Peace
and Human Rights
The
Bertrand Russell Foundation for Peace organised a conference of the
European Network for Peace and Human Rights which took place on 26-27
June 2003 at the European Parliament in Brussels. The conference brought
together peace activists and MEPs from a wide range of countries.
Participants came from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the US and
Asia. This
was the second conference of this network, the first having taken
place in February 2002 where the following objectives for the network
were agreed:
•
To create an active dialogue with peace and human rights movements
in the new war zones of the Middle East;
•
To strengthen our links with the World Social Movement (then meeting
in Porto Alegre in Brazil) in its opposition to global militarism
and support for human rights, sustainable development and democracy;
•
To open a dialogue with the many movements in the United States
working for peace and human rights and seek exchanges.
The
themes this time were the relationship between the US and Europe,
and in particular the EU; the fate of international institutions
in a world in which the current US administration is intent on full
spectrum dominance, and the crisis in civil liberties which this
creates in Europe, in the Middle East, in the US and elsewhere.
This
is not a formal report of the conference. Much of the information
we considered can be found on the website of the Bertrand Russell
Peace Foundation at http://www.russfound.org/Enet/conf03.htm
and the workshop reports should also appear there shortly.
The
following are some points which struck me as needing wider distribution
and further action and discussion.
•
There is a strong peace movement in the US but it needs our support.
First and foremost, we need to be clear that we are not anti-American
but anti-the US administration. The Peace Movement in the US cannot
do without us.
•
The attack on civil liberties in the wake of 11 September 2001 is
gradual but real. It may only affect certain groups now, but it
has all the potential to be widened to more and more people as the
US administration gets more and more intent on increasing its power
world wide.
•
The strong efforts of the US to militarise space and to dominate
it are being countered by EU initiatives in space which, though
not openly militaristic, have significant military potential. Do
European citizens want to be part of this trend? And do European
citizens know enough about it? The EU Green Paper on Space can be
found at http://europa.eu.int/comm/space/futur/greenpaper_en.html
and allows some form of feedback from citizens. Section 2.3 of this
paper entitled Improving the Security of Citizens gives us a glimpse
of things to come.
•
We heard confirmation of recent press reports that the US administration
is beginning to develop a confrontational response to NGOs. Those
that co-operate with the administration will be funded to do the
work the administration needs to have done. Those that don’t
are seen as ‘a threat to democracy’ and will be treated
accordingly. Peace activists will become more vulnerable in the
US but also elsewhere. We need to be ready to deal with this.
•
We heard of the creeping militarisation of the EU through the vehicle
of the Draft Constitutional Treaty proposed by the Convention on
the Future of Europe. There, the EU, it is proposed, should commit
itself to the creation of an Agency for Armaments and Strategic
Research and to the improvement of its military capabilities. In
a solidarity clause it has also committed itself specifically to
mutual assistance of member states in the event of a terrorist attack.
Both these elements are new to the EU (this is not just a consolidation
of existing agreements) and forces the EU into a direction of militarisation
which goes counter to its own values and objectives. It is vital
that lobbying against these elements of the Draft Constitutional
Treaty continues throughout the run up to and during the Inter Governmental
Conference which will be set up to agree the Constitution. QCEA
will be continuing to focus on this element of peace action. Information
is available from our website www.quaker.org/qcea.
•
We need to work at all levels, local, regional, national, and international,
to keep the issues of peace and human rights at the centre of the
debate. We need to make sure that the causes of war are highlighted
and that work to eliminate them is made visible in the media. We
need to make sure that the achievements of peace activists are celebrated.
For example one city in the UK has placed a plaque to the Conscientious
Objectors who suffered for their conscience in a prominent place.
We heard of an international movement of Mayors for Peace. Check
whether your Mayor has joined at http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/mayors/english/index.html.
If
we don’t want war, we must prepare for peace. There is much
action taking place everywhere. Much of it is targeted at building
a culture of peace and at highlighting the causes of conflict and
war. All of us need to take our place in this and to make our voices
heard.
Martina
Weitsch
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Links
with MEPs
One
of the important ways in which Quakers generally and QCEA specifically
can make its voice heard at a European level is by talking to MEPs.
Here in the office we have some contact with some MEPs. This is very
helpful when we want to find out about important issues at the European
Parliament and when we want to contact an MEP with our views.
Equally
important is for MEPs to hear about concerns from the people they
represent. It would be very useful for us at QCEA to know what contact
Friends and other readers of Around Europe have with MEPs.
Let
us know:
•
Who you are in contact with
•
What issues you have raised with them
•
What
their areas of interest are, if you know
•
Whether
you would be willing to raise matters with them which arise from
QCEA work .
Please
don’t forget to give us your contact details!
If
you want to find out who your MEP is and what they do (i.e. which
committees they sit on and which political group they are part of),
you can find out via the European
Parliament Website
You
can give us this information by e-mail, by fax or by post. E-mails
should be addressed to mweitsch@qcea.org
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Summer
Study Tour: Two Experiences
After
arriving on Wednesday 25 June for a brief introduction session and
wonderful meal at Quaker House, the Young Persons’ Study Tour
proper began on Thursday. It started with an introduction to QCEA
and their work with the European Institutions in the morning and a
visit to NATO in the afternoon. Friday offered informative visits
to the European Commission and the Council of the European Union.
For
the weekend things shifted towards lighter activities. Saturday
began with a trip to Erasmus House, and the afternoon was spent
sightseeing around Brussels. Sunday we attended Meeting for Worship
and shared lunch at Quaker House, giving us a chance to meet the
local Quaker community. After lunch we had a few hours to prepare
ourselves for the long train journey to Strasbourg that evening.
The
next two mornings were dedicated to sightseeing around Strasbourg.
