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Zohl de Ishtar
Women for a Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific
International Peace Bureau, Oceania Representative (Female)
PO Box 172, Annandale 2038, Australia.
Tel: +61 (0)2 96603670
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Eradicate Colonialism by the Year 2000!
The Pacific will never be demilitarised until it is decolonised.
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(with Cubic Circle's cucipop (v1.22 1998/04/11) Wed Jul 29 23:47:48 1998)
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by jaffle.lmu.ac.uk with esmtp (Exim 1.82 #2)
From: "Euler, Catherine [CES]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Zohl de Ishtar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: FW: NATO Under Siege - the story
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 08:40:00 +0100
charset="ISO-8859-1"
Not sure if you had seen this yet or not - apologies if it duplicates
anything. Thanks for the info on the horrendous tragedy in Papua New
Guinea. I have sent the info on in printed or electronic form to as
many women as I can think of.
Menwith Women's Affinity Group on our way up to Faslane in August for
the big Ploughshares 2000 action. Since the authorities have been so
reluctant to do it for so many decades, we have decided to disarm the
nuclear weapons ourselves, to help them along a bit. Apparently they
have drafted in an additional 300 police for the action. However, I am
not looking forward to the midges.
Hope you are well,
Cat
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From: Pol D'Huyvetter
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: (Fwd) NATO Under Siege - the story
Date: 28 July 28 1998 18:17PM
Mailinglist Nuclear Weapons Abolition Days-network
Another well-written en documented account of our actions at NATO July 8
and 10.
>From: "Eirlys" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "Pol D'Huyvetter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 01:53:45 +0000
>Subject: (Fwd) NATO Under Siege - the story
>Priority: normal
>X-MIME-Autoconverted: from Quoted-printable to 8bit by
maildrop.xs4all.nl
>
>In case you hadn't seen it yet... here is the text that we put
>together about the actions in Brussels. So far we've had it sent out
>to the Reclaim the Streets network, and it's also gone into 'Schnews'
>which is almost THE activist newsletter in the UK, and hopefully
>something should be going into the EF! Action Update. Peace News
>have apparently also covered the actions, although the photos arrived
>too late - but they have them for next time, so we'll push them to be
>used in the next issue as a plug for the Walk. The text below has
>also been turned into a little booklet to hand 'round at things!
>
>See you soon! Eirlys
>
>==========================================================
>NATO UNDER SIEGE BY WAR CRIMES INSPECTORS - JULY 8 & 10 1998
>
>"We have to get it across what they're actually doing. When was it
>that the Nazis became genocidal? It was when they made the gas and
>built the chambers. This is the same, but with radiation and
>missiles." - A UK activist at NATO, 8 July 1998
>
>The Headquarters of NATO came under siege last week (July 8 and 10
>1998) from activists calling themselves "Citizens War Crimes
>Inspectors". Activists climbed over or cut through fences at the
>headquarters of the defence alliance in Brussels, Belgium, on the hunt
>for 'evidence that might later be used in a prosecution for war
>crimes'.
>
>The actions were part of the Abolition Days campaign, an international
>campaign of direct action against nuclear weapons. Activists from
>several different countries, including the UK, took part in a weeklong
>peace camp in the build-up to the actions, which will be followed by
>further international actions on October 1 1998. An international
>Peace Walk is currently underway from Brussels to Faslane in Scotland,
>linking the campaign with the Trident Ploughshares initiative.
>
>The campaign follows two significant events in 1998, which have
>exposed the arrogant hypocrisy of nuclear weapons states like the UK
>and the US - both members of NATO.
>
>The first was the crisis in Iraq, which was triggered by the issue of
>UN weapons inspectors. They were in the country to verify the
>disarmament of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The
>crisis nearly prompted another Gulf War, with the US and the UK making
>thinly veiled nuclear threats at the Iraqi regime. This is despite
>the fact that under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, all Nuclear Weapons
>States - including the US and the UK - should be disarming their own
>(nuclear) weapons of mass destruction.
