Contents
Welcome
Love the Planet on Valentine Weekend
Call for Mass Blockade
November Camp Reports
Coulport In November
Tigers Eyes Are Watching
TP2000 News
Days In Court
Strategy Weekend
Cornton Vale Prison
Sauron Complains About Campfires in Ithilien
Fast Success in Belgium
Dialogue and Negotiation
What You Can Do…
Spotlight on Affinity Groups
The Venus Birds
The Midlands Affinity Group
In Memory ofJohn Lane
Opinion
Nuclear Disarmament on Backburner for UK
Other News
Bread Not Bombs Activists Face More Months of Remand
ICJ to NATO: The 2000 Walk For Nuclear Disarmament
Australians Convicted But Receive Low Sentence
USA Plowshares Prisoners
How to Help TP2000
Wanted Section
Buy the Handbook: Tridenting It Again!
Welcome
…to the third issue of Speed the Plough! Trident Ploughshares is a campaign to disarm the UK Trident nuclear weapons system by the year 2000 in a non-violent, open, peaceful and fully accountable manner. Over 100 people from 12 countries have pledged to disarm Trident in this way and our supporters database contains 900 names, including many famous people and members of parliament. We act to uphold international humanitarian law and to expose the illegality of the Trident system. With rational pressure building up all over the world and the nuclear weapons states being increasingly exposed and isolated, 1999 will be a special year for nuclear disarmament. In Trident Ploughshares 2000 we are well set to play a significant part.
Love the Planet on Valentine Weekend
Call for Mass Blockade
After August and November at Coulport our third gathering will be based in Glasgow on the weekend of 12th to 15th February. Instead of facing the discomforts of winter camping at Coulport we will be sleeping, eating and plotting at a warm, dry venue in the city (venue still to be confirmed). We will begin to gather on the Friday evening and on Saturday we will spend the morning and afternoon campaigning on the busiest streets of the city. Saturday evening will be a social event and on Sunday we will get down to the serious business of planning and training for an early Monday morning blockade of Faslane. For the Monday blockade we are mobilising activists from sister organisations and networks so as to cause maximum disruption to the base. Transport to Faslane will be arranged. Food will be prepared communally but you will need sleeping bag, bedroll, cutlery, plates and toiletries.
Coulport In November
Friends told me I must be mad to camp in November in Scotland. But it turned out all very nice. The weather played its part. It was brilliant sunshine and dry, the views of the surrounding hills and glens were stunning, with the exception of the two major eyesores in the area (RNAD Coulport and CSB Faslane). It was freezing cold at night, yet the atmosphere around the campsite was warm.
Where shall I start? There were brilliant actions, many arrests, interviews with Radio Scotland and BBC World Service. Finnish TV2 (YLE) was making a documentary and there were friendly faces on all sides and good co-operation. But let me describe things in more detail.
The camp was planned as a weekend affair but the trial of Hans and Hanna in Helensburgh on the Tuesday made it necessary to extend the camp forward by a few days to accommodate the international folk coming over. So things were already in good shape by the time the majority of people arrived for the weekend. On Thursday Peter and Rupert were entertained at HM Pleasure for attempting to sneak into RNAD Coulport and disable illegal nuclear weapons. Friday saw its first major excitement when Angie, Katri, Krista, Lotta and Hanna, on the way to support Peter and Rupert in court, never arrived at their destination. It turned out that they felt very much invited by the wide open gates of the base and were waved through two check points and only had to terminate their inspection of the base when they were stopped well inside the base. They were in police cells over the weekend.
On Saturday morning the Adomnan of Iona Affinity Group held a service outside the North Gate of Faslane. At the end of the service they linked the chains they were wearing under their clothes together with padlocks and lined up in front of the gate, thus blocking any traffic in and out of the base. This was especially powerful as Morag was sitting in a wheelchair. After an initial attempt to enter the base and go down to the ship lift to disarm this facility, the group was pushed back and the gate was closed. A lorry arrived seeking entry, the group followed it in and were arrested. “It is not easy to arrest someone who sings such nice songs at you. Your songs are so catching we have all started to sing them.” the police told them.
