Posted on 06/27/2004 7:12:59 AM PDT by veronica
British Muslims are calling for a boycott of chocolate giant Cadbury because of alleged links with the American firm accused of torturing prisoners in Iraq.
The UK Islamic Mission made the shock plea as the Bournville-based company has previously employed business advisers CACI Ltd.
The firm, which has offices in Coventry, is a subsidiary of US firm CACI International, which was hired by the CIA and coordinated interrogations at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
Iraqi inmates at the prison were stripped, chained, sexually humiliated and threat-enedwithelectrocution byUSguards.There have also been allegations of rape and murder.
Last night, Haq Ghani, of the UK Islamic Mission, called for a boycott of up to 40 UK firms, including Cadbury, who have links with CACI Ltd.
“It is very concerning that a notorious organisationsuchasCACI isinvolvedinany way with household names and companies whichtheMuslim communityuse,”hesaid.
“Many Muslims will boycott these organisations and take peaceful action to protest, such as picketing their headquarters.
“There should be a boycott of any organ-isation which works with a company involved in state terrorism.
“I would call on people who oppose the war on Iraq to boycott these firms.”
But a spokesman for Cadbury said the companywasnolonger usingtheservicesof CACILtd. Hesaid:“Ibelieve thatthefirmdid offer us some advice to assist the process of integrating our retail sales force with that of Trebor Bassett. But that was three or four years ago and we have not used their services since.”
Butthe SundayMercurydiscoveredmore recent links between Cadbury and the firm. On March 4, Rafik Chafekar, sales operations Manager at Cadbury, was a guest speaker at a CACI conference in Buckinghamshire.
The seminar was also attended by other company clients including Honda, Renault, Barclays, Scottish Widows, AXA Direct, Friends Provident, House of Fraser, The Woolwich, Unilever, Danone, WH Smith, theRoyalMail,Peugeot, 02andBritishGas.
Aclassactionlawsuit wasfiledearlierthis month in the US by the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights, who are accusing CACI International of conspiring to ‘direct and conduct a scheme of torture, rape, and in some instances, summarily execute plaintiffs’.
Approximately 1,000 Iraqis are involved in the action.
In an earlier interview, Dr Jack London, the president of CACI International, said he found ‘the erroneous information that has been circulating regarding CACI’s involvement in the Abu Ghraib prison deeply offensive’.
He claimed the company was “working diligently to uncover the truth and fully cooperating with all government investigationsaswellas conductingourowninternal analysis.”
He added: “The company has never, and never will, condone or tolerate illegal or inappropriate behaviour by any employee when conducting CACI business.”
In Britain, CACI Ltd mainly provides strategic business advice to its high-profile clients.
Renault has retained the services of CACI in the UK since last July. It refused to comment about the boycott calls last night.
The Fruit and Nut bars are my favoite. And I love the Cream Eggs. Mr. Mew got me a plush clucking Cadbury bunny a couple of years ago. My little bro broke the clucker, so now Cadbury rides shotgun with me in my car. Boycot Cadbury? Let'em. More for the rest of us. Heh heh heh.
Chocolate ping!
Sounds good to me.
I shall buy a bar today.
It's good for your soul!
I'm right in the midst of moving. I'll place a Net order.
If it helps, I'm down from a size 14 to a size 6, and that's not even doing hard-core full-bozo Atkins.
Old Grumpy wrote:
As much as I love chocolate, I find Cadbury a little too sweet, HOWEVER, I may have to go buy some anyway. A LOT of it.
I should also note that each Creme Egg contains 28 grams of carbs, which is entirely do-able if you're in late-stage Atkins.
I used to be able to eat a four pack of those in one sitting. Sigh....
This is SOOOOOOOOOOO easy - Cadbury has always been one of my favorites!!!!!!!!
And I was getting ready to head for the store in a little while - gee, the "choklet" my 5yo added to the list has now become a mandatory purchase!!!!!!
Hey!
What a fun link!
And it's SO true....
thanks!
Interesting.
i have thought of trying Atkins.
Right now, I am doing the "Moving to a Smaller House and Hauling Too Many Boxes" diet...
I'll let you know how it turns out!
:-)
Hi Gabz!
Make sure to tell her WHY you are buying THAT kind!
Thanks for the links!
Our local Eckerd always has Cadbury Fruit&Nut bars...yummm.
They're on the same aisle as the diet supplements (just closer to the front checkout), so they must be good for you.
If I'm going to boycott something British it'll be kidney pie.
This will make Moore mad.I'll bet he's pounded down a few ton!
without fail!!!!!!!!!!
She's all in favor of anything that makes "mud" and his cousins upset. ('mud' is binladen and his cousins are the rest of the bad guys President Bush is punishing)
BJ's Warehouse has it, too. Putting it on my list.
Good job, Mom!
I talk to Caitlin a lot about the WOT... for the first several weeks after 9/11, I had to do "Osama checks" in her closet before she would go to sleep....
In fifth Grade, she startled her teachers during "Health" class when they were talking about illeagal drugs and why you should not use them.
Most of the kids stod up and said, "Drugs are bad for you, etc".
MY daughter stood up and said, "I won't use drugs because I don't want to give money to Osama! "
The soccer moms stared at me the next morning when I dropped her off, LOL!
Nascar bump for chocolate!!!!
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