>
>The second was the alarming development of a new nuclear arms race
>between India and Pakistan, as both conducted nuclear tests in May.
>All of the Nuclear Weapons States condemned the tests, and the US
>imposed sanctions. Bill Clinton, President of the country that
>conducted the first nuclear test in 1945, said "I cannot believe we
>are about to start the 21st century by having the Indian subcontinent
>repeat the worst mistakes of the 20th century when we know it is not
>necessary to peace, to security, to prosperity, to national greatness
>or personal fulfilment." All fine words - delivered, it seems,
>without irony.
>
>CITIZENS INSPECTIONS - AN APPROPRIATE RESPONSE
>"The basic strategy of a citizens inspection is to carry a clipboard,
>go in, and when you get stopped by police or security, you politely
>tell them to stand aside." says Eirlys, one of the UK activists who
>took part in the Brussels actions. "We're telling the authorities
>that we are upholding international law. That confuses them a lot
>-they're used to being the ones with the law on their side, and being
>able to bend it for their own means.
>
>"But when it comes to nuclear disarmament there's a legal obligation
>on nuclear weapons states to disarm. And if they're not doing that
>then we have to take action. Under the Nuremberg Principles, which
>came out of Nazi War Trials, every person has a responsibility to act
>to prevent genocide. It's basic humanity - but it's also there in
>international law."
>
>Detailed accounts (if not attached) photos, video footage,
>and info on forthcoming actions available from:
>
>Abolition Days (UK) c/o CND 162 Holloway Road, London N7 8DQ
>Tel: 0171 700 2393 Fax: 0171 700 2357 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>*** Please note that the email address has changed. Thanks! ***
>
>Info about the Peace Walk
>(Brussels to Faslane, Scotland - NOW to August 9)
>Greater Manchester CND - 0161 834 8301 - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>------- YOU TOO CAN GET INVOLVED! --------
>26 September - 3 October 1998
>Week of actions against nuclear 'sites of crime' worldwide, especially
>on October 1 -the anniversary of the ending of the Nuremberg trials in
>1946. If you would like to take part, organise your own action or do
>solidarity and publicising actions (street theatre, leafleting etc)
>then support materials can be provided by some of the current
>participants.
>
>============= THE STORY ==============================
>
>The following account has been produced in the hope that those who
>read it will not only find it interesting, but will also edit and
>reproduce it if possible in order to spread the word. Not to
>overstate it, but crimes against peace and humanity are happening as
>you read. Yours in thanks and solidarity, The Writers.
>
>=============== ACTION DIARY ============================
>
>FRIDAY 3 JULY
>The international camp, described as a "small but strong camp of
>resistance against NATO's illegal policy", begins. The news is that
>20 participants, from Belarus, Romania, Russia, Sri Lanka and Ukraine
>have been refused visas by the Belgian authorities. The camp operates
>on consensus decision-making, and all of the actions are planned by
>the participants.
>
>MONDAY 6 JULY
>Around 15 activists go into the centre of Brussels to do street
>theatre and leafleting to the shoppers and tourists. They are
>prevented from doing the street theatre by police who have followed
>them there. Many of them are then followed back to the camp by both
>uniformed and plain clothes policemen.
>
>TUESDAY 7 JULY
>Preparations for the action the next day are underway, but are
>hampered by two interruptions. The first is a call from the 'secret'
>police, informing us that the police have orders the following day to
>keep the demonstration (which has been openly publicised) at least 50
>metres from the NATO Headquarters. This means the other side of the
>road, which is a four-lane carriageway. It's pretty hard to cut a
>fence from that kind of distance so we make plans to adapt the action.
>
>The second interruption is a surprise call telling us that NATO have
>'granted' us a meeting. How big of them! Their condition is that
>there is 'no repetition of last year'. They're referring to a
>citizen's inspection on August 6 1997 (Hiroshima Day) where the front
>gate was shut down for the morning and four activists cut their way
>into the base. Yeah well, we figure that we might have some
>conditions too! The following few hours are dedicated to working out
>what these are, who's going to go into the meeting, whether we agree
>to the meeting at all, and at what point the inspections will take
>place should the meeting prove to be unsuccessful. Of course, there's
>an outside chance that the NATO officials will suddenly admit that
>their policies are illegal, and declare that all NATO nukes are to be
>taken off alert. But we doubt it somehow.