There were more activists and actions. The fence was cut to offer a way in to inspect and disarm the Trident Nuclear Weapons system. There were dances in front of the gate, there was drama.
An action in Glasgow by the Gareloch Horticulturists on the Saturday morning shut down an MOD Building and put Tiger Eyes opposite the building saying ’Crime Watch’, ’Watching Nuclear Crime’, and others on the building itself saying ’Ministry of International War Crimes’. Two prominent Scottish church leaders (Maxwell Craig, General Secretary of ACTS [Action Churches Together in Scotland] and Norman Shanks, Leader of the Iona Community) held a service at the North Gate on Sunday. They reminded everybody that all the churches in Scotland and many, many churches in the world have categorically stated that Nuclear Weapons and the policies associated with it are a sin.
Thanks are due to the folk who helped to put up and take down the camp, led by Tamson and Jane; the folk behind the scenes; those who support their activists in the affinity groups; those who came and helped with the media work (Kathryn and Andrew deserve special thanks); those who dig the compost toilets. Compliments go to Ganesh and his group who fed and watered us so well. The list is endless. Nobody really likes to have nuclear weapons in their back garden but it seems that for many local people the “saving grace” is that the bases offer jobs to the local community. That stops most people asking for an end to it. However, much could be done with 900 million a year to provide constructive employment instead of the every day dealing with the death of the world.
Dirk Grutzmacher
Tigers Eyes Are Watching
After the August camp, we Horts sat down together to discuss our feelings
about the actions. Rather to our own surprise it emerged that we had all felt rather disempowered. In our group only Ellen is prepared to get arrested for a major action. The rest of us are all totally committed to getting rid of Trident – indeed we have been campaigning together for over 14 years – but for reasons of health, jobs and family just couldn’t manage
a prison sentence at the moment. We felt like hangers-on, second-rate, behind-the-lines, undervalued.
It was Kay who hit on the notion. She brightened up and said “What the Horts are good at is communicating. Our role is to explain TP2000 to ordinary folks by symbolic actions… That means an action in Glasgow”, said Nonie (thinking of a longer lie in the
morning)
“Kentigern House, the offices of the MOD in Argyle St”, we all chorused brightly, remembering past encounters with spray cans, etc. And so the Tigers’ Eyes Action was born.
At 10.00am precisely six surreptitious conspirators crept around the corner and clicked on two D-locks, effectively closing the main doors of the MOD Under the surprised eyes of two WPC’s we then superglued notices on all the doors, windows, and nearby lamp-posts saying ’Department of Planning for International War Crime’ and ’Closed until the cancellation of Trident’. By this time the media and reinforcement police had arrived. To our surprise
(and relief) we weren’t arrested but politely requested to move to the other side of the road. This suited us fine as there was a derelict building site, and after unrolling two huge banners, we produced our piece de resistance, posters of great big Esso Tigers’ Eyes with the words CRIME WATCH and TP2000 IS WATCHING, which we hung right opposite the MOD.
Our simple action attracted good media coverage. BBC Radio News and BBC and ITV
News at prime time, and the World Service all carried it and gave us the opportunity to highlight what was happening down at Faslane and Coulport…… the object of the whole exercise.
Totally fired up, powerful and ready to take on the world, Ellen and I then went down to Coulport to join in the action on Sunday. The camp was wonderful, well-organised and welcoming, and we were soon plotting away. On Sunday morning armed with a pair of bolt-cutters, Ellen joined three other women in cutting the fence at Faslane near the North Gate and attempting to reach the security fence. The police were onto them in a flash, and Sylvia was arrested with one leg inside the Base, the other firmly trapped by a MOD Plod. The other two were also arrested, but although Ellen was happily and vigorously snipping away, they wouldn’t arrest her – too much of a handful I reckon. We then spent a happy afternoon trying to get her bolt-cutters back – after all a perfectly innocent civilian who just happened to be carrying BC’s, and who wasn’t charged with a crime, etc., etc. No joy!
