Citizens Weapons Inspection Handbook Citizens Weapons Inspection Working Group – A working group of Abolition 2000 For Mother Earth, Maria Hendrikaplein 5, 9000 Gent, Belgium Tel: 0032 9 242 87 52 [email protected] http://www.motherearth.org/inspection Citizens Weapons Inspection Handbook Table of Contents: Introduction........................................................................................................................................................3 How to use this booklet:...................................................................................................................................3 What is a Citizens Weapons Inspection? ........................................................................................................3 Why Citizens Inspections?...............................................................................................................................4 What is the Citizens Inspection Working Group? ............................................................................................5 Action Planning .................................................................................................................................................6 Action Ideas .....................................................................................................................................................6 Nonviolent Direct Action ................................................................................................................................10 Using The Media............................................................................................................................................12 Mobilising for your action ...............................................................................................................................13 Action Checklist .............................................................................................................................................15 After Your Action............................................................................................................................................16 Building a campaign ......................................................................................................................................16 Some advice for court cases..........................................................................................................................18 Citizens Inspection Authorisation .................................................................................................................20 Citizens Inspection Mandate ..........................................................................................................................21 Citizens Inspection Questionnaire ................................................................................................................24 Citizens Inspection Report Template ............................................................................................................26 Appendix 1: The Story So Far... .....................................................................................................................30 Appendix 2: International Law and Nuclear Weapons ................................................................................38 Citizens Weapons Inspection Working Group – A working group of Abolition 2000 – http://www.motherearth.org/inspection/ c/o For Mother Earth, Maria Hendrikaplein 5, 9000 Gent, Belgium [email protected] Tel: 0032 9 242 87 52 Citizens Weapons Inspection Handbook Page 3 Introduction What is a Citizens Weapons Inspection? How to use this booklet: The idea of the "citizens weapon This booklet has been put together as a inspection" was born some time in 1998, source of advice for anyone who wants to while international attention was focussed take part in, or organise a "Citizens' on the UNSCOM inspections in Iraq. Weapons inspection". The focus is on Peace campaigners all over the world were campaigning against nuclear weapons. But appalled by the fact that while these it could also be used to plan actions inspections took place in Iraq, all five against the production or deployment of permanent members of the UN Security conventional weapons, or on any number Council (China, France, Russia, the UK of issues. It also focuses on military bases, and the USA) were themselves deploying but again, it could be used to plan actions illegal nuclear weapons of mass at different locations such as the destruction in an extremely secretive embassies of nuclear weapon states or the manner. offices of government departments or arms Because of the lack of openness about companies. It was written by people who nuclear weapons in these countries, and have experience of anti-nuclear direct the absence of UN-inspectors at the sites action, and experts in international law. of nuclear crime, many groups decided to Some of the legal argument that are take the responsibility of upholding presented in the booklet are specific to international law, and started carrying out nuclear weapons, but the international law “citizens inspections” at nuclear related that they are based on can be applied to sites around the world. any military attack. They found justification for their actions in • Use it to prepare your actions... the International Court of Justice advisory • Copy it for your group... opinion (issued in 1996) that the threat or • Put bits of it on your website... use of nuclear weapons would generally • Translate it if you can... be against international and humanitarian ...and please, please send us feedback on law. how useful you find it and what could be The UNMOVIC weapon inspections in Iraq improved. (2002-2003) led to renewed interest in this model of nonviolent direct action, with This is the 3 rd version of the handbook, several international initiatives being published in 2006. launched. Many of the citizens inspections It has been completely updated, to include undertaken in 2002 and 2003 were more of the success stories and reported to the UN Security Council, and photographs of Citizens Weapons the Non-Proliferation Treaty "PrepCom" in Inspections over the past 9 years, and also New York in 2004. to include more details on using the The report is on the website: Citizens Weapons Inspection “mandate”, http://www.motherearth.org/inspection “authorisation document”, “questionnaire” You can find a list of many of the and “model report template”. inspections that have been carried out The handbook is also online at since 1997 in Appendix 1: The Story So http://www.motherearth.org/inspection Far… Citizens Weapons Inspection Working Group – A working group of Abolition 2000 – http://www.motherearth.org/inspection/ c/o For Mother Earth, Maria Hendrikaplein 5, 9000 Gent, Belgium [email protected] Tel: 0032 9 242 87 52 Citizens Weapons Inspection Handbook Page 4 the use or threat of nuclear weapons would Why Citizens Inspections? generally be contrary to the rules of Thousands of innocent people were killed international and humanitarian law, and and wounded during the War Against Iraq that all states have an obligation to disarm. in 2003. The reason? According to the US, The ICJ ruled unanimously that Article VI and a small "coalition of the willing", the of the NPT, which calls for the total regime of Saddam Hussein was hiding elimination of nuclear weapons, is a legal weapons of mass destruction. According to obligation for the parties to the treaty, Bush and Blair these biological, chemical which includes the permanent members of and nuclear weapons posed a serious the UN security council. danger to peace in the Middle East and the As there was no satisfactory response to rest of the world. the Citizens Summons, the NATO However, the UNMOVIC weapons headquarters in Brussels was closed on inspectors under the leadership of Hans August 6th 1997 for a 'war crimes Blix found no conclusive evidence of the inspection', with activists taking symbolic presence of WMDs in Iraq. Their nonviolent direct action to block the main inspections were cut short by the military entrance to the buildings. This was the onslaught of the US and UK. And today we start of a long series of citizens inspections all know that the public was manipulated with teams asking not only for and lied to. Not one WMD has been found transparency, but also for governments to in Iraq. At the same time, all five comply with international and humanitarian permanent members of the UN security law. council (US, UK, France, Russia and Because of the lack of openness about China) possess largely secret nuclear nuclear weapons possessed by the US weapons equivalent to many thousands of and her allies, and the absence of UN- Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. The inspectors in these countries, many groups blatant hypocrisy of this position has started citizens war crimes inspections at inspired many peace activists to take nuclear related sites around the world. As action. Over the previous years a growing far as we know citizens inspections have number of citizens have been getting been organised in Australia, Belgium, organised to go and have a closer look at Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the sites where weapons of mass Japan, Spain, Turkey, the Netherlands and destruction are being researched, the US, (which has by far the largest and developed, tested, manufactured, most modern program of WMD). Many stockpiled and deployed. citizens inspectors