>
>Wednesday 8 July
>It's the second anniversary of the publication of the Advisory Opinion
>(to the UN) of the International Court of Justice on the legality of
>the threat or use of nuclear weapons. Not the catchiest anniversary,
>but it's why we're here and the press pick up on it later.
>
>The day starts with a press conference where some of the MEPs who are
>joining the action wax lyrical about the issues. Outside, a call to
>NATO is suddenly cut off, but once our negotiator gets back on the
>mobile he outlines our conditions. These are that the rest of the
>'inspectors' get to wait outside the gate while the meeting takes
>place (agreed); that we have a total of eight people to their four,
>and that one of these is a TV camera operator. We also want to record
>the meeting - what have they got to hide? A lot, apparently, as they
>won't concede to this. Our final condition is that we don't want a
>repeat of last year, either. As the letter requesting a meeting
>originally stated to them, "General statements on nuclear policy
>issued by NATO do not provide sufficient evidence that the alliance is
>acting lawfully." So no PR bullshit, we want information, or the
>meeting will be shut down and the inspections will go ahead. This
>turns into an argument, but the NATO security official (a Brit, by the
>way), says he will go and find out.
>
>While the demonstration makes its way to the NATO HQ, the camp members
>of the meeting delegation team brief the MEPs and the Belgian MP who
>are coming in too. In the end we're allowed 5 people, plus a camera
>with no sound for the first few moments of the meeting. Despite our
>irritation, a circle meeting of the inspectors agrees to go ahead
>anyway.
>
>Around two hours and a lot of the predicted PR bullshit later, the
>delegation team emerges from the meeting and announces that NATO would
>not provide the evidence needed, and that the inspections should go
>ahead. A UK activist who was part of the team who went into the
>meeting described herself as "furious. That's the last time I waste
>an hour and a half of my life talking to War Criminals."
>
>INSPECTIONS GO AHEAD
>Three teams go off in different directions to go in. None of them get
>very far: the security and police were following them along the inside
>of the fence, and had busloads of back-ups. Not that they were taking
>it that seriously - most of them were student police who had no idea
>what they were doing. In some ways, that made it more fun.
>
>There are a few moments of drama, as the inspectors are quite adamant
>that the police should not stop doing their job. Police insistence on
>arrests for trespass or damage to the fence is greeted with questions
>about whether their superiors have informed them about the Nuremberg
>Principles. These set down that it is "the duty . of military
>personnel to obey international law even if given a contrary order by
>a superior of by his or her national government". In dealing with a
>particularly demanding Finnish inspector, one police officer says,
>"Look, I don't think when I'm on duty. When I'm on duty it's my boss'
>job to think." To another inspector, a different officer says in
>exasperation "Stop confusing me with a nazi!"
>
>THURDAY 9 JULY
>A day of rest and evaluation. Yes, the main action was a success of
>sorts, but in order to mobilise, we'd had to publicise the date. Now
>it was time to get NATO while their guard was down. When the police
>raid your house, do they write first? Did the UN weapons inspectors
>in Iraq always ask politely? We think not.
>
>FRIDAY JULY 10
>In the most successful action of the week, nine activists breach NATO
>HQ security and conduct a citizen's inspection for war crimes.
>
>The first team, consisting of five inspectors - one each from Belgium,
>Finland, Holland, the UK and the US - cut their way through the
>perimeter fence at the far side of the base. Finding themselves in a
>sports area, with a few NATO sporty-types milling around, they walk
>through it nonchalantly, making their way to the main buildings. Once
>there they are faced with a 7-ft fence consisting of metal bars, which
>guard the office buildings. Having scaled that, they begin to walk
>around to find an entrance.