Helen Steven, Gareloch Horticulturalists
Days In Court
By the end of 1998, after a total of 120 arrests, there will have been nineteen TP2000 people tried by Helensburgh District Court and one by Dumbarton Sheriff Court. The statistics of the twenty guilty verdicts don’t begin to convey the reality of the inspiring, exhausting and frustrating drama now so well rehearsed in our courtrooms. The basic script
is:
Setting the Stage
Before the court begins we have asked that the defendants be given a table for their paperwork, we have moved the rows of seats for the public forward four feet, we have suggested to the Procurator Fiscal (PF) our preferred order for the trials….we have staked our claim, this is our court too!
The Trial begins
Police officers come along to tell the story of the action in hard fact (although some facts are harder than others). They answer the Fiscal in straight police language. When TPers speak to them the inevitable smile appears; those long conversations in
police vans and processing centres pays off when the smile appears telling the court more than the words often do.
The TPers go in the witness box
In spite of numerous interruptions from both the Magistrate and the Fiscal
most defendants manage some version of their ’whole truth’. If any of our Justices of the Peace (JP) thought that the peace movement consisted of Helensburgh CND’s half dozen and the folk at Faslane Peace Camp they now know that it’s full of people of all ages and backgrounds, working in all kinds of ways, in lots of countries, often not their own, with commitment and passion beyond measure. Every person giving evidence has their own personal story to tell, how they came to be standing in the dock in the District Court in Helensburgh. And people bring with them other peoples’ stories, from Chernobyl, Nevada, the Marshall Islands and all the other places effected by the nuclear disease. Then the court is told about the law; the kind of law that they don’t want to hear, like the Geneva Convention, the Nuremberg Principles and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. The lay magistrate sits there, attentively
pretending to understand, whilst the PF just sighs or gazes into space. When the TPer has finished or has said everything that is allowed the PF asks a question or two about fence cutting, (except for PF Donnelly who sometimes forgets that our arguments about Trident and international law are apparently irrelevant and can’t resist the urge to defend the nuclear status quo and find fault with our morals and our politics).
Next the Summing Up
The prosecution takes minutes, a few brief sentences about cutting the fence, breaking bylaws, breaching their version of the peace: the defendant admitted the crime – nothing else needs saying. The TPers give it their all: reasonable excuse, necessity, self defence, preventing a greater crime, every legal and moral argument they can muster, asking the
magistrate to have courage and do the right thing.
The Verdict
The magistrate has listened to the arguments, but Trident isn’t on trial, the activist is and they are guilty. Then sometimes an admonishment, sometimes a fine and discussion of how much to pay, how long to find the money, even if its made perfectly clear that we are paying NOTHING.
Court Adjourned
… sometimes a round of applause or maybe just hugs from friends, and its out with the appeal forms and make plans for the next performance.
THE END
or rather just the beginning…
It’s four months since the TP2000 opening ceremony and there have so far been 20 people on trial, with a total of £2105 in fines and compensation, 233 days spent in prison on
remand and goodness knows how many hours of court time taken up. Many people have defended themselves and we also have some very keen young lawyers involved. There are six cases going to appeal with Angie’s having already reached the stage of having been turned down twice for an appeal hearing by Judges at the High Court. There are twenty more trials to be heard in 1999 and the lessons learnt so far can be built on. Extra supporters in Court are always welcome. It’s best to check with Jim and Jane if you are planning to come in case there have been any last minute changes.
Jane and Jim 01436 679194.
Strategy Weekend
A dozen pledgers gathered on 5th and 6th December at the Peace Church in Berwick to discuss our strategy for the year ahead. We worked out a timetable for the main events of the year. In reviewing our achievements since August we felt that our programme should now include some ’maximum damage’ actions to complement the successful symbolic, intrusive and disruptive activity that had been the mainstay so far.
We also discussed democracy and decision making in the movement. The Core Group was in existence to take forward practical matters – policy and strategy were for the whole body of pledgers to contribute to. A member of the Core Group with the responsibility of co-ordinating decision-making will be identified. Pledgers are free to suggest additions to the Core Group and if people are unhappy with any member of the Core Group or any proposed action this should be raised. We hope that at the February weekend of action we will have the opportunity to further address issues of democracy through a workshop.
