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Over 1500 signatures have been collected calling for the National Assembly of Wales to create a Peace Institute comparable with those in Flanders, Catalonia, Finland, Norway and elsewhere. The petition won all-party support and received a favourable first hearing on 10 November.

The idea of a Peace Institute for Wales was fostered by Jill Evans, chair of CND Cymru. It has gained support from the Welsh Centre for International Affairs (WCIA), Cymdeithas y Cymod (the Fellowship of…

One of Barack Obama’s first pledges upon becoming president at the beginning of this year was to close the illegal prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by 22 January 2010. Now, with only weeks to go before the deadline, this is proving to be easier said than done.

Several dozen prisoners have been released during this year, including two who were captured at the age of 14, yet more than 200 still remain. Their situation is more precarious than ever. The US has been reluctant to…

On 12 November, four of us who “locked-on” across a gate at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston, during the Big Blockade on 27 October last year were cleared by Reading court of obstructing the highway and awarded costs.

We were: Jean Oliver from Scotland, Emma Sangster and myself from London, who defended ourselves; and Renate Zauner from Switzerland, represented by professor Nick Grief.

The “not guilty” verdict was on a technicality – the prosecution…

On 5 November, six of us – Katrina Alton and Steve Barnes of the London Catholic Worker, PN columnist Maya Evans, PN co-editor Milan Rai, Trident Ploughshares co-founder Angie Zelter, and myself – were found guilty of causing “serious disruption to the community” for our role in the “Die-in for NATO’s Victims in Afghanistan” at Britain’s military nerve centre at Northwood earlier this year.

During the trial in Watford, chief inspector Dempsey-Brench conceded that he had not…

The two-day (1-2 September) “Citizen and the Law of Armed Conflict” conference at Friends House, London, was organised by a coalition of organisations concerned with the need to develop better dialogue with MPs and decision-makers on law and peace issues.

The first day consisted of talks from a wide range of lawyers, MPs, academics and activists while the second day enabled participants to discuss techniques on how to empower citizens. We are now planning the way forward after…

87% of Britons agree with the statement: “Remembrance Sunday should be about marking the dead on all sides of war, not just the British”, according to a ComRes poll carried out for the Christian think tank Ekklesia at the beginning of November.

93% say they believe that, contrary to existing remembrance traditions, civilians who died in war should also be remembered.

95% say they think the main message of Remembrance Sunday should be one of peace.

When…

According to the NATO Welcoming Committee’s website, at 10.30am on 13 November, text message alerts would be sent out disclosing a “secret” meeting place, from which we would march towards the NATO parliamentary assembly in Edinburgh.

By 10.45am, I’d made it to Edinburgh’s Forest Café, which was providing the convergence space for the event. These “closed” meeting tactics – the pre-planned action, text message alerts and a small hive of activity directing the bigger picture –…

Discontent over the war in Afghanistan continued to grow in November in both the UK and US, with support for withdrawal reaching 63% in Britain and 39% in the US, according to BBC and CBS News polls, respectively.

A ComRes poll for the Independent on Sunday put the support in Britain on 15 November even higher: 71% for phased withdrawal within 1 year.

The BBC survey, published 8 November, also found that 64% of Britons now believe the war to be “unwinnable”, up from…

At CND’s International Conference on 10 October, the UK branch of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN-UK) launched its new website (see end of article).

ICAN-UK, which has nine core members, including Medact, CND and the World Court Project UK, aims to abolish nuclear weapons through a nuclear weapons convention (NWC). A NWC would prohibit the development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as the…

SY What do you do?
CS I meet up with prisoners who have literacies issues and discuss how improving their literacy levels can open up opportunities for them.

SY But what is the importance of literacies education for offenders?
CS It can help prisoners understand why they are where they are. Generally a lot of it is not their own fault. A lot of them have suffered an educational system that has probably failed them and they have internalised that failure. They have blamed…

Plaid Cymru MEP Jill Evans hosted a visit of climate campaigners from Wales to Brussels in mid-October. Campaigners urged European politicians to act decisively ahead of the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen later this year.

