Greenpeace has joined
with other groups in setting up citizens inspections
of illegal nuclear weapons sites around the
world.
24/05/2005 - The one international treaty
dedicated to controlling the spread of nuclear
weapons is deadlocked by the unwillingness
of those countries which already have nuclear
weapons to let the treaty do its job.
Despite the fact that the treaty obligates
the "official" nuclear weapons states
to pursue nuclear disarmament, a US State
Department official is quoted in the National
Security Newswire as stating "we do not
accept this notion that the United States
must take steps to "devalue" nuclear
weapons to be in compliance."
But countries pursuing nuclear capability
like Korea and possibly Iran are not going
to "devalue" the quest for nuclear
weapons in a world in which being a nuclear
power like the US means the ability to conduct
a unilateral, pre-emptive war fighting strategy.
While the US declared Iraq in violation of
international law over a nuclear weapons programme
that didn't actually exist, the US, and the
other nuclear weapons states, UK, France,
Russia, China, Pakistan, India, and Israel
are in violation of international law with
their own very real arsenals.
The International Court of Justice decided
in 1998 that the threat or use of nuclear
weapons is illegal.
It's therefore up to all of us to enforce
the law. Greenpeace has partnered with other
peace organisations to begin a series of "Citizens'
Inspections" of nuclear weapons sites.
France
Citizens' inspection of the French nuclear
weapons base at Brest.
Accompanied by a flotilla of 35 yachts from
the Brest area, the Greenpeace ship Arctic
Sunrise entered the military exclusion zone
around the French Military Nuclear Base at
L'Isle Longue near Brest on Sunday, May 15th,
after announcing our intention by radio to
conduct a citizens' inspection.
We had information that two of the four French
nuclear-armed submarines were at the base
during the inspection (although of course
government officials never confirm or deny
this kind of information), with a total fire
power of 1000 times the Hiroshima bomb.
When the Arctic Sunrise was stopped by two
French military boats, GP France Campaign
Director Yannick Jadot, accompanied by two
of the Arctic Sunrise Crew, Erkut and Craig,
continued the citizens' inspection by inflatable
zodiac, finally being stopped by a boat full
of well-armed French commandos. At the same
time, the citizens' inspection was backed
up by 150 Greenpeace supporters and local
activists, as well as members of the Arctic
Sunrise crew, who marched to the front entrance
of the nuclear base, demonstrating against
the continued presence of nuclear weapons.
"We got to within 100 meters of a nuclear
armed submarine" said Yannick Jadot "in
an unarmed inflatable raft. Nuclear weapons
cannot be made secure."
Belgium
Greenpeace activists attempt a citizens'
inspection of NATO headquarters in Brussels.
In April our activists joined with regular
Bombspotting activists to inspect three military
facilities in Belgium, with the aim of pressuring
NATO member states to renounce their nuclear
weapons arsenal. The inspections took place
at Kleine Brogel Air base which houses nuclear
weapons, NATO's Brussels Headquarters and
its SHAPE military headquarters in Mons/Bergen.
1000 activists showed up to carry out the
inspection. 500 bombspotters were arrested.
A massive police presence greeted inspectors
from Greenpeace and Bombspotting at NATO-
HQ.
Australia
Mayor Murray Matson led a Citizens Weapons
Inspection team of local dignataries and Greenpeace
activists to Lucas Heights to check on secretive
research into uranium enrichment.
"We were always told this was a medical
research facility... while this story was
being told to us, all along there was another
type of research going on, uranium enrichment,
that is conducive to producing nuclear weapons,"
said Dr Tilman Ruff, president-elect of the
Medical Association for the Prevention of
War.
Mayor Matson is a member of Mayors for Peace,
an initiative begun by the mayor of Hiroshima
to abolish nuclear weapons.
Turkey
Visitor to the Greenpeace Peace Embassy at
a US nuclear weapons base in Turkey.
In Turkey we've established a semi-permanent
inspection facility about 50 meters from the
entrance to the Incirlik NATO Air Base near
Adana: the Peace Embassy.
Polling data in Turkey has shown that less
than half of the population is aware that
US nuclear weapons are actually present in
their country, and 72% support Turkey being
a nuclear free zone.
This Peace Embassy is being established at
a time when a report being discussed by the
US Congress could result in additional US
nuclearweapons being stationed in Turkey.
"These US nuclear weapons stationed in
Turkey are a danger to regional stability
and global security", says Aslýhan
Tümer, our Nuclear Disarmament campaigner
in the Mediterranean, "We're bearing
witness, and calling on Prime minister Erdogan
to say no to any US nuclear weapons in Turkey"
The Peace Embassy has created a weblog which
they will maintain throughout their presence.
As Ertank noted in one post: "Incirlik
is a strange town. The only means of economy
is the Americans. There is no single shop
with a Turkish name here. They work for the
American troops and their wives."
Escalating pressure
Greenpeace, along with Bombspotting and other
citizen inspection groups, will be escalating
their pressure on the countries owning and
hosting nuclear weapons as we move closer
to the 60th anniversary of the bombing of
Hiroshima on August 6th.
"We are part of a growing network of
people who will continue to conduct these
inspections," said our campaigner Nicky
Davies. "We're calling upon all our supporters
and activists to join in increasing the pressure
on the nuclear weapons states to abolish nuclear
weapons."