Full notes of the Strategy Weekend have been sent to every pledger.
The Core Group
Currently the Core Group comprises: Jane Tallents; Morag Balfour; David Mackenzie; Clare Fearnley; Sylvia Boyes; Angie Zelter; Brian Quail; Joy Mitchell and Rachel Wenham.
Cornton Vale Prison
This is a brief summary of sustained correspondence with a range of individuals and agencies as a result of the experience of TP2000 women at Cornton Vale prison. Three main issues have emerged. Firstly, it has prompted debate with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) about the interpretation of the prison rule stating that prisoners may see visitors of their choice. We offered a system for visiting in which the prison could screen visitors and the women could exercise choice. Initially this arrangement was accepted by the prison but was then rejected. The reason for this remains unclear.
Secondly the women were a minority group within the prison. The majority of prisoners conform to the well documented profile of women offenders: many have been victims themselves, have drug and alcohol related problems and low levels of education and self esteem.
In contrast the TP 2000 women were confident and articulate. Although this could have been welcomed by the prison, the women reported that on several occasions prison staff made angry and derisory comments, blaming them for taking time away from more vulnerable prisoners. We drew this behaviour to the attention of the SPS, describing it as inappropriate and unprofessional. The SPS has professed an initial view that it bears no responsibility for personal remarks made by officers, couching this in a context of being keen to foster inter-personal relationships. This implies that officers are free to express all manner of personal views which could be prejudiced and damaging to prisoners.
Finally, in the context of the treatment of Angie Zelter and Hanna Jarvinen, the SPS has confirmed its support for the Governor’s view that the humiliating and physically
punitive action of officers met the “approved” methods of control and restraint. We have asked the SPS to provide information on these methods and to indicate whether it follows any additional procedures designed to de-escalate tensions, manage potential conflicts and work towards win-win outcomes based on mutual respect.
In one letter the Governor suggested that the TP2000 visitors group was interested only in a tiny minority of prisoners, implying that we held a disdain for or lack of interest in others. She was wrong. These issues are important for all women imprisoned at Cornton Vale: they are to do with fundamental principles of humanitarian treatment which no prisoner should be denied. We will keep working to achieve positive results.
Helene Witcher Stirling CND (Cornton Vale prisoners support)
To follow up on the Cornton Vale issues, write to Helene at 111 Henderson Street, Bridge of Allan, FK9 4HH, Scotland.
The TP2000 women who were assaulted by prison staff on 19th September made a
formal complaint to Central Scotland Police. The police sent a report to the Stirling Procurator Fiscal who has decided to take “no proceedings”. We are exploring further ways of having the injustice exposed and dealt with.
Sauron Complains About Campfires in Ithilien
Ministry of Defence lawyers have written to Georgina Smith, owner of Peaton Wood, TP2000’s occasional campsite of choice at Coulport. The letter says that the MOD had sold her the wood on the understanding that it would be used solely for forestry or agriculture purposes and that she should not use it as a campsite. Georgina has suggested to her solicitors that their answer should be that Peaton Wood was ideally suited for supporting agricultural activity by turning swords into ploughshares. The MOD seems to be impervious to the irony in their complaining about the niceties of land use in the locality when, just half a mile away, it presides over the most foul and corrupted pits in the United Kingdom.
Fast Success in Belgium
On 19th November TP2000 Pledger Pol D’Huyvetter began a fast and a vigil on the steps of the Belgian Foreign Ministry in support of nuclear disarmament resolutions at the UN. For 14 days he took no food or vitamins, only herbal tea. On December 3rd in the Belgian House of Representatives Green MP Hugo van Dierderen reminded the Minister of Foreign Affairs that Pol had been fasting at his front door for 14 days. He asked the Minister what initiatives he would take at the forthcoming meeting NATO meeting of Foreign Ministers on the following Tuesday. The
Minister, Mr. Eric Derycke, said he respected Pol’s stance and indicated that he would discuss the issue of No First Use with his Canadian and German counterparts.
