News Release 11/11/2010
For immediate release
Former Attorney General to Speak out against nuclear weapons in
Tacoma, Washington – November 11, 2010 – A former
will appear in
nuclear weapons prior to his appearance in court on behalf of five
Plowshares co-defendants.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark will give a public
presentation at the
Auditorium on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 6:30 PM on international
law and civilian responsibility in the context of nuclear disarmament.
The
development, production and potential use of nuclear weapons, wasting
billions of taxpayer dollars that need to be spent on human needs. At
the heart of this issue are citizens’ responsibility to resist our
government’s illegal actions, and the government’s criminalization of
such dissent.
co-defendants during their motions hearing on Tuesday, November 16,
2010 at 1:30 PM. in the
of
Just over one year since they entered the
storage depot at
weapons stored there, the five Disarm Now Plowshares co-defendants are
preparing for their December 7, 2010 trial in Federal court. They
were arraigned on October 8, 2010 in
Bill “Bix” Bichsel, SJ, Susan Crane, Lynne Greenwald, Steve Kelly, SJ,
and Anne Montgomery, RSCJ, all face charges of Conspiracy, Trespass,
Destruction of Property on a Naval Installation and Depredation of
Government Property. The major consequences for the various
individual charges range between 5 and 10 years in prison, and from
$50, 000 to $250,000 in fines, as well as up to 3 years of supervised
release, and/or up to 5 years probation.
Among the documents being considered by the Judge in this case is a
motion for dismissal in which the co-defendants conclude that,
“Because this case involves unjust and illegal weapons of mass
destruction, the use of which is a war crime under US and
international law, and defendants actions were taken to protect a
greater good and much higher law than the laws they are accused of
violating, this case should be dismissed immediately.”
They cite numerous laws to show that the Use of Nuclear Weapons is a
War Crime under US Law, and state that “Any threat or use [of nuclear
weapons] is categorically prohibited and constitutes a war crime,
crime against humanity or genocide as defined consistently by the
Criminal Code,” citing the statute for war crimes, 18 USC 2441.
They also reference Article 23 of the Hague Convention IV of 18
October 1907, which applies because nuclear weapons are incapable of
distinguishing between civilians and combatants and cause unnecessary
suffering.
The
are committed by anyone who “participates in a common plan or
conspiracy for the accomplishment of planning preparation, initiation
or waging a war of aggression or a war in violation of international
treaties, agreements or assurance.”
Their last reference used to substantiate that the use of nuclear
weapons is a crime under
“the use of nuclear weapons can also be considered genocide because
the weapons destroy, in whole or substantial part, groups of people,
in indiscriminate fashion, killing military and civilian alike.
The five Disarm Now co-defendants firmly believe that there is
sufficient legal doctrine substantiating their invocation of the
necessity defense, and that the “Defendants’ actions are just and not
at all illegal,” and therefore the case should be immediately
dismissed.
Ramsey Clark was U.S. Attorney General under President Lyndon B.
Johnson from 1967 to 1969, and supervised drafting and passage of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
The former Attorney General has provided legal defense for Plowshares
activist Philip Berrigan, as well as other prisoners of conscience in
the
Clark’s presentation at University of Washington,
November 15, 2010 at 6:30 will be in the Carwein Auditorium, Keystone
Building. Check the Disarm Now Plowshares Website (click on “Events”)
for updates at http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com.
Supporters of Disarm Now Plowshares will gather in front of the
courthouse from 12:30 to 1:00 for music and reflection prior to the
1:30 PM motions hearing.
There have been more than 100 Plowshares Nuclear Resistance Actions
worldwide since 1980. Plowshares actions are taken from Isaiah 2:4 in
Old Testament (Hebrew) scripture of the Christian Bible, “God will
judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many people.
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks. And nations will not take up swords against nations,
nor will they train for war anymore.”
The Trident submarine base at
is home to the largest single stockpile of nuclear warheads in the
U.S. arsenal, housing more than 2000 nuclear warheads. In November
2006, the Natural Resources Defense Council declared that the 2,364
nuclear warheads at
China, France, Israel, India,
The base has been rebuilt for the deployment of the larger and more
accurate Trident D-5 missile system. Each of the 24 D-5 missiles on a
Trident submarine is capable of carrying eight of the larger 455
kiloton W-88 warheads (each warhead is about 30 times the explosive
force as the
D-5 missile can also be armed with the 100 kiloton W-76 warhead. The
Trident fleet at
the 100 kiloton W-76 warhead
Contact: Leonard Eiger, 425-445-2190,
subversivepeacemaking@comcast.net
Further information (and updates on events) on Disarm Now Plowshares
is available at http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com/.
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