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Inspecting illegal nuclear weapons

24 May 2005

The International Court of Justice has declared the threat or use of
nuclear weapons illegal. Greenpeace has joined with other groups in
setting up citizens' inspections of illegal nuclear weapons sites
around the world.

Greenpeace has joined with other groups in setting up citizens inspections of illegal nuclear weapons sites around the world.

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The one international treaty dedicated to controlling the spread of nuclear weapons is deadlocked by the unwillingness of those countries which already have nuclear weapons to let the treaty do its job.

Despite the fact that the treaty obligates the "official" nuclear weapons states to pursue nuclear disarmament, a US State Department official is quoted in the National Security Newswire as stating "we do not accept this notion that the United States must take steps to "devalue" nuclear weapons to be in compliance."

But countries pursuing nuclear capability like Korea and possibly Iran are not going to "devalue" the quest for nuclear weapons in a world in which being a nuclear power like the US means the ability to conduct a unilateral, pre-emptive war fighting strategy.

While the US declared Iraq in violation of international law over a nuclear weapons programme that didn't actually exist, the US, and the other nuclear weapons states, UK, France, Russia, China, Pakistan, India, and Israel are in violation of international law with their own very real arsenals.

The International Court of Justice decided in 1998 that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is illegal.

It's therefore up to all of us to enforce the law. Greenpeace has partnered with other peace organisations to begin a series of "Citizens' Inspections" of nuclear weapons sites.

France

Citizens' inspection of the French nuclear weapons base at Brest.

Accompanied by a flotilla of 35 yachts from the Brest area, the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise entered the military exclusion zone around the French Military Nuclear Base at L'Isle Longue near Brest on Sunday, May 15th, after announcing our intention by radio to conduct a citizens' inspection.

We had information that two of the four French nuclear-armed submarines were at the base during the inspection (although of course government officials never confirm or deny this kind of information), with a total fire power of 1000 times the Hiroshima bomb.

When the Arctic Sunrise was stopped by two French military boats, GP France Campaign Director Yannick Jadot, accompanied by two of the Arctic Sunrise Crew, Erkut and Craig, continued the citizens' inspection by inflatable zodiac, finally being stopped by a boat full of well-armed French commandos. At the same time, the citizens' inspection was backed up by 150 Greenpeace supporters and local activists, as well as members of the Arctic Sunrise crew, who marched to the front entrance of the nuclear base, demonstrating against the continued presence of nuclear weapons.

"We got to within 100 meters of a nuclear armed submarine" said Yannick Jadot "in an unarmed inflatable raft. Nuclear weapons cannot be made secure."

Belgium

Greenpeace activists attempt a citizens' inspection of NATO headquarters in Brussels.

In April our activists joined with regular Bombspotting activists to inspect three military facilities in Belgium, with the aim of pressuring NATO member states to renounce their nuclear weapons arsenal. The inspections took place at Kleine Brogel Air base which houses nuclear weapons, NATO's Brussels Headquarters and its SHAPE military headquarters in Mons/Bergen.

1000 activists showed up to carry out the inspection. 500 bombspotters were arrested. A massive police presence greeted inspectors from Greenpeace and Bombspotting at NATO- HQ.

Australia

Mayor Murray Matson led a Citizens Weapons Inspection team of local dignataries and Greenpeace activists to Lucas Heights to check on secretive research into uranium enrichment.

"We were always told this was a medical research facility... while this story was being told to us, all along there was another type of research going on, uranium enrichment, that is conducive to producing nuclear weapons," said Dr Tilman Ruff, president-elect of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War.

Mayor Matson is a member of Mayors for Peace, an initiative begun by the mayor of Hiroshima to abolish nuclear weapons.

Turkey

Visitor to the Greenpeace Peace Embassy at a US nuclear weapons base in Turkey.

In Turkey we've established a semi-permanent inspection facility about 50 meters from the entrance to the Incirlik NATO Air Base near Adana: the Peace Embassy.

Polling data in Turkey has shown that less than half of the population is aware that US nuclear weapons are actually present in their country, and 72% support Turkey being a nuclear free zone.

This Peace Embassy is being established at a time when a report being discussed by the US Congress could result in additional US nuclearweapons being stationed in Turkey.

"These US nuclear weapons stationed in Turkey are a danger to regional stability and global security", says Aslýhan Tümer, our Nuclear Disarmament campaigner in the Mediterranean, "We're bearing witness, and calling on Prime minister Erdogan to say no to any US nuclear weapons in Turkey"

The Peace Embassy has created a weblog which they will maintain throughout their presence. As Ertank noted in one post: "Incirlik is a strange town. The only means of economy is the Americans. There is no single shop with a Turkish name here. They work for the American troops and their wives."

Escalating pressure

Greenpeace, along with Bombspotting and other citizen inspection groups, will be escalating their pressure on the countries owning and hosting nuclear weapons as we move closer to the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6th.

"We are part of a growing network of people who will continue to conduct these inspections," said our campaigner Nicky Davies. "We're calling upon all our supporters and activists to join in increasing the pressure on the nuclear weapons states to abolish nuclear weapons."

You can help by writing today to the Prime Minister to ask that Turkey become nuclear-free.

Want to organise your own citizen's inspection of a nuclear weapons facility near you?

You can find out where nuclear weapons are stationed all over the world with our Zoom on Doom map (below), and you can download materials and find out more from the Citizens' Inspection Working Group of the Abolition 2000 Campaign.