>
>Things are beginning to look tricky when someone spots - wait for it -
>an open window. Bingo! They climb in. There are plenty of documents
>to check out, all in different languages, and some of the inspectors
>conclude that it is a translator's office. Having fully inspected the
>room (and dropped the boltcutters off in a filing cabinet), the team
>feels it might be time to complete their inspection of the rest of the
>offices. A poke of the head around the door informs them that there
>are a few people in the corridor, walking from office to office.
>
>QUESTIONING NATO PERSONNEL
>"We shut the door, and prepared ourselves. Took a deep breath,
>gripped our clipboards, opened the door and went for it. Once in the
>corridor, we went up to people and started asking them questions."
>
>The inspectors had pre-prepared questionnaires for NATO personnel,
>asking questions such as "How long have you been working for NATO?"
>"Has NATO ever informed you about the Nuremberg principles?" "Do you
>think that you would be held responsible if you carried out an illegal
>order?" and so on. So they immediately set about putting them to good
>use with the NATO personnel at hand. To begin with, most seemed more
>than happy to answer the inspectors' questions, although a few seemed
>suspicious.
>
>"One woman - who'd been working at NATO for over 13 years apparently -
>was happily answering my questions when security came up behind us,
>shouting 'Don't talk to these people! They came in through a window!'
> The woman looked at me and said 'Is this true?' 'Yes,' I replied.
>'Why did you do that?' she asked, slightly shocked. 'Because they
>didn't want to let us in at the gate,' I explained. The woman looked
>very confused and shocked and said 'I can't talk to you any more. I'm
>scared of you!'"
>
>SECURITY INTERVENTION
>Several similar conversations - and other more hostile ones - were
>interrupted by security. Despite being informed by the inspectors
>that to arrest them would be to obstruct international law, the
>security guards took them to the foyer of the building. By this time
>the other inspection team had also been apprehended - and some of them
>handcuffed. "Can you imagine if this was the way they treated UN
>weapons inspectors?" one of the citizen's inspectors commented.
>
>POLICE CONFUSION
>The chaotic next few hours drew several examples of how unprepared
>both NATO and the police had been for this action:
>
>� One of the inspectors earnestly informed the police that there were
>30 more inspectors on their way into the HQ. Ten minutes later they
>heard a helicopter overhead, and more police vehicles still were
>arriving at the base as the inspection teams were driven away.
>
>� Three legal observers (who had stayed on the other side of the road
>from the base and observed from there) and the driver of the drop-off
>car were all also arrested. One observer recounted his experiences:
>"Long after I has lost sight of the inspection teams, I was behind a
>tree near the front gate, taking notes on the police cars coming and
>going. But I was spotted and a police car made straight for me, and
>I was arrested and handcuffed. While this was happening two people
>who appeared to be tourists were having their backpacks searched by
>the police. I'd never seen them before! Finally the police let them
>go on their way, but they seemed to be a bit shocked."
>
>� Further suspicions that the police had completely lost the plot were
>intensified when press reports throughout the day said that 14 people
>had been arrested. This figure was backed up by the police contacting
>the camp directly. However, only 13 people were missing from the
>camp - and only 13 returned. Weird.
>
>� Reports from those in police custody revealed all kinds of goings-on
>in the police station. All of the inspectors were held in one small
>room for several hours. The legal observers, who were being held in a
>different room - with an open door - gave each other tango lessons
>around the foyer area of the police station to relieve the boredom.
>And suggestions remain unconfirmed that out of three pairs of
>boltcutters confiscated by the police, one managed to leave the
>station that evening of its own accord.
>
>� Press had been contacted as soon as the first team had entered NATO,
>and the Secretary General Xavier Solana (who had not even been at the
>HQ at the time) was contacted for a response. This turned out to be
>'No Comment'. The press were told by NATO that when the inspectors
>were discovered, a sonar alarm had been set off and all personnel were
>paged (in both French and English) and told that there were
>'intruders' in the building and that they should not speak to them.
