In the early afternoon of Sunday 26 March, Brian Haw was standing with fellow campaigner Barbara Tucker when the police came by and decided that a crime was being committed. Barbara was wearing a pink sparkly banner that read “Bliar, war criminal” and was not keen to give her name and address for no good reason. This was enough to get her arrested under the new law banning unauthorised protest near parliament.
Brian Haw was then arrested on “suspicion of obstructing police” for…
Antimilitarists in Paraguay have expressed concern at recent military operations targeting predominantly poor, civilian populations and campesina organisations in rural areas.
On 25 March the Moviemiento de Objecion de Conciencia (MoC), Paraguay, issued a statement in which they called for the punishment of the soldiers responsible for these abuses, adding “We demand that the government stops wasting resources in these [military] institutions, and instead invest in…
After months or torturous legal proceedings, harassment and imprisonment, good news from Brighton's SmashEDO as, in March, the legal cases brought against them began to crumble.
Two anti-war activists have had a temporary injunction against them lifted and indemnity costs awarded to them by a High Court judge who issued a damning indictment of EDO MBM's conduct of the trial. Mr Justice Walker accused arms manufacturer EDO of “woeful neglect” of the issues in its preparations towards…
A county-wide campaign against the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system has taken off in Somerset.
Following a talk by Bruce Kent in Bridgwater, eight Somerset peace/CND groups formed a campaign coalition. Towns around the county will be targeted, with supporters handing out leaflets about Trident and collecting signatures for the CND Petition Against Trident Renewal. They started in Taunton, which does not have an anti-war/anti-nuclear group. However, due to the…
On 16 March, Milan Rai, author, activist and founder of Justice Not Vengeance, went on trial for organising an unauthorised demonstration within the 1-km exclusion zone around parliament on 25 October 2005, contrary to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA). If found guilty, Rai faces a fine of up to #3,000 and/or three months imprisonment.
The “demonstration” in question consisted of Milan and one other person, Maya Evans, reading the names of those who have died in the…
The movement for ethical investment met with success as the Church of England decided in February to pull its #2.2 million shares from the construction equipment company Caterpillar.
The General Synod voted on 6 February to “divest from companies profiting from the illegal occupation [of Palestinian territories], such as Caterpillar Inc, until they change their policies”. The Church was recently criticised by groups such as War on Want for its previous inaction in the matter. The…
On Sunday 12 February, a group of anti-nuclear campaigners and activists gathered in front of the Camel's Head Gate at the Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth to protest against the agreement between the city of Plymouth and the Ministry of Defence to refit Britain's Trident nuclear submarines.
HMS Vanguard was refitted at the dockyard between 2003 and 2004 and, in early 2005, HMS Victorious came in for its refit; it is expected to remain there for two to three years. Refits of the other…
On Thursday 2 February, Vancouver City Council voted 6-5 to cut funding for the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities (IAPMC) and Mayors for Peace annual conference, due to be held from 23 to 26 June.
In March 2005, Vancouver had agreed to host the event, to be held alongside the World Peace Forum, and pledged $50,000 to cover the cost. Mayor Sam Sullivan rescinded this decision stating, “We are facing some very tough decisions in the 2006 budget process and I was not…
This month sees the launch of a new interactive website from Conscience The Peace Tax Campaign. From 2 March, visitors to PeacePays.org will be able to see how nonviolent peacebuilding initiatives are not only desirable, but are actually less costly and more effective than current approaches to security.
The UK is the third largest military spender in the world and almost 10% of our taxes go to the military. Out of a military budget of over #33 billion, only 3% is spent on conflict…
On 16 February 2006, two police officers were acquitted of charges of causing severe bodily harm to two activists who narrowly escaped with their lives after a police officer cut a climbing rope during an action at the protests against the G8 in Evian, Switzerland, in 2003. Despite clear video evidence that the police officers had cut the rope in question, the judge ruled that the police officers involved could not be held accountable.
