On 7 February, the High Court upheld the right of a peace activist to summons a US airman alleged to have caused her actual bodily harm (and against two Ministry of Defence police officers who failed to intervene).
Lindis Percy of the Campaign for Accountability of American Bases (CAAB) entered Croughton USAF base on 19 February 2006 to carry out peace research into the military communications facility.
She reports that she was detained by US military personnel who handcuffed…
After months of a tightening siege by Israel in retaliation for Qassam rockets fired into Israel, Gaza was freed on 23 January by a major act of nonviolent direct action. Seven miles of wall dividing Gaza from Egypt was largely destroyed. Tens of thousands crossed, seeking supplies and medical treatment, while Egyptian border guards stood by. Egyptian troops closed the last breach after 11 days. On 18 February, after two weeks of struggle, 30 Israeli peace organizations coordinated by Gush…
“I am obsessed with the next five years in Iraq, not the last five years in Iraq.” - UK Foreign Secretary,
David Miliband, December 2007
Since the 2003 invasion, over a million Iraqis have been killed, over three million have been forced to flee their homes, and sectarian violence has led to the balkanisation of Baghdad, now broken up into enclaves sealed off by concrete walls.
186,000 killedAccording to an October 2006 Lancet-published survey (using a methodology…
After additional research undertaken in rural Iraq, Britain's ORB (Opinion Research Business) polling agency has largely confirmed on 28 January its earlier estimate that over a million Iraqis have died since the invasion of British and American forces.
The revised estimate puts the death toll at 1,033,000 people down from the 1.2m-figure published in August.
The initial analysis was based on surveys from primarily urban areas. ORB decided to check their results when…
Not only did the Nepali democracy movement manage to effectively de-throne the hated King Gyanendra (see p4), but an historic ruling in December saw the Supreme Court legitimise gay rights in the Kingdom. The landmark judgement came after four activists from the Blue Diamond Society - Nepal's only organisation fighting for the rights of sexual minorities - filed a public interest litigation back in May 2007.
Not only did judges order the enactment of new laws protecting the rights…
Two graffiti protestors were overwhelmed by a crowd of well-wishers when they arrived for their trial at Edinburgh sheriff court on 9 January. Appalling weather conditions failed to prevent more than a hundred supporters from turning up give their support.
Helen John and Georgia Smith were found guilty of defacing the High Court building in Edinburgh. They used black paint to write “ban cluster bombs” and “£76 billion for genocide” on Remembrance Day 2006.
…
17 January was the anniversary of the announcement that the Metrix consortium had successfully bid to build a privately-run military academy in South Wales.
The announcement was celebrated by First Minister Rhodri Morgan with a champagne-popping photo-opportunity outside the Senedd in Cardiff.
A year on, the Grim Reaper scattered replica cluster bombs outside the Senned to highlight the core role of arms company Raytheon in the Metrix Consortium.
The people of…
On Monday 9 February a group of students from Aberystwyth University staged a lunchtime “die-in” in the busy Arts Centre plaza. The students, members of People & Planet and Amnesty, were highlighting University unit-trust investments in companies such as BAE Systems, Europe’s largest “defence manufacturer”.
The students are petitioning the University to adopt an ethical investment policy. Students’ Guild Environmental and Ethics Officer, Tom Marshall, stressed that the…
Saturday 12 January saw a brilliant number and diversity of protest and campaign slogans displayed in the centre of Aberystwyth.
Aberystwyth Peace and Justice Network invited the public, local organisations and political parties to join the nationwide day of response to the Government's consultation paper, “Managing Protest around Parliament”.
The paper proposes “harmonising” the conditions that can be imposed on marches and assemblies.
Harmonisation is widely believed…
"Sitting on my sleeping mat, nestling a cup of tea, dry and cosy in waterproofs and thermals, I erupted into giggles as my friend passed me a biscuit. What was so funny? It sounds like your average camping trip. Except that we were perched on top of a Komatsu 3000, one of the seven-metre-high, 250-tonne diggers being used to open-cast mine 10.8 million tonnes of coal at Ffos-y-Fran in Merthyr Tydfil."
