A helicopter from the Guardia Civil hovering over inflatables from the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior at the entry of Rota Naval Base.
This morning Greenpeace took non violent, direct action in
Spain, Turkey and Russia in an urgent appeal to all world
governments to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis.
At 0900 hours CET, the Greenpeace flagship 'Rainbow Warrior'
blocked a section of the Rota naval base in Spain to prevent the US
warship Cape Horn leaving for the Gulf. Two activists have been
arrested but the Rainbow Warrior remains anchored at the port's
entrance.
Meanwhile in Turkey, Greenpeace activists placed a truck painted
with the message "No to war - US go home" across the entrance to
Iskenderun Harbour to block a convoy of trucks carrying US military
equipment, preventing them from leaving the port and heading into
Turkey. Two activists chained themselves to the top of the truck
and four others locked themselves between the wheels. The activists
on top of the truck opened a banner saying "No to war". 15
activists, from Belgium, Australia, Lebanon, the UK and Turkey have
been taken into custody.
"We're making an urgent demand to all the world's governments on
behalf of the overwhelming majority of the population that is
opposed to this looming against Iraq, to find a peaceful resolution
to this conflict and to stop the military build up in the Gulf.
Greenpeace is determined to do all it can to prevent this
mobilisation and to stop a war that will only make the world a more
volatile and dangerous place," said Greenpeace campaigner on board
the Rainbow Warrior in Spain, Carlos Bravo.
US soldiers have already started to settle in nine regions in
Turkey bringing in military equipment, vehicles and weapons through
Iskenderun Harbour. Although the Turkish military and the
government claim that this is being done as part of the process of
modernisation of the bases in Turkey, in a letter to the President
of the Turkish Republic last month (1), 28 lawyers of the Izmir Bar
warned that this is illegal. Recently, the Head of Parliament,
Bulent Arinc, also expressed "horror" at the US soldiers' illegal
presence in Turkey.
"The U.S. military build up in Turkey is illegal, illegitimate
and ill advised," said Greenpeace campaigner Banu Dokmecibasi, from
the scene of the action in Iskenderun Harbour. "By continuing to
move troops and military equipment through Turkey, the Bush
Administration is overriding Turkish laws, wrecking international
agreements, attempting to invalidate the UN and threatening
democracy worldwide," she added.
Also today, three Greenpeace activists were arrested in Russia
when they sent a direct demand to Russian President Vladimir Putin
by displaying two banners in front the of the Kremlin saying "stop
wars" and "veto war", urging him to stand firm in his opposition to
a war in Iraq and to use his UN Security Council veto should a
second resolution be tabled.
Greenpeace opposes war because of its devastating human and
environmental consequences.The last Gulf war killed two hundred
thousand people and left many of the survivors malnourished,
diseased, and dying. Damage to ecosystems in the area continued for
years after the war ended.
War is also not the way to dealing with weapons of mass
destruction. There is a need for global disarmament from weapons of
mass destruction but this must be achieved through peaceful
diplomatic negotiations. Instead of blocking progress on
disarmament and verification, the US and the UK should start by
implementing their own commitments to abolish these weapons and,
meanwhile, give the weapons inspectors the time they need to disarm
Iraq.
Notes: (1) On 21 February 2003, 28 Lawyers from the Izmir Bar sent a letter of warning to the President of the Turkish Republic, the Head of Parliament, the Prime Minister, the leader of the main opposition party and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, saying that the government violated Articles 2, 6, 7, 87, 92 and 106 of the Turkish Constitution, by bringing the first motion to the Parliament prior to a declaration of war by the same Parliament. The lawyers demanded that the decision allowing the deployment for 3 months of US technical military personnel for the modernisation of the bases in Turkey be cancelled. They also warned that they would take legal action against all those involved.(2) http://nyc.indymedia.com provides a map (Terror Map) locating US sites holding biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.