Reprieve denounces Oracle shopping centre’s censorship of Lush’s campaign for fair trials in Guantánamo Bay
06.03.2008
Reprieve, the legal action charity, is appalled to learn that the management of the Oracle shopping centre in Reading has demanded that the Lush cosmetics store remove material in its storefront calling for prisoners held without charge in Guantánamo Bay to receive a fair trial.
The Oracle requested that posters featuring Guantánamo prisoners Sami Al Haj and Binyam Mohamed be removed from the store’s window because the suggestion that they should receive a fair trial contravened one of the terms of Lush’s lease; namely, that retailers are prohibited from displaying signs which, “in the reasonable opinion of the Landlord,” are of a “distasteful, offensive or political nature.” Reprieve further understands that in a letter to Lush the Oracle’s management team has stated that in making this demand they are “trying to protect [the Oracle] brand.”
The Oracle encourages its other retailers to promote various issues that apparently fit more closely to its political beliefs. Grand Theft Auto IV or – coming soon! – Gears of War 2 and Destroy All Humans 3 seemingly come within the Oracle’s moral compass at the local GAME store. The Vue Cinema is showing a series of films of questionable taste, including Diary of the Dead and Rambo. It is okay for Starbucks to advertise on the Oracle website for its “social, environmental and economic” causes. In promoting McDonalds, it is not clear what position the Oracle is taking either on good taste or on the political issue of obesity.
Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve’s Director, said,
“Films and games that glorify war and torture are fine, but it’s not okay for Lush to stand up for basic human rights, or for a charity. Reprieve believes that this is a demonstration of censorship with no bearing on any justifiable goal.”
He added:
“In the time of the Ancient Greeks, no major political undertaking was embarked upon without consulting the Oracle at Delphi. The management of the Oracle at Reading has failed to demonstrate why a fair trial is either distasteful or political. Yet numerous avowedly political campaigns have been – and continue to be – presented in the centre’s stores. Topshop, for example, has rightfully campaigned for Fair Trade, and Lush itself has campaigned against animal testing and against unnecessary packaging, without attracting criticism from the management. Fair trade is okay, fair trials are not?”
The poster outside Lush
|
Click here
Click here.
Click here.
Click here.
Click here.
