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BOMSPOTTING III: Bring nuclear weapons to court

The biggest action on a nuclear weapons base in history of peace movement

Kleine Brogel, 16 april 2001 - On Easter Monday 16 april a non-violent WAR CRIMES INSPECTION is organised by Forum for Peace Action (Flemish branch of War Resisters International) and For Mother Earth. 850 activists non-violently entered the nuclear weapons base of Kleine Brogel and tried to inspect the nuclear weapons deployed by the USA. This without permission from the Belgian or US authorities. About 1500 people were present.

With this action the organisers try to provoke a court case and to bring nuclear weapons to court. These nuclear weapons are considered to be illegal weapons, after the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on 8 July 1996 on the Legality of threat and use of nuclear weapons.

Parlementarians from different parties (Greens, Flemish-Nationalists,Socialists) have openly called to participate in this action of civil disobedience. Even the Flemish minister of Culture Anciaux will be there to support the action. Local comittees from all over the country have organised busses to the place of action and several hundreds of activists are expected to come. This results in the biggest action on a nuclear weapons base in the history of the peace movement.

Nuclear weapons to court

The judicial authorities are not eager to prosecute war crimes of their own army, nor are the political authorities willing to discuss the legality of their policy. By consequence are our non-violent actions necessary to bring the juridical arguments before the courts.

The nuclear weapons are considered to be illegal weapons, after the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on 8 July 1996 on the Legality of threat and use of nuclear weapons. This Advisory Opinion does not state explicitly that nuclear weapons are illegal weapons, but seen the interpretation that the ICJ made of the rules of international humanitarian law, conclusion is an illegality in practice. The basic rules of international humanitarian law are, first, that always a distinction has to be made between combattants and civilians and, second, that it is prohibited to use weapons causing unnecessary suffering to combatants. The Advisory Opinion clarifies how these basic rules have to be applied. The nuclear weapons on Kleine Brogel can never be applied without breaking these rules.

To be prepared for the use of nuclear weapons, training for and planning of such use, … comes down to preparing war crimes and crimes against humanity. These crimes are part of international criminal law and made explicit in the Belgian law on war crimes. By consequence can everyone who participates in these facts, from minister to pilot, be prosecuted before the criminal courts.

An international campaign

The Bomspotting actions on Kleine Brogel are no isolated actions. As told before, the ICJ delivered its Advisory Opinion about the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons on 8 july 1996. One year later, on 8 july 1997, the NATO government leaders received a citizens summons on their summit in Madrid, summoning them to change their illegal policy. This citizens summons was delivered by the ‘Nuclear Weapon Abolition Days’, an international network of peace organisations. It was the start of a new international campaign to get rid of nuclear weapons with the combination of juridical means and nonviolent actions.

On this citizens summons came no positive reaction. Since several ‘Citizen War Crime Inspections’ took place on nuclear weapon sites. In analogy with the UN-inspections for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, these teams have the mission to search for nuclear arms. Aim is to let international law be respected.

In Belgium Forum for Peace-Action and For Mother Earth took up this campaign and organised for the first time in 1997 inspections at the NATO in Brussels and the nuclear weapons base in Kleine Brogel. Several inspections took place since.

Belgian Government refuses debate about illegality nuclear weapons

Since 1996 several parlementarian initiatives were taken to discuss the nuclear weapons in Belgium and to check the legality of their presence on Belgian soil. The parliamentarians Patrik Vankrunkelsven, Peter Vanhoutte, Eloi Glorieux, Leen Laenens, Lode Vanoost, Michiel Maertens, Kris Van Dijck, Sven Gatz, Peter De Ridder and Dany Vandenbossche write: “We tried in the Chambre, we tried in the Senate. The several parliamentary questions received an evading answer. Resolutions about the use of nuclear weapons were systematically delayed or not treated. When we ourselves, as representatives of the people, tried to visit the base of Kleine Brogel, acces to certain parts of the base was refused. On a resolution of the Flemish parliament demanding the retreat of the nuclear weapons, the federal government reacted with the traditional evading answer. The debate on nuclear weapons is systematically avoided by the succesive governments by the shamefull use of procedure-tricks. Kafka could take it as an example.”

Parliamentarians call for civil disobedience

The parliamentarians continue: “Because the Belgian government refuses to respect international law concerning nuclear weapons, even refuses the debate, we as civilians are placed in a situation of necessity who forces us to be civil disobedient to prevent a greater crime.

If the government refuses the debates with us as parliamentarians, then we have to force a debate before the court as citizens. As parliamentarians we can no longer let us put aside. We will without permission enter the military base where 10 illegal nuclear weapons of mass destruction are deployed. We wil do this on Easter Monday 16 april in Kleine Brogel together with the peace activists of Forum for Peace Action and For Mother Earth. We call every citizen to do the same.”