The protestors held siege outside the offices for 3 hours and handed out documents outlining the illegal nature of Windrush’s activities, which includes organising the Iraq Procurement Conferences, to the employees of the company and put up pictures of the massacre in Fallujah on the building walls. Outside, more protestors dressed in pirate costumes gave out leaflets to passers by and unfurled banners reading, “Corporate Pirates” and “Windrush, Stop Plundering Iraq”. They attracted support from local office workers and school children.
MORE PHOTOS:  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/12/302836.html

After a three hour stand off inside the building with the activists refusing to leave until they could speak to the director of Windrush, the police arrested the 4 activists under charges of aggravated trespass. They were held for 8 hours at ShorEditch police station and have since been granted bail pending charge.

Pillage
A spokesperson for the protestors said, “Companies like Windrush, who legitimise theft, excuse massacre, and seal the fate of an entire country’s future with the stroke of a pen, must be brought to justice and the illegal pillage of Iraq stop immediately.”

“It is vital that the public in the UK and around the world are aware of the pillage of Iraq, planned and promoted by companies such as Windrush and finally executed by companies of the occupation. These corporate atrocities make a mockery of the idea that sovereignty and resources are being handed back to the Iraqis after the elections on the 30th January.”

“The privatisation of Iraq’s assets is being administered without the democratic mandate or consent of the Iraqi people and amounts to pillage of the country’s resources under the rules of usufruct stated in the Hague Regulations Article 55. The Hague Regulations also clearly state in Article 47, “pillage is formally forbidden.”
[Links to more information at the bottom of this article].

Illegal
Last year the attorney general Lord Peter Goldsmith advised the prime minister, “The imposition of major structural economic reforms would not be authorised by international law.” However, this advice has gone unheeded and since the unelected Coalition Provisional Authority took over the administration of Iraq, over 200 state owned enterprises have been privatised including electricity, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals. The CPA also rewrote the constitution of Iraq, with 100 orders covering everything from privatisation, tax and property rights, to public order, media activity and elections.

The protestors vowed to continue their actions against Windrush and other companies who are facilitating the privatisation of Iraq until the British Government takes action to stop their illegal activities. A spokesperson said “Windrush are running scared. They have taken down the plaque outside their building and their name on the buzzer outside the door so as not to attract attention. But they cannot hide and we will continue to remind them that we will not let them get away with their illegal activity”

There are plans to mount a concentrated campaign against Windrush and its role in promoting plunder and complicity in the daily massacres taking place in Iraq.

If you would like to pop down to the offices and let them know they are breaking the law why don’t you go and visit them?

Windrush Communications Ltd, The Clergy House, Mark Street, London, EC2A 4ER, UK

Or give them a call?
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7613 2098,

Clog up their fax machines?
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7613 4804,

Or drop em a friendly email
Email:  media@w-global.net

p.s. They are on the top floor of the building!

For more information contact: 07931337890 or  stopthepillage@yahoo.co.uk

OTHER RELEVANT LINKS:
About the Iraq Procurement Conferences, organised by Windrush:
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/04/289737.html
Follow-up article on the Procurement Conferences:
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/11/301892.html
Official Iraq Procurement site:
 http://www.iraqprocurement.com/index.htm

Guardian article explaining `why the privatisation of Iraq is illegal':
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1079563,00.html
Order 39 of the Coalition Provisional Authority:
 http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20031220_CPAORD_39_Foreign_Investment_.pdf