Fourty Belgian VIP's join the Citizens Inspections movement
Gent, October 2nd 1998 - Yesterday, Thursday October 1st, at 10 a.m. over 60 people answered the call of For Mother Earth and 'Forum voor Vredesactie' (War Resisters Int'l, Flemish section) to join a major Citizens Inspection of the NATO nuclear weapons storage AFB of Kleine Brogel in Belgium. At the end of the day forty seven inspectors had been arrested as they entered the military base looking for the nuclear weapons, which they state to be in violation of international law, referring to the July 8 1996 UN ICJ opinion.
For several years now there has been a growing suspicion that the Belgian government made a secret Treaty with the USA, allowing the storage of US tactical nuclear weapons. However, any parliamentary questions about nuclear weapons stored on this Belgian AFB have been met with silence or the typical military 'we can neither confirm nor deny' answer. A recent request to inspect the base from several Members of Parliament to the Belgian Ministry of Defence was once again met with silence. The storage of nuclear weapons in Kleine Brogel, guarded by 110 US members of the MUNSS (Munition Support Squadron), clearly remains a secret and the Armed Forces would like it kept out of the public eye and untouched by the democratic process.
Recently For Mother Earth and WRI gathered clear evidence of the presence of 10 B-61 US tactical nuclear weapons of mass-destruction in this quiet rural area in the north-eastern part of Belgium. According to our information there have been nuclear weapons on this base, since 1962. All information has been withheld from the parliament, obstructing any substantive parliamentary debate. NGO members giving information to MP's are being intimidated, threatened with use of physical violence, and charged with 'the gathering of military intelligence'.
And this while Belgian F-16 pilots from the 23rd Devil and 31st Tiger Squadron train to fly these weapons of mass-destruction, adding a violation of Article I and II of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. These decisions are made within the undemocratic and secretive agreements of NATO's Nuclear Planning Group.
Also the Commander of the Base, Colonel Van der Auwera, denied the MP's, NGO and media representatives, access to the sensitive areas on the base. The Commander did not listen to the legal arguments referring to the violation of international law by the US and Belgian government at this NATO nuclear weapon storage site. The Citizen Inspectors were marking the anniversary of the end of the Nurnberg Trail on October 1st 1946. It was this trial which concluded in a UN Charter which gave the moral and legal right to every citizen to notify and prevent the preparation of crimes against humanity.
The inspectors didn't seem to be intimidated at all by the circling military helicopter and Belgian national police and secret intelligence services following every new step.
Around 1 p.m. nine MP's, from both the ruling Christian and Social Democratic Parties, as well as from a Flemish regionalist Party and the Green Party, jumped over or cut their way through the fence of the military base. And most headed straight for the US part of the base. The politicians were soon joined by famous actors, priests, environmentalists, peace activists, disarmers ... and even three of the invited reporters and photgraphers joined in.
The military - both Belgian and American- seemed stunned and paralysed by this group of citizens taking their individual responsibilities to uphold international law, breaking consciously another law protecting a greater injustice.
Imagine the face of the US soldier shouting 'HALT' and pointing his gun ... producing no reaction or any effect on the inspectors who continued their way into the US part of the base. The inspectors were only armed with a pen, a clip-board and sometimes a camera. Also a sign announcing that 'the use of lethal force was authorized' didn't stop people from cutting their way through to this suspicious area. Even the dogs didn't seem to scare most of the inspectors.
All that time the inspectors remained cheerful, respectful and completely non-violent, talking to the security personnel about their legal obligation to carry out this inspection to prevent the preparation of crimes against humanity.
It took quite a long time for the military to apprehend all the 47 wandering inspectors. They were finally all gathered into a room near the main entrance, and questioned by the national police. Around 4 pm all were released.
The MP's have declared they will start a parliamentary debate about this situation, and will demand Belgian initiatives to start negotiations to get a Treaty outlawing all Nuclear Weapons. This was recently supported with an opinion poll, where 72% of the Belgian asked Belgium to taker the lead for the start of such negotiations.
This latest Citizens Inspection became a major headline both on Belgian TV and radio and it was front-page news for several newspapers. Pictures were send through Associated Press and EPA. New inspections are being prepared.
Following this latest success in bringing our campaign to the attention of the broad public and politicians, we express our hope for more people to link non-violent direct action with political lobby work.
An action booklet to organize Citizens Inspections is still available on request through isa@motherearth.org
More details of this inspection (list of names of MP's) and others should soon be posted. We are aware of over 10 inspections being recently carried out, or planned, in Israel, Netherlands, UK and USA.
Financial support for our campaign is needed and welcomed. Any help is appreciated. Please see our homepage for more details
http://www.motherearth.org/support.htm
The next international meeting of citizens inspectors will be Sunday 11th and Monday 12th of October 1998 in Gent, Belgium. Please write for more details.