In June 2003, two climbers suspended themselves…
“No Nuclear Hypocrisy - Report on UK Nukes,” read dozens of placards outside the BBC's Portland Place HQ on Thursday 9 February. CND called the midday protest to draw attention to the BBC's failure to report fairly on the nuclear non-proliferation obligations of all nations.
Speaking about BBC Radio 4's Today programme of 31 January, Bruce Kent, CND Vice-President, said, “Once again the BBC has run an item on Iran without any mention of the major breach by the `declared' nuclear…
On Sunday 12 February, peace activists with the Irish Network for Nonviolent Action Training and Education Network (INNATE) lobbied a British Army recruitment fair at the Kinnegar base, in Co Down, N Ireland.
Flyers were distributed to potential new recruits and others attending the event, outlining both the negative consequences of army enlisting and the alternatives available to potential recruits. They also promoted the confidential advice service At Ease for those who do join…
On 7 February, eight of us appeared at Newbury Magistrates' Court for planting vines and fig trees inside the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston last August (see PN2465).
Throughout our action we've tried to challenge both nuclear weapons and traditional protest practices and mindsets (see PN2467). One of the workshops we did during our trial preparation was entitled “Treating court as a gig”. At the time I felt it was a bit of a leftfield approach, but it…
Recent months have seen an upsurge in activity within the road protest movement, particularly in Scotland, reinforcing existing camps and campaigns - such as the ongoing occupation of Bilston Wood since 2002 and a legal challenge brought by Friends of the Earth to the extension of the M74 - and establishing new camps such as Dalkeith, near Edinburgh and, in southern England, at Camp Bling in Southend.
The Dalkeith bypass was first discussed in 1992 and approval was finally given in…
The attempt by the Metropolitan Police to criminalise central London's monthly Critical Mass bike ride (see PN2467) faces legal action supported by Friends of the Earth's Rights & Justice Centre.
On 16 January, papers were filed in the High Court seeking a judicial review of the police's sudden attempt, last September, to make the 11-year-old tradition of a collective bike ride around central London subject to the Public Order Act. The rides had hitherto been tolerated…
Now in its fifth year O-I-L, Operation Infinite Love, is still bringing people onto the streets to celebrate.
But what is there to celebrate? Venus, spokeswoman and founder of O-I-L, explains why O-I-L is still in operation. “Rather than highlighting the things that appear to divide us as a human race, I wanted to bring attention to what appears to unite us as a human(e) race. It is my opinion that love is the one thing that truly unites us ... problems mostly arise when there is a…
Five hundred people - a mixture of anti-militarists, anarchists and nationalists - demonstrated in Sofia on 12 November in protest at plans to build US military bases in Bulgaria. They called for a national referendum on whether Bulgaria should compromise its sovereignty and host the bases.
Following an initial agreement by the government - as long ago as 1999 - to host US forces, there have been recent reports that the US wants to send several thousand troops to the country, and is…
On 24 November, six members of Military Families Against the War applied at the High Court in London for permission for a full judicial review of the government's refusal, last May, to order an investigation into the legality of the 2003 attack on Iraq and the subsequent UK military action there.
At the hearing - for which they had had to appeal for donations because they were refused legal aid (see the front page story in the November PN) - Judge Collins reserved judgement…
Anti-nuclear campaigners celebrated another small victory on 23 November, as the West Berkshire Eastern Area Planning Committee voted to defer a decision on whether to support AWE Aldermaston's full planning notice for the controversial Orion laser facility (see PN2458).
The catalyst for the proposal to defer was the lack of adherence to agreed procedure, with not all councillors having received vital environmental information relating to the development in advance of the…
To mark the first anniversary of the Lancet report on war-related deaths in Iraq, and to raise awareness about the Iraq body count, Voices for Creative nonviolence (USA) teamed up with Justice not Vengeance (UK) for an international bell-ringing ceremony in late October. Bell ringings also took place at impromptu times and locations throughout November.
The aim was to get 100 groups involved and for each group to ring a bell 1000 times to make 100,000 rings: The figure is taken from…
