Doctors Condemn Cluster Bomb Inaction

MEDIA RELEASE
Medical Association for the Prevention of War


DOCTORS CONDEMN CLUSTER BOMB INACTION

The Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) today deplored the recommendation of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade not to support a ban on cluster munitions. Former MAPW President Dr Sue Wareham OAM said that the Committee’s recommendation flies in the face of growing concern internationally at the terrible humanitarian costs of these weapons.

Dr Wareham and MAPW member Dr Hadia Mukhtar, travelled to Lebanon in December 2006 to assess the health effects of around one million cluster bombs left unexploded after last years’ war.

Dr Mukhtar said “In Lebanon, as in other places where cluster bombs have been used, the vast majority of the victims are civilians, and many of them are children. In addition, agricultural lands have become death traps, and the whole community suffers economically.”

The Senate Committee’s report, released today, concludes that, “for reasons of capability development and ensuring the ADF can effectively operate”, Australia must be able to acquire “advanced sophisticated sub-munition based weapon systems”. The Department of Defence submitted that it is in the process of acquiring an advanced sub-munition capability for use against mobile armoured vehicles.

Dr Wareham said “While the ADF argues that advanced cluster bombs have a greatly reduced humanitarian impact, this is not borne out by the evidence. In Lebanon, enormous quantities of so-called “advanced” weapons were found. While these weapons are meant to self-destruct rather than remain live, the self-destruct mechanisms often fail.”

Dr Wareham added, “The Australian government argues also that cluster bombs can be used in a discriminating fashion. This is just not so. They are, by their very nature, indiscriminate weapons.”

The report closely follows a successful international conference in Peru last week, in which over 70 countries developed momentum for a global ban on cluster bombs. Unfortunately, Dr Wareham said, a few countries including Australia attempted to water down any possible agreement by advocating major exceptions to the ban.

MAPW strongly urges Australia’s support for global efforts to ban all cluster munitions, and for the abandonment of plans for the ADF to acquire these indiscriminate devices.

THURSDAY, MAY 31
For further information, please call
Dr Sue Wareham OAM, 0407 924 152;
Dr Hadia Mukhtar 0409 113 769

MAPW general inquiries:Nancy Atkin, MAPW Executive Officer 03 8344 1637

Defence wants limit on banned bombs

THE Federal Government wants to narrow the terms of a proposed international treaty banning cluster bombs, to exclude new weapons being sought by the Australian Defence Force.

While the Government says it wants to drastically reduce the number of cluster bombs in world arsenals, it has used international talks to argue that the weapons being obtained by the ADF should not be included in the ban.

To read the full article from The Age, click on:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/defence-wants-limit-on-banned-bombs/2007/05/26/1179601735087.html

B-52 Two Found Not Guilty

Tuesday 22 May 2007
PRESS RELEASE

Jury decides - not-guilty: intention to damage US bombers destined for
Iraq was lawful. This afternoon, Tuesday 22 May, at Bristol CrownCourt, the trial of two Oxford peace activists Philip Pritchard and Toby Olditch (known as the 'B52 Two') concluded with the jury returning a unanimous verdict of not-guilty- in less than three hours. The two were charged with conspiring to cause criminal damage at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire
on 18 March 2003 when they tried to safely disable US B52 bombers to prevent them from bombing Iraq[1].

The court heard the two men acted to prevent damage to life and property in Iraq, and warcrimes by the aggressors [2].The trial started on Monday 14 May 2007. This is the second trial for the alleged offence; the first in October 2006 ended in a hung jury, after 12 hours of deliberation spread over three days. The two accused were facing up to ten years in jail. There are two other similar cases awaiting re-trial, due to hung juries, at Bristol crown court. The two activists maintain that war crimes were committed in the bombing as cluster bombs, which
spread unexploded bomblets that kill and maim civilians (like mines) were used, as were 'bunker busting' bombs tipped with depleted uranium that fragments, spreading radioactive toxins which are harmful to civilians. During the trial the prosecution accepted that even delaying the bombers would have prevented civilian casualties, as it would have allowed those fleeing cities more time to escape. In his hour and a half summing up today, Justice Crowther explained the legal tests that must be met for the prosecution to succeed, he reiterated
the facts and summarised the evidence. A document 'steps to verdict' had been provided to assist the jury.Toby Olditch said "We're overjoyed, and thankful for the good sense of the jurors, for the wonderful support we've received, and for the commitment and expertise of our legal representatives. But hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people have still suffered as a result of the Government's actions. It shouldn't have come to the point that people had to take direct action to try to check the abuse of executive power.

Phil Pritchard, "I am delighted that the jury have returned a unanimous not-guilty verdict. Our action in trying to prevent illegal attacks on the people of Iraq in 2003 is vindicated. I hope war of this kind never happens again."

Editors Notes

A full press briefing is available on request. PhilipPritchard is 36years old, and a self-employed carpenter and father. Toby Olditch is 38 years old, and a self-employed builder. They both live in Oxford. The defendants were represented in court by barrister Edward Rees, Q.C. from Doughty Street Chambers, London. Their solicitor is Mike Schwarz of Bindmans & Partners, London.