This snippet of Cath's account comes from the 5 December 2007 occupation of Ffos-y-…
Campaigners against the government's identity cards scheme sometimes warn that it will become Labour's Poll Tax. There may be more truth to this than people realise.
For the past two years Labour's Scottish Executive in Edinburgh has carried out an ID card experiment on the million elderly and disabled people of Scotland. Deeming this a success, Labour is now rolling the thing out in England.
Most will be familiar with Transport for London's Oystercard - a chipped “smartcard”…
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visited Iran in January, and was allowed a rare meeting with Iran's supreme leader, ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
ElBaradei, who announced that the IAEA's investigation into Iran's past nuclear activities (following the “work plan”) would be completed by mid-February, was making use of a window of opportunity caused by events in Washington.
The US attempt to escalate confrontation with Iran suffered a…
Despite heavy police presence and last minute restrictions, about 150 activists participated in an anti-vivisection demonstration against Sequani Limited in Ledbury, Worcestershire, on 15 December. Sequani tests pharmaceutical drugs, chemical compounds and medical devices on animals.
Five people were arrested as they tried to block one of the main roads by locking-on with arm tubes. They were detained for 10 hours before being released on bail, until February 2008.
On the…
The "People's Navy" solidarity voyage to Diego Garcia (see last issue) has made further progress: the Cindik boat has reached Egypt, and the Musichana is moving on from Thailand. They are set to meet in the Maldives.
To the south, a Greenpeace boat chasing a Japanese whale-hunting fleet has refused to disclose the co-ordinates of the fleet to a Sea Shepherd vessel doing the same, claiming its tactics violate principles of nonviolence.
As widely reported, two Sea Shepherd…
On 12 January Plane Stupid activists staged an innovative “reclaim the ice” protest on the British Airways-sponsored rink at the Natural History Museum in London.
Around 30 protestors donned penguin outfits and wielded “BA Fly, penguins die” placards. After 20 minutes, the protestors were forcibly removed by BA security.
“Spokespenguin” Tamsin said: “We love ice too, but the ice in our own home is melting as a result of global warming.
“BA is a major lobbyist for the…
Not needless to say, Wales was well represented at the Big Blockade on 1 October. It is, let's admit it, quite an effort to get up to Scotland and lock-on, superglue yourself to the tarmac, or sing your heart out all day.
Ray Davies was arrested and pictured in the newspapers before some of us got out of bed, as usual: “Four burly policemen grabbed hold of a leg and arm each and I was carted away.”
Phil Steele of Bangor and Ynys Môn Peace and Justice Group…
America's largest annual gathering of peace and human rights activists took place last month when over 20,000 people demonstrated at Fort Benning - the US Army's training school for Latin American military and security personnel. Formerly known as the School of the Americas (SOA), it has been renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) although its role remains the same: providing training for the military officers who have gone on to commit human rights abuses…
Hundreds marched up Edinburgh's Royal Mile on 4 November to say: “No to Trident”. The demo had support from the Scottish Trade Union Council, churches and the Scottish National Party and was organised by Scotland's for Peace. Alex Salmond, the new SNP first minister, has stated his opposition to Trident replacement. Scottish CND and other lobbyists will be expecting to see action. Watch this space in 2008, the year of CND's fiftieth anniversary.
Thanks to concerted efforts on a number of fronts, promoters of the St Athan Defence Training Academy have been on the back foot in recent weeks. At the end of October, the MoD announced it had decided not to hand over half of the proposed military training to the Metrix Con sortium - the group of arms and construction companies hoping to secure lucrative contracts as military training is centralised and privatised. This means that thousands of the proclaimed jobs will not now be moving to…
On 10 November, for the fourth year running, the Mayor of Aberystwyth, Lorrae Jones-Southgate, laid a white poppy wreath at the castle war memorial on behalf of the Town Council, in the presence of around 40 people.
Leading the ceremony, Pryderi Llwyd Jones said: “We have gathered here on the eve of Remembrance Sunday to remember, with those who will be here tomorrow, those who have lost their lives in two world wars and the families and communities that lost their loved ones. But we…
