Press Release: ACTION AWE “CRIMESTOPPERS” REPORT ATOMIC WEAPONS ESTABLISHMENT FOR PREPARING TO COMMIT WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

PRESS RELEASE

8 February 2014

ActionAWE/Angie Zelter 0745-658-8943

or Andrew Dey 0772 299 9015

or [email protected]

ACTION AWE “CRIMESTOPPERS” REPORT ATOMIC WEAPONS ESTABLISHMENT FOR PREPARING TO COMMIT WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Reading, Berkshire, 8 February 2014:- A line of 50 people queued around the block at Reading Police Station as one by one they reported their concerns that the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) nuclear bomb factories in Aldermaston and Burghfield were engaged in manufacturing and transporting weapons of mass destruction and facilitating preparations to use nuclear weapons, contrary to International Humanitarian Law . In conjunction with Action AWE (Atomic Weapons Eradication), they will call on the police to arrest government and AWE officials responsible for nuclear warhead production and deployment, which facilitate preparations to use nuclear weapons, contrary to International Humanitarian Law.

Jed Picksley from Shropshire said: “If we armed ourselves with guns or knives, the police would arrest us immediately and charge us with going equipped. The government and management of AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield are making nuclear warheads that would equip the UK to commit crimes against humanity that would be a million times worse. So we’re here to inform on these criminal activities of equipping to commit crimes against humanity. It’s time for the police to arrest and charge the people responsible for planning these international crimes. ”

Sarah Lasenby from Oxford said: “Next week over 130 governments will be meeting in Mexico to discuss what they can do to address the humanitarian risks posed by nuclear weapons. The UK government has boycotted these multilateral talks even though they have binding treaty obligations to negotiate in good faith on nuclear disarmament. We are therefore reporting them to the police, so that they can be held accountable for violating international law. Our government should join in multilateral negotiations for a nuclear ban treaty. AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield should stop breaking the law by making new nuclear weapons, and instead be directed to work on treaty verification and dismantling nuclear warheads.”

George Farebrother, who chairs the World Court Project (UK), said: “Nuclear weapons are subject to the same legal restraints as any form of weapon. In view of their massive, indiscriminate effects, any use of nuclear weapons would be a war crime and crime against humanity. By continuing to manufacture, modernise and deploy nuclear weapons, the UK is materially preparing to use nuclear weapons, contrary to International Humanitarian Law and UK disarmament obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Nuclear weapons should not be treated as above the law or allowed to continue hiding behind an outdated Queen’s Prerogative.”

For radio or tv interviews, photos and further updates contact:

Angie Zelter 0745-658-8943 or Andrew Dey 0772 299 9015

See also: www.actionawe.org, where further photos and information will be posted.

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Notes to editors:

1. Action AWE (Atomic Weapons Eradication) was launched in February 2013 as a grassroots peace campaign of autonomous groups taking nonviolent action to halt nuclear warhead production at AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield and to urge the government and AWE to fully implement Britain’s disarmament obligations and join multilateral efforts to ban nuclear weapons worldwide.
2. On 13-14 February, 130 governments will be meeting in Nayarit, Mexico, for the Second Intergovernmental Conference on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons. The UK and some of the other nuclear-armed states boycotted the First Intergovernmental Conference on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons, hosted in Oslo on 4-5 March by the Norwegian Government, which was attended by 127 governments as well as civil society and international humanitarian organisations such as the Red Cross.
3. 125 governments co-sponsored a statement at the 2013 UN First Committee that noted, among other things, that “the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons affect not only governments, but each and every citizen of our interconnected world. They have deep implications for human survival; for our environment; for socio-economic development; for our economies; and for the health of future generations. For these reasons, we firmly believe that awareness of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons must underpin all approaches and efforts towards nuclear disarmament.”

The 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has 190 states parties, including the UK. Consensus decisions taken by NPT Review Conferences are incorporated into international legal obligations binding on all states parties. Article VI of the NPT enshrines the obligation “to pursue negotiations in good faith… on nuclear disarmament”. The consensus final document of the 2010 NPT Review Conference stated: “its deep concern at the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and reaffirms the need for all States at all times to comply with applicable international law, including international humanitarian law.” [Source: 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final Document, NPT/CONF.2010/50 Volume I, Part