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CND in the News
CND in the News: 27 July- 3 August 2005
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1 Peace campaigners protest against demonstration ban
July 27, IRNA
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-16/0507271093164057.htm
Peace campaigners are organizing a rally outside the British parliament
Monday to protest against the start of a government ban on demonstrations
in central London.
"There is no justification for prohibiting demonstrations in these
areas and there must be concerns that this ban is an attempt to prevent
legitimate protest against government policies," said Stop the War
Coalition, organizing the rally.
The protest comes as anti-war protester, Brian Haw, won the first round
in his battle against being forced to end his four year vigil in Parliament
Square due to the change in the law enacted for his removal. On Tuesday,
three High Court judges started to hear his challenge to a judicial review
of the ban, which is due to take effect from August 1.
STWC warned that the exclusion order has "wider implications"
including prohibiting other protests not only outside parliament, but
also near any government buildings, including the Prime Minister's office
in the region, unless permitted by police. "We believe this is a
very serious attack on our civil liberties," it said. "Stop
the War Coalition has demonstrated in these areas many times over the
past four years. We believe that we will have cause to do so in the future."
The protest is being supported by many peace groups, including the veteran
CND campaign and Palestine Solidarity Campaign as well
as several MPs. 56-year old Haw started his vigil in protest against UN
sanctions against Iraq initially in 2001 and has since continued his one-man
presence opposite parliament during the subsequent war and its aftermath.
His removal and ban on other protests is being implemented following the
passing of a new Serious Organized Crime and Police Act which became law
earlier this year.
The passing of fresh legislation came after Haw successfully fought off
an attempt by Westminster City council in 2002 to evict him on the grounds
he was obstructing the highway. At the time, a high court judge ruled
that his right to freedom of speech and assembly under the European convention
on human rights outweighed any obstruction he was causing.
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2 Five arrested during Westminster free speech protest
The Guardian, August 1, 2005
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/commons/story/0,9061,1540521,00.html
Five people were arrested today after staging an illegal demonstration
outside parliament to object to new laws restricting protests in the area.
The new measures limit the right to protest near the palace of Westminster
without the prior authorisation of the police. Up to 200 members of the
Stop the War coalition, CND and other groups symbolically
put gags over their mouths as part of the unauthorised protest, which
the police had warned would now be illegal. After warning and photographing
demonstrators, police moved in and arrested three men and two women.
The Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, who had been breaking the new law by addressing
the demonstration through a small microphone at the time, said: "This
is absolutely absurd. Ordinary people have been arrested for taking part
in a perfectly peaceful demonstration outside parliament during the recess.
"This demonstration was all about the right to express one's point
of view. I suspect that this provocative action by the police on the first
day of this new law may encourage other demonstrations."
The demo - which included Lauren Booth, a sister of the prime minister's
wife, Cherie - was to highlight the enactment of a new law banning demonstrations
within half a mile of the palace of Westminster without at least 24 hours'
prior authorisation from the Metropolitan police. It also bans loudspeakers,
megaphones and "encampments" such as the long-standing protest
by Brian Haw in Parliament Square. Ms Booth said three of the five people
arrested appeared to come from minority groups even though most of those
on the protest were white.
Lindsey German, convener of the Stop The War Coalition said: "We
object very strongly to this infringement on our right to protest.
"We will now have to seek permission to stage any form of protest
near parliament, putting the onus on the police [to decide] who is allowed
to demonstrate, which is totally unacceptable. "Anyone speaking through
a megaphone will be arrested under this draconian new law. Parliament
should be doing more important things than stopping people staging legitimate
protests."
Ms Booth also attacked the government over the imposition of the exclusion
zone.
"This is all about silencing critics of the war in Iraq and ID cards
and denying people the right to free speech.
"If you heard on television that someone in another country were
banned from gathering near a government building to stage a legitimate
protest you would probably think thank goodness that kind of thing doesn't
happen in this country. This law must be overturned."