[1] The two men were arrested inside the perimeter fences at RAF Fairford in the early morning of 18 March 2003, just two days before the bombing of Iraq started. They carried with them tools to damage the planes, nuts and bolts to jam the aircrafts engines, pictures of ordinary Iraqi civilians and paint symbolizing blood and oil. They also carried warning signs for attaching to any damaged planes which would help alert aircrew to their action. The two menacted nonviolently in a way which would not result inharm to anyone, including the military personnel at Fairford. They intended to stay with the planes and tell the operators what they'd done.

[2] Civilian casualties in Iraq since the invasion are estimated between 68,796 (Iraq Body Count) and 650,000 (Lancet October 2006).
More bombs were dropped in the initial 'shock and awe' attack on Iraq than in the whole of the first gulf war.

Amnesty chief attacks Australia's human rights record

Amnesty International has delivered its yearly report card and Australia has failed to pass. It has described the Howard Government's human rights record as "appalling". The Head of Amnesty says the deal between the US and Australia to exchange refugees is a desperate cover-up, arguing it's proof the offshore processing policy has failed. Amnesty's Secretary General, Irene Khan spoke to our reporter in London, Stephanie Kennedy.

To read the full interview from ABC Radio, click on:http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2007/s1931794.htm

Sydney Peace Prize for blunt Blix

HANS BLIX spends his life telling the world about the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction. Efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament have stagnated and the public is distracted, he warns in last year's report of the Stockholm-based WMD Commission, which he chairs.

Could any global issue be more serious? Yes, says the retired Swedish diplomat. He sees its effects when he takes a rare rest on the 10 hectares he inherited from his father on a Baltic Sea island.

"Many kinds of birds are no longer there. There are algae blooms, the water temperature is going up," says Dr Blix, 79, who has visited the island every summer since 1939.

To read the full article from the Sydney Morning Herald, click on:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/sydney-peace-prize-for-blunt-blix/2007/05/20/1179601243747.html

Defence Force seeks deadly cluster bombs

THE Australian Defence Force is acquiring cluster bombs, amid mounting domestic and overseas pressure to eliminate the weapons, which are blamed for thousands of civilian deaths.

The ADF's move comes at a time when the Federal Government is backing international moves to phase out the controversial weapons.

The Defence Force is also resisting legislation banning cluster bombs, now before the Senate, fearing it could leave Australian troops open to prosecution while serving with allies who have used the bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To read the full article fromThe Age, click on:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/defence-force-seeks-deadly-cluster-bombs/2007/05/19/1179497342315.html

Send in the clown

Jo Wilding's unembedded reports from Fallujah brought home the horror of the American assault on the city. But when she wasn't blogging, she was wearing stilts and trying to cheer up Iraq's traumatised children. She tells Emine Saner why she risked her life for total strangers

How to describe Jo Wilding? She's 32, a mother and a newly qualified barrister, who lives in Brighton with her partner. But she is also an activist, blogger, unembedded journalist, documentary star, human rights worker and a clown with a talent for making balloon animals. "Jo was the only one of us foreigners in Iraq who I was absolutely sure was doing something useful," says Naomi Klein, the author of No Logo. The journalist and film-maker John Pilger is another fan. "Living with families and without a flak jacket, she all but shamed the embedded army of reporters in her description of the atrocious American attack on an Iraqi city," he wrote last year. He said her dispatches from Iraq, posted on her blog, were "some of the most extraordinary I've read". The writer, director and academic Jonathan Holmes has written a new play, Fallujah, which draws heavily on Wilding's experiences, among others.

To read the full article from the Guardian, click on:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2081388,00.html

Indonesian Police move to close Kingme Church

Press Release: 14 May 2007

Reports from the Kingmi Church in Jayapura, West Papua, today indicate that the Indonesian Police working with the members of the GKII Church from Jakarta have moved to illegally occupy & close the Kingmi Church Synod.

It is reported that this afternoon (1300 Jayapura time) that members of the Gereja Kemah Injil Indonesia (The Tabernacle Bible Church of Indonesia) GKII have attacked and savagely beaten members of the Kingmi church in the street outside the Synod.

The members of the Kingmi Church who were reported injured are Zepanya Agapa 27, Albeert Keiya 35, Nason Uti 26 and Yoakim Mote 27. There was no violence from the Kingmi Church members.

Indonesian Police are said to have stood by looking on while the incident occurred.

The Kingmi church leader Rev Benny Giay and others have now (13.15 Jayapura Time) moved to block the road in front of the Synod Office.

Members of the Church said today that the Indonesian Police are acting illegally.

During the New Year period earlier this year the Indonesian Police tried to seize the assets of the Kingmi Church and assaulted and injured church staff.

The Indonesian GKII had previously sought to seize the Kingmi church assets after the Kingmi Church had re established an independent Synod in West Papua.

An Indonesian court handed down a decision on 30 April 2007, which denied the GKII claim to the Kingmi assets and supported the right of the existence of the Kingmi Church in West Papua.

