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…
Oxford CND members and Nukewatchers snapped this Trident nuclear weapon warhead carrier travelling north on the A34 at Botley, at 1.15pm on 9 November. The convoy comprised three nuclear weapon warhead carriers and full support team. In October the full Oxford City Council voted 23:1 in favour of writing a letter to the Ministry of Defence protesting at nuclear warheads being taken through their patch. Another letter was sent to John Kelly, County Emergency Planning Officer, saying theCity…
They may have been in circulation since the 1930s (hmm.. sounds familiar...), but the power of the white poppy to provoke remains as pronounced as ever.
In the run up to Remembrance Sunday, the Movement for the Abolition of War and Royal British Legion were widely reported as having reached some kind of “truce”, with the Legion agreeing to remove their contentious “wars are inevitable” statement from their website and to include MAW information in their schools pack. MAW invited the…
After more than a decade of informal, monthly, collective assertions of the delight of cycling around a city in the company of lots of other cyclists, the Critical Mass bike rides in central London have suddenly been targeted by the police.
Critical Mass rides, which take place in many parts of the world, are a traditional way to show that if bikes outnumber cars for a change, rather than vice versa - hence the name Critical Mass - then the safety and pleasure of public spaces can…
The shiny image of Rolls Royce was been somewhat tarnished at the end of October, after a group of determined protesters from across the country spent three days getting under the skin of the company and exposing to the residents of Derby the dirty underbelly of the engine that powers Britain's illegal Trident submarines.
Over the course of the action, protesters leafleted the town, held a public meeting, a silent vigil and a blockade and demonstration to make sure that the good…
What do Chinese opera, Sikh comedians, kicking racism out of football, and human rights lawyer Louise Christian all have in common? Answer, they're all part of this year's Fennerfest held in Slough.
Inspired by the legacy of Fenner Brockway - Slough's MP from 1950 to 1964 and co-founder of CND - and organised by the Slough4peace group, the festival is a heady mixture of theatre, film, comedy, music and debate.
Organiser Liz Cochrane said, “Following on from the success of…
On Friday 30 September, District Judge Peter Ward returned a verdict of guilty to the charges of Aggravated Trespass brought against six campaigners who had held a peaceful protest at Lancaster University more than a year before (see PN2462).
Dismissing the prosecution's and the University's claims that the six had intimidated University staff and conference delegates, Judge Ward nonetheless found them guilty because they had momentarily disrupted the conference. He also…
From late October to late November a bunch of activists from Norfolk, Suffolk and London are organising a month of actions and events in and around Charles Clarke's home town - Norwich.
Charles Clarke, Home Secretary, is the MP for Norwich South. He is responsible for both law and order, and for protecting our civil liberties, as enshrined in the Human Rights Act 1998. So what is the cheery man up to then?
Well he is taking liberties - detention without trial, the removal of…
Between 25 and 27 November Undercurrents hosts the 6th annual video activist festival with clown rebel army and video workshops.
Hosted in the very heart of Swansea Marina, South Wales, this year sees the first MISTY awards to celebrate media activism, together with homegrown and global films and great music. See p12 for events details.
As our space to protest becomes increasingly curtailed by new legislation from a government obsessed with order and terror, more than 200 people from a diverse range of groups and campaigns met in London on 23 October to assert our right to protest.
The Freedom to Protest conference kicked off with contributions from school students, the Smash EDO anti-arms campaign, parliament square protesters, police monitors, and sacked Gate Gourmet workers, all demonstrating their persistence…
Here are two short reports from participants which, it is hoped, might enthuse you enough to join in with protests during October's "Keep Space for Peace" week (see box below).
Close it down!Chris Brennan writes...
On a sunny Saturday, 24 September, about 60 protesters marched around the old RAF Croughton site on the NorthantsOxon border which is acknowledged to house the infrastructure for US military and governmental communications between North America and Europe…
Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on “extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions”, submitted a strongly-worded report to the UN human rights council on 4 June, calling for an end to CIA drone strikes.
Alston wrote: “because operators are based thousands of miles away from the battlefield, and undertake operations entirely through computer screens and remote audiofeed, there is a risk of developing a ‘Playstation’ mentality to killing.” He added: “A lack of disclosure…
On 8 Nov 2004, after more than two months of aerial attacks, the US began its second major assault on Fallujah, devastating the city and killing hundreds of civilians. Serious war crimes were committed, including the bombing of a health centre and a shoot-to-kill curfew. UK forces played an active support role, with hundreds of troops redeployed from Southern Iraq to form part of a "ring of steel" around the city.
Today, an estimated 100,000 Iraqis who fled the attack have yet to…
Political folk band Seize the Day, comedian Mark Thomas, and human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith descend on Hiatt's in early September to perform the Shackle Shuffle and to give the shackle-making company the message that their continued involvement with Guantanamo Bay must cease.
The factory is tucked away in suburbia. There is nothing to indicate that the nondescript buildings are linked to an international conspiracy of torture and confinement. Not far from the centre of…
On 24 September tens of thousands took to the streets in London and Washington DC to protest at the ongoing occupation of Iraq.
In the US the turnout was unexpectedly high, as many used the opportunity to vent their anger and frustration at a catalogue of disasters foisted upon the people by the Bush administration.
Speaking after the event, US War Resister David McReynolds commented: "24 September will go down in history as a genuine victory. It was a moment when people all…
At midnight on Friday 16 September, we were dropped off at the edge of the forest at Padworth, between the UK's nuclear weapons factories at Aldermaston and Burghfield, for a hike to the fence of Defence Fuel Support Point (DFSP) Aldermaston, we had enough food and water for a week, and huge banners saying, "Nukes Out", "US bases out of UK", "How many lives to the litre", and our flags.
At 1am we threw our bags over the fence and climbed in. We had a long walk/crawl to a…
"Czechtek", the electronic music festival that takes place annually in the Czech Republic, was recently brought to a violent end when over 1000 heavily armed riot police moved in and attacked revellers.
At least one person has been confirmed dead, with reports of possibly two more, and scores of injuries. The music, video and arts festival - in its 12th year - was held on private land in full compliance with Czech law, despite official statements from Czech police claiming that the…
The largest traveller dwelling in the UK is under threat following a decision by Basildon Council to evict all 220 caravans from the site.
On Tuesday 26 July during the eviction of an adjacent site, a bulldozer drove through a protected yard at Dale Farm causing extensive damage. Meanwhile notice had been served on the Dale Farm travellers with eviction due to take place on Sunday 31 July. At the last minute solicitor Keith Lomax successfully obtained a further injunction protecting…