The demonstrators had been joined by Mr Haw himself, who won a legal battle
last Friday to continue his four-year demonstration outside parliament.
The 56-year-old spends all his time in Parliament Square, surrounded by
banners, placards and flags as part of a one-man demonstration against
Britain's involvement in recent conflicts, including Iraq.
The high court ruled that the legislation - part of the Serious and Organised
Crime and Police Act, which came into force today - could not be backdated
to include Mr Haw.
The protestors carried banners and chanted: "Defend the right to
protest, free speech now." Some 45 minutes after the 2pm start of
the protest, police officers handed out leaflets to the protesters telling
them that the demonstration was unauthorised and did not comply with the
Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. At around 3.20pm police
made the arrests.
Ms German said organisers had told the police about their intentions,
but had not filled in the "permission form" required under the
Act. "We don't want to fill in the form. We want to make a point,"
said Ms German. She added that the police had been "as helpful as
they can be", but noted that under the legislation they have no discretion
about allowing unauthorised demonstrations.
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3 Amy makes peace pilgrimage
http://www.rochdaleobserver.co.uk/news/s/202/202440_amy_makes_peace_pilgrimage.html2nd
August 2005
LITTLEBOROUGH teenager Amy Gilligan has travelled to Japan to mark the
60th anniversary of the dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Amy, aged 17, of Deanhead, is a member of Littleborough Peace Group and
has gone with fellow group member Rae Street to attend peace marches and
rallies. These will remember the victims and survivors of the bombings
that brought an end to World War Two.
Amy will make a speech at a youth conference in Hiroshima, before moving
on to Nagasaki. Amy is a CND supporter and, along with
other members of Littleborough Peace Group, has been making paper peace
cranes to send to people in the Japanese cities.
The St Cuthbert’s High School pupil began making them after reading
a story about a 12-year-old girl from Hiroshima. She contracted leukaemia
after the bomb was dropped on her city and started making the cranes after
the young girl heard that if you made 1,000 you could have a wish granted.
She died before reaching her target, but since then the cranes have become
a symbol of peace.
Amy said: “It’s important for young people to be involved,
because the threat of nuclear weapons still exists. It’s important
we create a more peaceful world.” Mrs Street, chairman of Manchester
CND and vice-chairman of the national group, will make a speech
while she is Japan, as well as taking some of the cranes the group has
made to the peace park in Hiroshima.
Littleborough Peace Group will hold its own commemoration service at Hollingworth
Lake on Saturday, starting at 2pm
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4 War memorial vigil for Hiroshima dead
Aug 3 2005
http://iccroydon.icnetwork.co.uk/news/headlines/tm_objectid=15813074&method=full&siteid=53340&headline=war-memorial-vigil-for-hiroshima-dead-name_page.html
A VIGIL for the victims of Hiroshima will be held by Croydon CND
and the Peace Council to mark the 60th anniversary of their deaths.
More than 200,000 people died when the atomic bomb was dropped on the
city on August 6 1945 bringing an end to the war with Japan. The silent
ceremony to remember the dead will take place beside the War Memorial
at the library in Katherine Street, Croydon, from 12 to 1pm on August
6. Croydon CND and Peace Council committee member Maureen
Tullet said the event would also serve to highlight the hypocrisy of Western
powers who still develop nuclear weapons.
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5 PROTEST BANNER BLOCKED
Thursday August 4
http://www.hemelhempsteadtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=841&ArticleID=1104739
Peace protesters are crying foul after council chiefs blocked plans for
a giant banner commemorating the 1945 nuclear bomb attack on Hiroshima.
The striking sign which reads, '6 AUG 1945 HIROSHIMA – NEVER AGAIN',
was to be displayed in Hemel Hempstead on Saturday to mark the 60th anniversary
of the world's first nuclear attack. However, despite getting the green
light from planning chiefs, protesters from the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament (CND) have been told by council bosses that the banner
is not safe and have had their plans to display it this weekend blocked.
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