Civil disobedience/NVDA

Our UK group travelled over to Strasbourg in a mini-bus getting to the camp on Tuesday 31st March in the evening. Once at the camp we were joined by a German friend who works for nuclear disarmament of the US nuclear base at Buchel. This made 9 of us in our affinity group that we named 'Odd Socks'. Most of us knew each other and some of us had worked together before. We were members of Trident Ploughshares, CND, GAAA and other peace organisations. We found it easy and fun to work together because we had been involved in peaceful nonviolent direct action before and shared a similar philosophy.

On 4 April 2009, more than 200 activists of NATO-ZU/Shut down NATO (an international nonviolent initiative co-founded by War Resisters' International) managed a successful nonviolent blockade of the northern access road to the Palais de Musique et de Congres, where the NATO summit took place. At the same time, other groups of the coalition Block-NATO (of which NATO-ZU/Shut down NATO is a member) managed successful blockades in the inner city on the main road connecting both orange zones (Av.

As part of the anti-NATO summit protests, several blockades were organised to stop, or hinder, access to the red zone - the part of Strasbourg that was completely closed off and where the summit took place.

These blockades were done under the "Block-NATO" umbrella ; one of those, the north blockade organized by "NATO-ZU", was strictly nonviolent.

NATO-ZU, which had it's own barrio and training facilities in the camp, was organised by consensus using a spokesperson council, where each affinity group would send a representative.

Stuttgart/Bonn, 29 March 2009. The campaign NATO-ZU/Shut down NATO, which is preparing nonviolent protests and actions of civil disobedience for the NATO summit in Strasbourg, criticises the behaviour of politicians and police in advance of the NATO summit. In stead of deescaling, the conflict is already now being escalated by the authorities using an absurd prognosis of threats.

Dear supporters of Shut down NATO/NATO-ZU,

Welcome to our third Newsletter, the last one before the active operation. All other news and information that get in after this newsletter we will publish on our webpage – so it’s worth it to visit www.nato-zu.de once in a while. Again, please, read this newsletter completely and carefully – lots of its contents are important for the preparation of our action! Everybody – come to Strasbourg – together we will do it!

This newsletter includes information about:
1. recent development within the NATO
2. repressions by public authorities

In the early morning of March 22, three peace activists were arrested at Saab Aerospace Systems’ weapons factory in Linköping, Sweden. Martin Smedjeback, Annika Spalde and Pelle Strindlund were on their way to disarm Jas 39 Gripen fighter jets intended for export to India, Thailand and South Africa.

The peace activists, who are all part of the anti-militaristic network
Ofog, entered Saab’s industry area in Linköping, 200 kilometers from the

From all over Belgium, by bus, bike, taxi, public transport and even by walking, hundreds of activists came to NATO's headquarters in Evere, Brussels. They tried non-violently to enter the NATO terrain and seal gates, windows and doors. At the same time, the NATO has been symbolically buried during a farewell ceremony. Today, this burial is still a symbolic act, but the will to turn this symbol into reality is very high.

Dear supporters of Shut down NATO,

welcome to our 2nd newsletter in which we want to inform you about the state of preparations for our peaceful and non-violent operation against the NATO-summit April 4th in Strasbourg. The day of action gets closer and there is yet a lot to do. Therefore we strongly need your help (see #10, jobs). Please read this newsletter completely and carefully – its content includes important information also about preparation for the active operation.

Content of this newsletter:

1. Recent development within the NATO

War Resisters' International is part of the international coalition "No to war - no to NATO", which called for protests at the NATO summit in Baden Baden (Germany) and Strasbourg (France) on 3 and 4 April 2009, and is continuing with an International Working Conference "No to war - No to NATO" in Berlin on 17/18 October 2009.

This page gives an overview of resources available on the WRI website.

A nonviolent blockade is likely to constitute an "unlawful assembly" according to CP 431-3 (CP = Code Pénal or French Penal Code) [1]. The possible punishment for "Wilful participation in an unlawful assembly" is - according to CP 431-4, a prison sentence of up to one year and a fine of up to 15,000€ [2].

taking decisions together – acting jointly

Within the coalition NATO-ZU (Shut down NATO) we agreed guidelines for the actions of civil disobedience. These guidelines spell out the objectives, the basis of nonviolence and the principles of decision making; they serve as the foundation of our action and are to be adhered to.

Within our nonviolent action, we want to act jointly according to the action guidelines below. This does not mean that everyone has to accept these guidelines as their own world view – they are only an agreement for this action.

1. Objectives

For breaking into a Saab Bofors arms factory in Eskilstuna, Sweden, and disarming 14 Carl Gustaf bazookas, a local court today sentenced Anna Andersson and Martin Smedjeback to four months imprisonment. The judge dismissed Saab's claim for some 120 000 Euros in damages.