WHY RAKON MUST BE BLOCKADED

"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all."

Since 2005 Rakon has been the subject a number of allegations relating to the use of their products in military applications. Rakon has never denied that they supply products into military applications and have at various times stated this accounts for 1% of their output, or 10% of their revenue.

In August 2005 the New Zealand Herald quoted Rakon Marketing Director, Darren Robinson, as saying that the company's technology went into "smart bombs and missiles" used by the US military. Rakon denied the claims, stating the company was not privy to the "end-use systems, equipment or applications used by its customers.

In May 2006 the New Zealand Herald ran a large expose around Rakon products being supplied to Rockwell for incorporation in United States Military 'smart bombs'. The claims were based around the facts that Rakon had known of the end use of their products since 1994 and may in fact be in breach of New Zealand export restrictions.

In July 2006 Rakon was the target of protests by Global Peace and Justice Auckland(GPJA). During the Israeli attacks on Lebanon in July 2006, GPJA issued a media release appealing"to the Prime Minister to close the loophole which allows New Zealand's Rakon Industries to export parts for Israeli bombs being dropped on Lebanon and Palestine.".

RAKON HAS THE BLOOD OF THE PEOPLE OF GAZA ON IT'S HANDS

Auckland company Rakon is the sole supplier of an important component in smart bombs made for the United States military. Thousands of these bombs have been dropped on civilian populations in Kosovo (1999), Afghanistan (2002-), Iraq (2003-) by the US Air Force, and by the Israeli Air Force in Lebanon and Gaza in August 2006. They are now being dropped again on the people of Gaza.

Many of these weapons are used on densely populated built up areas where each bomb has the potential to kill dozens of people. While Rakon continues to supply compo­nents for these bombs, they play a small but vital role in the deaths of men women and children every single day.

Omar Hamed, Students for Justice in Palestine-

"The world has watched over and over again as Joint Defence Attack Munitions (JDAM) for which Rakon makes components are used to kill civilians in recipient nations of the Bush administration war of terror.

Rakon's director Brent Robinson has himself said "Rakon's vision is to dominate the lucrative and expanding guided munitions and military positioning market.""

"This is a totally abhorrent goal. Furthermore the fact that the New Zealand superannuation fund owns 3.4 million shares in Rakon and that Rakon has received hundred of thousands of dollars worth of government grants means that the New Zealand taxpayer is now directly complicit in the murder of thousands of innocent people across the world."

What exactly does Rakon do for the bomb making industry?

The JDAM (Joint Defence Attack Munition) is a guided weapon kit that is used to turn unguided bombs into 'smart" GPS guided bombs. Tens of thousands of JDAM bombs have been used against civilian populations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Lebanon and Palestine by the US and Israeli air forces. The GPS guidance system in every single JDAM bomb con­tains vital electronic components made in Auckland by Rakon Ltd.