STUDENT PETITION FOR A UWESU REFERENDUM TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT REVIEW (#REVIEWUWE)

In 2012 and 2013, UWE made the backstage decision to host a military business and arms trade event named DPRTE. DPRTE has been widely promoted by the MoD and the military community as ‘the UK’s leading defence event’ for businesses ‘to gain their share of £160 Bn from the MoD’s 10 Year Equipment Plan’ including £11.4 Bn on weapons, £18.5 Bn on combat air, and £35.8 Bn on submarines and nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

After being alerted by anti-arms campaigners, a group of UWE students and Bristol citizens decided to protest DPRTE 2013 on the 20th of November 2013. Despite considerable hostility especially from DPRTE participants, UWE security, and UWE staff at the highest level, the WesternEye reported: “Students Stage ‘Impeccable’ Protest.

A small, peaceful and determined protest proved sufficient to boot this event off campus. However, the university’s involvement in the repression of this protest, and their dismissal of health and safety concerns in order to suppress an important debate about the relationship between UWE, the arms trade and the military raises fundamental concerns.

Since March 2014, a student campaign has been calling for an independent review to perform a clear and balanced clarification of what happened on campus on the 20th of November 2013 and since, and make recommendations to take appropriate remedial action. In July 2014, UWE’s branch of the lecturers’ union (UCU) confirmed its support to this campaign in a letter to the Vice-Chancellor.

However, the university has repeatedly failed to reply to the student campaign and to the lecturers’ union. This was reported in an article published in December 2014 in the WesternEye entitled “UWE fails to act after repression of student protest”. Despite this, when Members of Parliament were asked to hold UWE to account, the university insisted that they answered (and rejected) the request.

As part of a campaign involving students and staff, we are now collecting student signatures to call for a UWESU referendum for the Students’ Union to support the independent review. Please consider signing this petition if you are a student. Please also consider promoting it, and stay tuned or get in touch if you can help as much more is coming up ;)

Thank you

I SIGN TO SUPPORT THE CALL FOR AN INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE ‘UWE ARMS FAIR’ AS OUTLINED IN THE OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNORS AND I PETITION UWESU TO ORGANISE A REFERENDUM ON THIS IMPORTANT STUDENT ISSUE.

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Campaigners’ action pack for #reviewUWE UWESU referendum

To collect signatures for the petition to UWESU on campus, here is what you will need to print:

If you’re helping via social media, here is what you’ll need:

For people who want more information:

For people to get in touch, give the email: reviewuwe [at] riseup [dot] net.

UWE students and Bristol citizens involve their MPs to hold UWE accountable

A group of current and former UWE students and Bristol-based citizens have contacted their MPs to request their support to review UWE accountable for the university’s involvement in the repression of student protests against the “UWE arms fair” and the obstruction of the subsequent campaign demanding an independent review.

If you want to join this action, please feel free to do so. We’ve pasted a template letter below, which you can use and adapt, after you’ve found who is your MP. Please cc us if/when you email your MP and keep us informed about their response: uwe.better.together [at] gmail [dot] com.

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UWE fails to act after repression of student protest (updated online version)

Today, the WesternEye released online an updated version of the article published last month in the student newspaper. If you want to read it, check it out here.

 

STATUS of the campaign

8 MONTHS since we demand an independent review about UWE’s involvement in the repression of peaceful student protests against the “UWE arms fair” that took place on campus on 20 November 2013. Our campaign is now backed by the local branch of the lecturers’ union (UWE UCU). However, STILL NO ANSWER FROM UWE.

UWE fails to act after repression of student protest (from WesternEye)

The November 2014 paper issue of the WesternEye (UWESU’s newspaper) features an article by Ben Gerdziunas entitled “UWE fails to act after repression of student protest”. Since the student newspaper hasn’t yet made a digital copy of it available, we republish it here.

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UWE fails to act after repression of student protest

No development on calls for an independent enquiry a year after the crackdown against student protest outside the Exhibition and Conference Centre

A CAMPAIGN titled #reviewUWE was set up in April 2014 by student activists calling for an independent enquiry into the events of the protest against the Defence Procurement Research Technology Exportability (DPRTE) event. This came as a response to alleged interference of police and its Forward Monitoring Team, injuries, an arrest and widespread intimidations during and after the protests.

The protest took place outside the building, echoing opposition against the Defence Procurement Research Technology Exportability (DPRTE) event in November 2013 and the subsequent call for an independent enquiry into the crackdown by UWE.
Keith Hicks, UWE’s Head of Marketing and Communications, stated in October 2014 that “the activists’ call for an independent enquiry last November was not supported at the time.”
Two open letters were sent by the campaigning group Better Together: one to UWE’s Vice-Chancellor Steve West on 12 March 2014, 7 months before Hick’s statement, and another to the Board of Governors on 8 April 2014. The Clerk of UWE’s Board of Governors confirmed on 14 April 2014 that the second one was “provided in full to the members of the Board of Governors.” To date, it has been the only acknowledgement by UWE’s management and/ or UWESU of the #reviewUWE movement- despite the backing of the UWE branch of the University and College Union (UCU).
Hicks stated on a video release to Bristol Life, published on 8 Apr 2014: “We are happy to hear from any students who feel they have been mistreated. If the Students’ Union raised this issue, we would do something about it.” UWESU met up with two student activists a day after the protest in November, but no strong immediate action was taken by UWESU.
UWESU stated this month, “We asked the activists for their accounts of what happened after the protest that we could put a case to the university but no one got back to us”
UWESU’s involvement was at it’s strongest before the protest. “We met with the students before the protest and we did raise (the issue) with John Rushforth before it happened to inform him that we supported the right to protest.”
Hicks states: “The University believes that a culture of free and open discussion is essential in our role as an academic institution”
The university’s decision in October 2014 to host a talk by the CEO of QinetiQ – describing itself as “experts in defence, aerospace and security” after a lack of action following last years’ events has resulted in further protests by students, activist groups and the public.
One student activist, who preferred to remain anonymous, stated in reference to the #reviewUWE campaign: “UWE is ready to suppress and endanger student voices critical of its ties with the military, while hosting and legitimising profiteers of the arms trade. Those protests were the only means available to bring this event and our arguments to attention.”