At the time of the first police action at New Year, Benny Giay and other members of the Kingmi Church were able to make an agreement with the Indonesian Police that the assets should not be seized until after the findings o the GKII legal action.

Matthew Jamieson spokesperson for the Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights said sources on the ground said today, “It is not clear what has the motivated the Indonesian Police to try to undertake this action. But is seems to be an action outside the law by the Indonesian authorities to force closure of the Kingmi church in West Papua. It seems to be an attempt to silence people and institutions who are critical of the Indonesian Governments treatment of West Papua people.”

Matthew Jamieson said, “The Kingmi Church has the largest number of indigenous Papuan of any church in West Papua with 47 parishes.”

“ I know that many Kingmi members and clergy are involved in civil society campaigns for Peace & Justice in West Papua. Most members of the Kingmi church live in the highland areas of West Papua where Indonesian repression is the greatest.”

Those sources at the Kingmi church office said today “Members of the Kingmi church are amongst the large numbers of Internally Displaced Persons, who have fled Indonesian military operations in the mountainous Panai and Pucak Jaya regions.’”

Kingmi church was formed in West Papua from the work of American missionaries, The Christian Missionary Alliance. It is understood that the Christain Missionary Alliance supports the GKII (The Tabernacle Bible Church of Indonesia) in its attempt to take control of the Kingmi Church .

Media inquiries please contact:
Rev Benny Giay on tel +62 852 44373166 or

Paula Makabory on tel +61 402547517 or

Matthew Jamieson on tel +61 418291998

The new nuclear arms race

May 10, 2007

Australia can help persuade the US and China to limit their strategic weapons, writes Hugh White.

SINCE the end of the Cold War we have stopped worrying about nuclear war between the major powers, and have turned our concern to proliferation among rogue states and terrorists. But the big states still have big nuclear arsenals, and they are not standing still. Both the US and China are steadily developing their strategic nuclear forces. As they do so, they risk slipping into a destabilising competition for nuclear advantage against one another, which could affect their wider relationships, and threaten peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. This matters a lot to Australia, and there is something simple that we can and should do about it.

To read the full article from The Age, click on:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/the-new-nuclear-arms-race/2007/05/09/1178390386423.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Construction of massive US military base in Okinawa threatens dugong

Dear friends,

Please join our petition to save the Okinawa dugong! The Japanese government’s plan to construct a massive US military base in the coastal area of Henoko and Oura Bay, Okinawa,　Japan, the most critical habitat for the Okinawa dugong, has reacheda pivotal point. The Naha Defense Facilities Administration Agency (Naha DFAA) is about to begin the process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the base construction and its contracted firms　have already started what they call “pre-surveys.”

To counteract the Naha DFAA’s latest move and to save the Okinawa dugong, we have created an on-line petition, demanding the Naha DFAA to conduct “a Sound and Transparent EIA to Save the Okinawa Dugong.”

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/511549172

We believe the watchful eyes of domestic and international communities on the Naha DFAA’s EIA can play an important role in saving the Okinawa dugong and in bringing an end to the base　construction plan.Please read and sign the petition.And please spread the word about our petition.

Thanks in advance!

Hideki Yoshikawa
Save the Dugong Campaign Center
Citizens’ Assessment Nago

Australia should press the world to ban cluster munitions

Robert Tickner

May 8, 2007

IN FEBRUARY, 49 Governments met in Oslo, Norway, to discuss the development of an international treaty to ban cluster munitions. At the end of the meeting, 46 of the nations agreed to support a proposed treaty calling for a ban on cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians.

Although a number of states have begun reviewing their policies on the use of cluster munitions, there has been no effective international response.

To read the full article from The Age, click on:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/australia-should-press-on-cluster-munitions-ban/2007/05/07/1178390223045.html

Australia, U.S. behave tyrannically, says ex-PM

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's government and close ally the United States behaved in a tyrannical way and for "evil purpose" by jailing militants at Guantanamo Bay, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser said on Monday.

Fraser, a conservative and mentor to current Prime Minister John Howard, said Australia seemed to have lost its democratic path under the man who served as his treasurer and centre-right Liberal Party deputy before becoming leader in 1996.

In an election year criticism of U.S. influence over political direction in Australia, Fraser said Howard should never have agreed to a citizen and accused Taliban fighter, David Hicks, being locked up for five years at Guantanamo Bay awaiting trial.

To read the full article from Reuters, click on:
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-04-30T073200Z_01_SYD154494_RTRUKOC_0_US-AUSTRALIA-HICKS.xml

Worst in the world for indigenous health

Joel Gibson
May 1, 2007

THE health of Aborigines lags almost 100 years behind other Australians and they are the sickest indigenous people of all the wealthy nations, a report by the World Health Organisation says.

The report into indigenous health worldwide found Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders had significantly worse results than non-indigenous people on every health indicator, resulting in an average life expectancy 17 years below that of white Australians and an average age of death of just 33 for Aboriginal males in some parts of NSW.

To read the full article from the Sydney Morning Herald, click on:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/worst-for-indigenous-health/2007/04/30/1177788058906.html