This was the first time that a Belgian Government Minister had publicly supported the doctrine of No First Use and Pol was sufficiently encouraged by this to finish his fast. Pol is in good health and said: “I am feeling really well. I have never enjoyed the taste of food so much as now!”
Dialogue and Negotiation
In spite of six letters to British government ministers beginning with the letter to Tony Blair on 18th March, six months before our direct disarmament action began in August, our dialogue with HMG is at a very early stage and no meetings have been arranged. The general stance of the government in response to our letters to date has been to state their view that Trident is legal; that although they are committed to the elimination of nuclear weapons they see no value in an ’arbitary’ date to be set for such a consummation; that they cannot talk with an organisation which is engaged in illegal acts (including encouraging “service personnel to refuse to carry out their legal (sic) duties.”)
In our most recent letter, which has to date had no reply, we have urged the government to conduct a full legal audit of Trident, to live up to its undertakings within the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty and to accept that a timetable for disarmament is essential. We explain that the Nuremberg Principles impose on us a duty to advise service personnel involved in Trident that their work is unlawful. We repeat our request for a meeting, pointing out that we are doing nothing illegal and that we are ready to meet with them in spite of their potential status as war criminals.
The government’s voting record at the UN on nuclear disarmament continues to be deplorable. In spite of this bleak context we must continue our attempts to engage our leaders in dialogue. Activists and supporters are urged to contact their own MPs and urge them to push for a meeting between the Negotiating Group and the Government.
What You Can Do…
- Continue to write to MPs, MEPs to ask for their help and support. Ask them what is their position on the Trident programme and ask them to sign the MPsÂ’ petition.
- Find out the fax and e-mail numbers for your local press and other publications that we can put on the press release list.
- Publicise around your local area with leaflets, petition forms, info, videos, badges etc, are available from the TP2000 office.
- Write to anybody asking for support of famous people, celebrities, rock/pop groups, friends, organisations and ask them to sign the petition of support. You never know who would support an anti-nuclear action if only they knew about it. The more names the better.
-
If you think of anything do it and tell us so we can try it as well!
The Venus Birds
Venus Birds initially formed as a group of musicians to play viol consorts and we still exist as that and as the affinity group, with only three members being in both the Venus Birds! Our name is from an anonymous 17th century song. Our group consists of four pledged members, Sarah Cunningham, Sarah Groser, Wendy Vale and myself, Emilia Benjamin, and is at the present moment pretty inactive, although we hope to do more actions in the coming year. Our actions take the form of concerts given outside the base, drawing on the power of music to create an aural and spiritual beauty to counteract the evil represented by the Trident submarines. We also hope meanwhile to entertain other activists going about their duties, and prevent access to the base while we perform. We completed one successful concert as part of a mass action in August.
The two Sarahs and myself are all professional viol players (a viol is a beautiful baroque instrument) and Wendy is the mother of 18 month old Mingka, who also came to the camp in August and freaked out at the mud! Venus Birds will hopefully get itself together.
Emilia Benjamin
The Midlands Affinity Group
We tried but failed to come up with a more interesting name than our geographical description. Six of us, scattered from Greenham to Manchester, were brought in contact with Core Group member, Sylvia, in Birmingham. We had a full weekend training there. In some of our actions we have been joined by a few others. Ranging in age from the 40s to the 70s, we are one of the more mature groups with years of campaigning behind us. Despite many arrests in August and November, only Sylvia had days in court -and in Cornton Vale prison – being a determined recidivist when it comes to preventing nuclear crime. She has even led others into ’trouble’ while disciplining herself to remain in circulation – a model to others. The group is exploring options for actions at Trident-related sites in England, but nothing is yet finalised and if it were, we wouldn’t say, would we?
It is possible that one or three of us will be ready for some major disarming actions in 1999, unless, as seems increasingly unlikely, “Tory Plan B”* sees sense and does it for us.
