country to escape to where we can be removed from the “GOD” (gold, oil, drugs) shadow economy, but alas, here we are. I believe that Sweden also has a law that states that it must not be revealed who the purchaser of the weapons is. -‘tarotworldtour’