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International Peace Bureau Triennial Gathering 2013 September 13-15 STOCKHOLM, Sweden

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International Peace Bureau Triennial Gathering 2013 September 13-15 STOCKHOLM, Sweden INTERNATIONAL PEACE BUREAU TRIENNIAL GATHERING 2013 September 13-15 STOCKHOLM, Sweden In cooperation with ABF-Huset Stockholm INTERNATIONAL PEACE CONFERENCE: “The world is over-armed and peace is under-funded” (Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General) ANNUAL SEAN MACBRIDE PEACE PRIZE CEREMONY ‘MaKING PEAce’ – PhoTO-EXHIBITION (in Nobel Museum) IPB ASSEMBLY AND COUNCIL MEETING INTERNATIONAL PEACE CONFERENCE SATURDAY SEPT 14 – SundAY SEPT 15 VENUE: ABF Huset - www.abfstockholm.se Every three years IPB holds a special meeting to bring together its members and supporters and to discuss the challenges facing peace movements in an unstable and over-militarised world. This year the conference will explore the inter–relationships between military intervention and the economy of war and will attempt to answer some challenging questions: • What lessons have we learned from external military intervention in recent conflicts? • What are the best alternatives to such interventions? • What is the world spending on the military, and what is the opportunity cost? • How can we challenge the trend towards robot-warfare? • How best to support whistleblowers for peace? • What lessons can we learn from the survivors of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki nuclear bombings? 2 Friday SEPTEMBER 13 The (triennial) IPB Assembly and (annual) Council meetings aim to analyse the programmes and achievements of the organisation over the past three years, and draw up plans and agree directions for future campaigning and other peace work. The results of the elections will be announced at the Assembly. The meetings are open to all members of IPB member organisations, as well as individual members. Observers are also welcome. 9:00 - 11:00 IPB ASSEMBLY MEETING VENUE: ABF Huset, Palmesalen 11:00 - 11:30 COFFEE BREAK 11:30 - 13:00 IPB ASSEMBLY MEETING - continuing VENUE: ABF Huset, Palmesalen 13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH BREAK 14:00 - 17:30 IPB COUNCIL MEETING VENUE: ABF Huset, Palmesalen 3 NOBEL EVENING FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 TIME: 18:00 - 21:00 VENUE: THE NOBEL MUSEUM The event at the Nobel Museum is co-hosted together with the sWedisH Peace AND ARBITRATION SOCIETY, the world’s oldest peace organisation that celebrates 130 years since its foundation in 1883. MODERATOR: MAJ BRITT THEORIN, Former IPB President, former Disarmament Ambassador of Sweden, member of the Swedish Parliament and European Parliament Jody Williams, Chair of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, Nobel Peace Laureate 1997 death by machine: stopping the rise of killer robots and the further dehumanisation of war An American political activist known around the world for her work in banning anti-personnel landmines, her defence of human rights – especially those of women – and her efforts to promote new understandings of security in today’s world. Her current campaign is against ‘killer robot’ weapons. MAIREAD MAGUIRE, Nobel Peace Prize 1976 Our conscience offers each of us the choice between violence, militarism and war, or choosing love – I choose to love…. Mairead Maguire was awarded the Prize for her extraordinary actions to help end the deep ethnic/political conflict in her native Northern Ireland. She shares the award with Betty Williams. She co-founded the Community of Peace People and is an outspoken activist on a number of conflict situations around the world. TERUMI TANAKA, A & H Bomb Survivors’ Organisation, Japan (several times nominated for Nobel Peace Prize) Grasping the opportunity to free humanity of the danger of nuclear annihilation Nihon Hidankyo is the only nation-wide organisation of A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Hibakusha). It works for the prevention of nuclear war and the elimination of nuclear weapons, and for compensation and improved protection and assistance for the Hibakusha. 4 Saturday SEPTEMBER 14 REGISTRATION: 8:30 - 10:00 TIME: 10:00 - 16:00 VENUE: ABF Huset, Palmesalen conference registration form ToPic 1. iNTeRVeNTioN: WeaPoNs oR WoRds? YE R . R PHER sto . CHRI GT : S oto H P The topic of intervention has become much more current than we imagined when we started planning this conference in January, with the war in Syria now escalating into a possible phase of external intervention. IPB proposes a discussion about the tendency of leaders to choose direct intervention (now- adays with drones, or air strikes as in Mali and many before) instead of conflict prevention, peace-building and civilian-protection approaches.In that discussion we wish to include the impact of the military-industrial complex and its powerful lobbies in favour of armament and military spending. We will explore this challenging topic through various perspectives and case studies. On Sun- day there will be presentations and debate on what an alternative, non-violent strategy might look like. 5 Welcome aNd iNTRoducTioN 10:25 - 10:40 