’Tony Blair’ anagrams aptly to ’Tory Plan B’, as is well proven now.
Roger Franklin
Rest In Peace, John Lane
We have been deeply shocked by the death of John Lane who took ill on his way back from the November camp and died shortly afterwards. John was a member of the cooking team at the camp and had a long history of social action, including work with street people in Calcutta, rural development work, participation in anti-nuclear pilgrimages and work with refugees. More recently he has been active in campaigning against the arms trade and working with homeless people who have special needs. His friend Ganesh said: “John was extraordinary. He trained as a clown just so he could share fun and wonder with people he would come across. He was a giving person. He had a wonderfully creative response to challenging situations and could fit in anywhere. His hallmark was a rare blend of gentleness and strength.”
Just before he left the camp to travel south John planted crocuses at Peaton Wood. During the February weekend of action we will plant a tree there in his memory. We send our love to Natasha and young Manika.
Nuclear Disarmament on Backburner for UK
The attitude of the UK Government to nuclear disarmament was summed up very well by a Labour Peer. Speaking in the House of Lords in a debate on the Queens speech, Lord Jenkins of Putney said: “It seems to me that the elimination of the nuclear weapon is on the backburner. If the Government had wanted to mention anything about nuclear weapons in the gracious Speech, they could have suggested to Her Majesty the words, ’My Government have decided not to take any steps to implement the manifesto policy of seeking the global elimination of nuclear arms. My Government demonstrated the firmness of their decision in this matter when on Friday 13th November the vote of the United Kingdom was cast against eliminating the nuclear weapon at the United Nations and against an attempt to move positively in the direction of elimination.’”.
Lord Jenkins was referring to the vote at the committee stage of a resolution called “Towards a nuclear-weapons-free world: the need for a new agenda”. From the viewpoint of an anti-nuclear campaigner it was not a very strong resolution. The reference to initial emphasis on disarmament between the US and Russia was scarcely any different from that adopted in the Labour manifesto at the last election. Nevertheless the resolution was too much for the Government to swallow. In the final vote at the plenary session of the UN General Assembly on 4th December the vast majority of countries backed the resolution. There were 114 for while a handful, 18, voted against, including Britain, France, the US and Russia. There were 38 abstentions, including most of the NATO countries.
A year ago the government had voted against a similar disarmament motion. When asked why they had said that the timescale of the resolution was unrealistic and the moves were not verifiable. The New Agenda resolution this year was worded in such a way as to avoid these objections. So when the Foreign Office Minister, Tony Lloyd was asked what their view was on the New Agenda resolution he said in a parliamentary answer:
“We oppose the current draft of this resolution, which we have considered carefully, since it is inconsistent with maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent. “In other words when forced to chose between the two parts of Labour’s manifesto commitment, keeping Trident and pursuing disarmament, the government has decided to ditch multilateral disarmament.
John Ainslie
Bread Not Bombs Activists Face More Months of Remand
Three Swedish activists, Ann-Britt Sternfeldt, Annika Spalde and Stellan Vinthagen, who were arrested at Barrow-in-Furness on 13th October, are still in prison awaiting trial. They werecharged with “Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Damage” after an attempt to disarm Trident submarine HMS Vengeance. They have been on remand since then and have been given 24th May 1999 as a provisional date for their trial, though they do have a hearing on January 11th to see if another court can hear their trial sooner. Their English and Swedish-based support groups are appealing for funds towards political and prisoner-support costs:
Cheques to “Liverpool Catholic Worker”, c/o Liverpool Catholic Worker, 1 Horne Street, Liverpool L6 5AH, England (tel +44 (0)151 264 8741; email lcw@rapid.co.uk).
The prisoners’ addresses: Stellan Vinthagen (BT8233)HM Prison Preston
2 Ribbleton Lane
Preston
PR1 5AB
England
Annika Spalde (BE8940) and Ann-Britt Sternfeldt (BE8941) [write separately] :
HM Prison Risley
617 Warrington Road
Risley
Warrington
WA3 6BP
England
Bread Not Bombs Plowshares website: http://www.plowshares.se/bnb/english.htm
If you want to visit any of the prisoners, you must first book with the Liverpool Catholic Worker community – they will then give you instructions about how to book with the relevant
prison. Please book with the Catholic Worker well in advance: 0151 264 8741.
