Citizen Inspectors Arrested at NATO in Brussels
MichaelP
New File: ACTIONS
190 Inspectors arrested at NATO headquarters
PRESS CONTACT 0495-28 02 59 (Pol D'Huyvetter)
Brussels, May 28 1999 - Yesterday in the late afternoon a confirmed total
of 190 Citizens Inspectors were arrested at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
60 of them were tranported with police vans a short while later to the
peace camp in the center of Brussels. A spokesperson for For Mother Earth
who organised this inspection suspected the reason to be that the police
didn't have enough room to keep everybody. 130 others were held in custody
and released between 22:00 and 24:00.
The arrests followed the refusal by NATO to hand over information about
NATO's Nuclear Planning Group. The inspectors demand the immediate release
of data about NATO's nuclear force. They especially want to know the
sites, numbers, types, yields and targets. The inspectors want to hand
over this information to Members of Parliament, the International Court of
Justice and the International Criminal Court which is being established in
The Hague. The inspectors demand that NATO release the information
immediately, preferably through their internet site.
Ronald De Vos, a Belgian inspector was succesful in entering one of the
NATO buildings. "Immediately after passing through the entrance I was
knocked down without any warning, and lost consciousness". NATO security
however apologized afterwards. If NATO does not release tthe controversial
data, citizens inspectors will continue to make new attemtps to enter the
buildings to find the compromising information.
Further a diplomatic incident occured when the Brussels police stopped
another group of over 100 Citizens Inspectors from going to an official
reception at the European Parliament which was hosted by Magda Aelvoet,
President of the Green Group in the EP.
The citizens inspectors welcome the indictment of President Milosevic
yesterday in The Hague. They however believe that also NATO has to be
brought to court for the preparation of crimes against humanity.
The inspectors have also an ongoing dialogue with Brussels security
forces. "Brussels and Belgrade are the only two places in Europe where
demonstrations against the war are being officially prohibited by
authorities. We however invite the Brussels police-force to uphold
international law. Referring to the 1946 Nuremberg Principles, we invite
the security forces to cooperate and help us to get the information of the
Nuclear Planning Group" declares For Mother Earth spokesperson Pol
D'Huyvetter.
This international team of Citizen Inspectors is the final action of a 500
person peace march from the International Court of Justice in The Hague
which ended at NATO at midday yesterday. NATO press officer Nick Fiorenza
and legal adviser Baldwin De Vidts refused to release information
regarding NATO's nuclear arsenal. The Citizen Inspectors demanded
transparency about NATO nukes.
The peace camp stays until noon Sunday at the Katholieke Hogeschool in the
Nieuwlandstraat 198, 1000 Brussels (near Brussels South railway station).
The action has received the support of Abolition 2000, an international
network of over 1300 NGO's working to eliminate all nuclear weapons. For
the inspection there is close cooperation with IALANA (International
Association of Lawyers Agianist Nuclear Arms).
For updates and more information contact:
For Mother Earth <http://www.motherearth.org/>
E-mail: <intern...@motherearth.org>
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Join the Greens / Green Party USA, Change the World, Save the Earth.
Call (978) 682-4353 or E-mail: gp...@igc.org
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