I must confess I found this a little too much free time as there
are only a limited number of things to do in Strasbourg on a Monday
and Tuesday morning. The afternoons were then dedicated to visiting
the European Institutions there. On Monday, we visited the Council
of Europe, and at the European Parliament we briefly attended a
plenary session, and received talks from two MEPs, which were useful
and informative. On Tuesday, we attended a hearing of the European
Court of Human Rights. While this was educative, some of the group,
including myself, found ourselves lost among the legal technicalities.
The evening was taken up by the inevitably long train journey back
to Brussels.
On
Wednesday three days of workshops began at Quaker House consisting
of Migration Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, the future
of Europe and ended on the topic of Development and Trade on the
Friday. I should also mention the conflict resolution games with
Nonviolent Peaceforce on the Wednesday, which were a welcome change
of pace.
Overall
I found the Study Tour to be an enjoyable and worthwhile experience.
It was nice to meet such an interesting group with such a diverse
array of backgrounds. Also special thanks to Owen Espley, the QCEA
Programme Assistant, for all the time and hard work he put in to
the Study Tour. Additional thanks should also be given to all the
QCEA staff and all those working at Quaker House, plus all the speakers
who took the time to meet us and answer our questions.
Robin
Bloomfield, 4 July 2003
The
Young Persons’ Study Tour, organized by QCEA, gathered fourteen
young people ready to learn about the European Institutions on the
very spot, in Brussels. The participants were mainly from the UK,
but there were also some of us who, with the help of generous bursaries,
came from East and South East Europe (Latvia, Armenia, Serbia and
Montenegro).
Apart
from learning about European Institutions, the aim of the Study
Tour was to present Quaker work in Europe, especially the current
engagement on the Convention of the Future of Europe.
During
the first days we visited NATO Headquarters, the European Commission,
the Council of the European Union and we had a chance to speak to
various people who work for these institutions. Our next destination
was Strasbourg where we visited the Council of Europe and the European
Parliament in its plenary session and where we had an opportunity
to speak to some of the MEPs. A unique opportunity was provided
for us to be present at a hearing held in the European Court of
Human Rights and to see at close hand how the Court functions, which
was one of the most exciting moments of the tour.
The
last three days of the Study Tour were dedicated to intensive workshops
on European migration policy, Coprorate Social Responsibility, the
Convention of the Future of Europe and Enlargement, which included
an extremely interesting input from a member of the Latvian Mission
to the EU.
A
workshop on development and trade was held the last day, followed
by an evaluation and dinner party at Quaker House with Brussels
Friends.
Through
this Study Tour we were given an opportunity to form our independent
opinion on the questions that Quakers deal with when it comes to
the present and future of Europe, being able to watch at close hand
the work of the European Institutions and to see the mechanisms
applied. All the time we were assisted in our efforts to do this
by the kind and tolerant staff and Brussels Friends, who together
created a pleasant atmosphere for learning, making us feel very
welcome. The Study Tour influenced some of us to decide about further
areas of study (especially human rights protection) and enabled
us to gain knowledge that we plan to use in our projects, at the
same time as making a lot of new friends.
Suzana
Rukavina, 4 July 2003
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Terror:
A Non-Violent Response
QCEA
is planning a project around this theme which could be limited to
a European perspective or which could be expanded to include the US
and Canada. The questions and challenges which we are posing:
•
What are our reactions to the ‘war on terror’ which
has become a key focus since September 11, 2001; why was this event
the trigger for this reaction and not the many terror attacks which
preceded it? How do different faith communities react to it? What
consequences does this have for pluralist societies?
•
The fact of terrorism requires a response for those who wish to
act non-violently but are nonetheless clear that we have to consider
how to live with that fact.
•
If we are led to disagree with the spirit of the age, as generations
of Friends before us have been, we should be ready to take our ‘unpopular’
stand in plain language and a loud, clear voice.’ A challenge
from our Danish Friend Michael Larsen.
We
will therefore aim to achieve the following objectives:
•
To bring Friends and others together to discuss their reactions
to the War on Terror and the International Security Policy responses
to them
•
To bring Friends and others together to discuss their own reactions
and responses to the risk of terror attacks and violence, to the
media coverage of this and to explore how those who wish to act
non-violently might approach this reality
•
To bring the results of these discussions to the attention of international
institutions, governments, international media and the general public
(in that order of priority).
The
main phases of the development of the project are funding, preparation
of materials and identification of interested Quaker groups in Europe.
The
main phases of the project are initial seminars, preparation of
materials, the discussion phase with about 5 to 6 sessions of local
discussion groups, a seminar to pull together the results of the
discussions and to draw conclusions from them, to write a project
report and to hold a conference.
This
project is entirely dependent upon QCEA being able to raise funds
from Trusts, Foundations and other possible sources (such as governments)
to cover the not inconsiderable costs of such a project.
We
are asking Friends in Europe to contact us and to tell us:
•
If you are interested in participating in such a project as a local
group (assume this will not happen before 2004)
•
If you have materials (articles, books or other publications) which
might be useful as a basis for the discussions
•
If you have knowledge of any sources of funding for this project.
Please
write to Martina Weitsch at QCEA, mweitsch@qcea.org
(This
article appeared in German in our June edition)
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Regional Protection Areas and Asylum Processing Centres – Update
Discussion
about the implementation of these proposals, reported in the June
2003 edition of Around Europe, was deferred at the European Summit
on 20/21 June in Thessaloniki. The Commission has been asked to provide
a further report by June 2004. Individual Member States, in cooperation
with UNHCR, may progress such initiatives directly and at their own
expense in the meantime. Where this is likely to happen, lobbying
at national level will be necessary. Return
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