>
>NEXT STEPS
>The police kept the inspectors from the second action in custody for
>several hours, and told them that they would be charged. If a
>prosecution is brought (which seems unlikely), activists would have to
>travel from different countries for the hearings. They will have
>ample legal arguments for their actions, and the Abolition Days
>campaign has a legal working group, including anti-nuclear lawyers.
>We will keep you posted.
>
>Notes from the meeting with NATO officials are being typed up and
>(since recording was not permitted) it is hoped to make these as
>widely available as possible. As a sneak preview we can tell you that
>despite the length of the meeting, most of the NATO contributions
>consisted of classic pro-nuke arguments and a few corking
>contradictory statements... One of their major denials was that NATO
>was responsible for its own nuclear policy. For that, they said, you
>have to go to the nuclear states themselves. Which brings us on to.
>
>The next round of actions is scheduled for October 1, to coincide with
>the anniversary of the end of the Nuremberg Trials (1946).
>
>For more information and/or to get involved, contact Abolition Days
>(UK) (see details below), or visit the international Abolition Days
>webpage, which can be round at the For Mother Earth site -
>www.motherearth.org
>
>
>================ NOTES ON NATO =========================
>NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, an inter-governmental
>defence alliance. It came into existence during the Cold War as a
>'Western Bloc' uniting Western Europe and the US. Its 16 member
>states are US, UK, France (all Nuclear Weapons States), Belgium,
>Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The
>Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Turkey.
>
>NATO is currently undergoing an expansion programme, granting
>membership to former East European soviet-Bloc countries under what it
>calls its 'Partnership for Peace' programme. This is despite Russian
>misgivings and opposition from many Non-Governmental Organisations.
>
>"We like to think of NATO as the world's biggest peace organisation."
>- Mike Davies (NATO HQ Head of Security) 8 July 1998
>
>"New members [of NATO] will be full members of the Alliance in all
>respects, and will be expected to support the concept of deterrence
>and the essential role nuclear weapons play in the Alliance's
>strategy. [.] NATO's nuclear forces remain an essential element of
>[its] core capability."
>- NATO Press and Information Briefing, given to
>Citizen's Inspection Delegation at NATO HQ, 8 July 1998
>
>
>email from: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>(alias for same address - [EMAIL PROTECTED])
>
>================================================
>JOIN THE ABOLITION DAYS DIRECT ACTIONS 1998!
>"People's Inspections" and other actions against nuclear weapons
>
>HAPPENING NOW:
>
>*** July 12-August 9 1998 Walk for Nuclear Disarmament from
>NATO/Brussels to Faslane/Scotland (Trident nuclear submarine base)
>FOR MORE DETAILS CALL MANCHESTER CND - 0161 834 8301
>
>COMING UP:
>
>*** August 9-25 Link-up with Trident Ploughshares 2000
>Disarmament Camp, Faslane, Scotland
>
>*** OCTOBER 1 1998
>*** People's Inspections and non-violent direct actions worldwide
>*** UK week of action (including solidarity and publciising actions):
Sept
26-Oct 3
>
>ALREADY HAPPENED - REPORTS AND PHOTOS AVAILABLE
>
>*** June 10-11-12 1998 Actions at the NATO-Ministers of Defense
>meeting in Brussels - included the photos of all NATO defence ministers
(including George Robertson) being plastered on "WANTED - FOR WAR
CRIMES"
posters all around NATO HQ
>
>*** JULY 3-11 1998
>*** International Peace Action Camp, Brussels (Belgium)
>*** Including 'citizens inspections' against NATO on July 8th and July
10th
- several arrests, a meeting with NATO officials and plenty of good
stories.
If you have a newsletter, please get in touch!
>
>**************************************************************
>MORE INFO:
>
>UK CONTACT: Abolition Days, c/o CND 162 Holloway Road, London, N7
>8DQ, tel: 0171 700 2393 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>INTERNATIONAL CONTACT: For Mother Earth, Gewad 15, 9000 Gent,
>Belgium tel. +32-9-2334924/2338439 fax +32-9-2337302
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>postal account # 000-1618561-19 (Please send donations if you can)
>=====================================================
>
>
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