The Welsh group visiting Brussels, many of whom participated in Climate Camp Cymru, included Vicky Moller, an Ecotour operator; Sue Hutchinson, a town councillor; Siobhan Ashe from Newport, Pembrokeshire; James Cass from the Centre for Alternative…

Saturday 17 October. 1.03pm. The first tweet comes in on my mobile phone: “The fences are breached. There’s people on top of the coal pile. The Swoop is go!”

Having driven from the west coast of Wales, we’re still half a mile down the road from Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, but we can see the helicopter circling. Moments later and the Bike Bloc stream past, bells ringing, clown faces grinning, beat-box booming – this is magic.

Passing the main gate, a throng of…

Five anti-nuclear activists who peacefully blocked access to the atomic weapons establishment (AWE) Aldermaston last autumn were tried before Reading magistrates’ court on 21 and 22 October.

The defendants, Barbara Dowling, from Glasgow; Jean Oliver, from Lanarkshire; David Polden, from London; Emma Sangster, also from London (all self-represented); and Renate Zauner from Switzerland (represented by Prof. Nicholas Grief) were charged with “wilfully obstructing the highway”.

This year’s G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, drew worldwide attention to radical politics. As in previous years, the streets were saturated with police as well as protesters. This year, however, both radical actors and police brought a new series of high-tech approaches to the summit. In addition to the now familiar truncheons, tear gas, and rubber bullets, police for the first time used the long range acoustic device, or LRAD. This “sound cannon” emits loud and high-pitched noises at…

“To fight is not the solution. We have a mouth and a brain, we should talk.” Afghan Women’s Affairs Minister, Dr H.B. Ghazanfar
“Freedom, democracy and justice cannot be enforced at gunpoint by a foreign country; they are the values that can be achieved only by our people and democracy-loving forces through a hard, decisive and long struggle.” Afghan women’s rights activist Zoya.

Recently, I overheard a significant figure in the UK anti-war movement bemoaning the collapse…

“This is last year’s protest,” he told us, smiling.

Ten minutes from the end of our eight-hour vigil opposite Downing Street – during which four of us had our details taken by the police for the crime of holding an “unauthorised” demonstration within 1km of Parliament – he had stopped to talk, apparently oblivious to the disruption he was causing to our name-reading ceremony.

95%

Smartly dressed, and apparently on his way from one Whitehall department to…

On 1 October, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced that it was taking steps to prosecute BAE Systems in relation to arms deals in Eastern Europe and Africa. This move again places the spotlight on the activities of BAE, Britain’s largest arms company.

BAE is alleged to have paid bribes in the form of commissions to “advisers” to clinch sales. The SFO began investigations several years ago into BAE’s alleged corruption and false accounting in the Czech Republic, Romania,…

The Little Mermaid, Tivoli Gardens, Probably The Worst Beer In The World: these may be some of the tourist attractions, but what will draw people to Copenhagen this December is the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP15. Sponsored by, among others, BMW, DHL and SAS (Scandinavian Airlines), and revealing no discernible sense of either shame or irony because of that, COP15 runs from 7-18 December.

Sometimes referred to as Kyoto 2, COP15 is supposed to conclude a…

Two days into a four-day trial, five anti-nuclear activists were found not guilty of aggravated trespass after a blockade in 2008 of the Sizewell nuclear power station in Suffolk.

Lowestoft magistrates’ court decided on 29 September that the prosecution had failed to provide evidence that the defendants – Rebecca Dale, Mell Harrison, Pete Lux, Nicola Stikles and Irene Willis – were on private land.

They therefore could not be proven guilty of trespassing on private…

Waves of anti-war protests hit major and minor cities across the US throughout October. About 180 demonstrators marched to the White House on 5 October, carrying signs like: “Yes we can: US out of Afghanistan.”

After 15 activists chained themselves to the fence, police officers and secret service agents began clearing the sidewalk and yelling warnings. Some 61 people were arrested. The organisers from 27 states wished this pre-protest to inspire others for the 7 October…