Roots of the Conflict and Possi- ble Solutions MODERATOR: MICHAEL SCHULZ, University of TOMAS MAGNUSSON, IPB Co-President Gothenburg Michael Schulz is Associate Professor in KEYNOTE SPEECH Peace and Development Research at the University of Gothenburg. He is a Middle 10:05 - 10:25 East expert and spent the first half of this obama’s Wars: imperial power in a year in the region, studying the conflict in multi-polar world Syria. JOSEPH GERSON, American Friends 10:55 - 11:25 Service Committee (Quakers) – USA Discussion Joseph serves as AFSC’s disarmament coordinator, as director of programmes in 11:25 - 11:55 New England, and as director of the Peace and Economic Security Programme. He COFFEE BREAK has worked with AFSC since 1976. Joseph plays a leading role in building collabo- rations among U.S., Asian, and European AFGHANISTAN peace and nuclear weapons abolition 11:55 - 12:40 movements. His programme work focuses on challenging and overcoming U.S. global hegemony, including its preparations for, 11:55 - 12:10 and threats to initiate, nuclear war and its The law against war – and why 12 military domination of the Asia-Pacific and years of intervention in afghanistan the Middle East. must come to an end LARS-GUNNAR LINLJESTRAND, SESSIon 1 – SyrIA chair, Afghanistan Solidarity Organisation 10:25 - 11:25 Lars-Gunnar Liljestrand is a lawyer and has together with some colleagues just published a book on international law and 10:05 - 10:25 interventions, called “The law against war”. MAIREAD MAGUIRE, Nobel Peace Lars Gunnar is chairman of the Swedish Laureate 1976 Afghanistan Solidarity Organisation. Mairead will report on her recent 10 day visit to Lebanon and Syria, leading a 12:10 - 12:25 16 person delegation from 8 countries, 2014 - from an afghan perspective invited by Mussalaha Reconciliation Move- ment. The visit was to promote a process FRESHTA DOST of dialogue and reconciliation in Syria between its people and Syrian government Freshta Dost is an Afghan refugee living in and reject outside intervention and war. Sweden. She is an active member of the 6 Swedish Afghanistan Committee, and will 14:35 - 14:50 give a women’s perspective on the current The militarisation of the High North situation in Afghanistan. AgNETA NORBERG, Swedish Peace Council 12:25 - 12:40 european resistance to prolonged war Agneta Norberg is an IPB Board mem- ber, and represents the Swedish Peace KARIM POPAL, Afghan lawyer Council. She was a convener of the recent conference of the Global Network against Karim Popal is an Afghan refugee living in Nuclear Power and Weapons in Space, in Germany. He has been active in the Kiruna, Northern Sweden.. build-up of European resistance to the prolonged war in Afghanistan, He is a lawyer and has taken part in the German 14:50 - 15:05 legal case on the killings by German campaigning against drone warfare soldiers at Kunduz in 2009. – the Norwegian experience 12:40 - 13:00 ALEXANDER HARANG, Norwegian Discussion Peace Association Alexander Harang is Leader of the Nor- 13:00 - 14:30 wegian Peace Association, and an expert/ activist on arms trade. LUNCH BREAK 15:05 - 15:20 Discussion sessioN 2 – sPace WeaPoNs, DRONES AND INTERVENTION 15:20 - 16:00 14:30 - 16:00 discussion in small groups Small groups will discuss a draft IPB Triennial statement, highlighting the need for much greater investment in peaceful methods of MODERATOR: preventing armed conflicts. The final session of TARJA CRONBERG, MEP, IPB Board the conference will bring together all the themes Member, Chair, Peace Union of Finland in order to develop a better understanding of the inter-linkages. 7 ANNUAL MACBRIDE PEACE PRIZE CEREMONY SATURDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 14 TIME: 18:00-21:00 VENUE: IMMANUELSKYRKAN, KUNGSTENSGATAN 17 Every year the IPB awards a special prize to a person or organisation that has done outstanding work for peace, disarmament and/or human rights. These were the principal concerns of Sean MacBride, the distinguished Irish statesman who was Chairman of IPB from 1968-1974 and President from 1974-1985. Over the years we have honoured many courageous and committed peace workers and organisations. For more information, please click HERE This year’s Prize will be awarded to: BRADLEY MANNING, the US whistleblower recently convicted in a much publicised court-martial. MODERATOR: REINER BRAUN, IPB Board member and Exec. Director, International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms TOMAS MAGNUSSON AND ANNA EK – Whistleblowing in sweden: Bofors and beyond Tomas and Anna will describe the case in which an engineer and sales promoter from the Bofors arms factory revealed illegal transfers of weapons to forbidden countries - and will assess its importance today. The presentation will include a short TV clip. Speakers: aNN WRiGHT – Private Manning Support Network, USA. Acceptance speech Ann Wright is a retired US Army Colonel and a former US Diplomat who resigned in 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war – she is now a peace activist – for outspoken opposition to torture, indefinite detention at Guantanamo, assassin drones and Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands etc.
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