For further information: Stephen Hancock on +44 (0)1865 770833.
Liverpool Catholic Worker: +44 (0)151 264 8741
Join the 2000 Walk For Nuclear Disarmament
16th to 30th May 1998
Become one of the 2000 participants walking 200km (120 miles) from the International Court of Justice at The Hague to NATO headquarters in Brussels. Mark it in your diary and register today.
More information from For Mother Earth International, Lange Steenstraat 16/d,9000 Gent, Belgium. Phone +32-9-233.84.39, Fax +32-9-233.73.02
You can register online at FME’s Homepage: http://www.motherearth.org/
Australians Convicted But Receive Low Sentence
On Monday 14 December, Australian ploughshares activists Treena Lenthall and Ciaron O’Reilly were found guilty of causing criminal damage to uranium-mining equipment at the
Jabiluka uranium mine in Northern Territory, Australia. However, the magistrate just sentenced them to 2 weeks in prison. They were released immediately, as they had already served more than 2 weeks on remand following their Nagasaki Day Jabiluka Ploughshares action.
The following are in prison for plowshares actions:
Susan Crane (#87783-011), FCI Dublin Unit A, 5701 8th St, Dublin, CA 94568, USA Steve Kelly SJ (#00816-111), LSCI Allenwood, PO Box 1000, White Deer, PA 17887, USA
(both members of Prince of Peace Plowshares who disarmed a Tomahawk cruise missile launching system on board the USS The Sullivans).
Kathy Boylan, Sr Ardeth Platte, Sr Carol Gilbert, Kent County Detention Center, Unit A, 104 Vickers Dr, Chesterton MD 21620, USA
Fr Frank Cordaro, Fr Larry Morlan, Charles County Jail, PO Box 1430, La Plata, MD 20646, USA
(all five members of Gods of Metal Plowshares who disarmed a B-52 bomber).
Daniel Sicken (#28360-013), Oliver Sachio Coe (#28361-013), Federal Detention Center, Unit A, 9595 W Quincy Ave, Littletown, CO 80123, USA (both members of Minuteman III Plowshares who disarmed a nuclear silo on Hiroshima Day).
When writing to prisoners, include a return address on the envelope.
Wanted Section
1) A Treasurer for TP2000
We need someone to oversee the money management for TP2000 and to make sure our accounts are in order. Morag Balfour is at present preparing to take over this role but we need someone right away while she is learning the ropes. For more information call Morag on 01592 770280. We still need to work on fundraising. TP2000 is a time limited campaign and we do not need to build a permanent funding structure. At the same time all pledgers and supporters are encouraged to devise fundraising activities, perhaps on a local basis and with specific needs in mind, such as Prisoner Support, Legal Support etc., and if anyone is willing to trawl around philanthropic trusts, especially American ones, this would be helpful. Monies should go to the Norwich office and be made payable to ’Trident Ploughshares 2000’.
2) Military Intelligence
“Ignorance of standing orders is no excuse for not obeying them.” Jewels like this sometimes surface, like crisp packets out of the camp mud, from my memories of national service in the army. That was in the early 50s, when – with the Nuremberg Principles still squeaky clean – we
relied on two prime references to keep us on the straight and narrow: the King’s (subsequently the Queen’s) Regulations and the Manual of Military Law. Now that my attention is once again focused upon how the military see themselves and their relationship with international law, I would love to get hold of the modern versions of these tomes, or what may have replaced
them. If anyone can help me find them I shall be most grateful.
Peter Lanyon
Tridenting It Again!
“Who wrote it? It’s brilliant!” The first edition of our Handbook Tridenting It sold over 800 copies, has earned the respect of seasoned journalists and is on the bedside table of every self-respecting MOD official. A new edition, revised to take account of the achievements of the past four months, will be available from the Norwich office mid-January at the original price of £3.50.