earthfirst – Page 97 – Earth First!

Reclaim Hinkley – 8-9 October 2012

When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty."

MASS TRESPASS – MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

No New Nuclear – International call out

Join us in an act of mass civil disobedience as we trespass on the proposed site of Hinkley C nuclear power station in Somerset.

When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty."

MASS TRESPASS – MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

No New Nuclear – International call out

Join us in an act of mass civil disobedience as we trespass on the proposed site of Hinkley C nuclear power station in Somerset.

EDF Energy is already trashing fragile Somerset countryside in preparation for the Hinkley C nuclear power station – even though it hasn’t got planning permission to start building.

SOWING THE SEEDS OF DISSENT

This mass action is for anyone who feels able to publicly trespass – or bear witness to the mass trespass by joining us around the perimeter fence. We need people who are prepared to be arrested. We also need people to support those who are trespassing by gathering around the perimeter fence. We will be providing legal briefings and support for any trespassers who are arrested.

Our aim is to make the trespass as safe and dignified as possible. All our activities are bound by the principles of non-violent direct action. We are holding a camp immediately before the trespass so that everyone involved has a voice in planning the action itself.

On the day of the trespass, we will attempt to reintroduce some of the biodiversity that has been stripped through EDFs premature preliminary works. Once inside we will scatter wildflowers and other species native to this site. By showing your support for an end to nuclear power, you are part a growing movement that is exposing this corrupt government policy that puts profits before safety.

EDF is Eagerly Destroying Fields even though it doesn’t yet have permission to build the reactors – nor does it have approval for the reactor design, or even a final investment decision.

The new EPR reactor design will produce radioactive waste that is so toxic that it will have to be stored on site for over 100 years. The dangers associated with flooding, terrorist attack and accidental leakage are totally unacceptable.

NO MORE NUCLEAR BAILOUTS

The movement against the government's so-called 'nuclear renaissance' is winning….but we must keep up the pressure. Out of the eight new nuclear power stations supported by the coalition government when it came into power, only two are still on the table: Hinkley in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk.

French-owned EDF Energy – the owner of Hinkley and Sizewell – is pressuring the government to increase the range of hidden subsidies on offer in a desperate bid to attract interest from sceptical investors. THIS MUST NOT HAPPEN.

If EDF gets its way, it will be a double whammy for us – and for future generations. It will mean we pay twice: once as taxpayers and once as consumers through our energy bills.

We say put the £60bn earmarked for 'new nuclear' into a cleaner, greener, fairer future. The way forward is through energy reduction and greater investment into research and development to make renewable energy and energy storage fit for the 21st century.

We need to create a long term sustainable energy plan that is based on meeting people's needs rather than making profits for investors. In May, energy secretary Charles Hendry told ministers at a select committee hearing that the government’s energy policy would be robust enough without including nuclear in the mix. It's time we moved energy policy forwards rather than backwards.

NUCLEAR IS NOT THE ANSWER

….Chernobyl
The crisis is far from over: the sarcophagus covering the doomed Russian reactor is falling apart. Only this year, governments finally approved the funding for a new one. The human population in the most heavily contaminated territories is in decline. In Belarus 80% of children were born healthy before Chernobyl. Now, just 26 years later, only 20% of children are born healthy.

…..Fukushima
Thanks to people power, all of Japan's reactors have now been turned off. For the first time in over half a century Japan is nuclear free. However, the crisis at Fukushima is far from over.

The Japanese people are footing the bill. The company behind the power station, Tepco, has had to be re-nationalised because of the spiralling cost of compensation and the ongoing attempts to stabilise the reactors.
Many people are still living in heavily contaminated areas that should have been evacuated.
Food across Japan is heavily contaminated and people are being encouraged to support the farmers of Fukushima by eating it.
The triple meltdown is still in full swing.
All of the fuel pools in reactors 1,2,3 & 4 are in bad condition.
The pool in reactor 4 is of particular concern. Thousands of highly radioactive spent fuel rods are at risk of further explosions. If such an event occurs, high levels of radioactive contamination could spread as far as Tokyo and wipe out Japan's commercial infrastructure.

WE WANT A FUTURE, NOT A DISASTER

More information coming soon.

Subscribe to our newsletter and get regular updates on the trespass plan and the latest developments in the campaign against 'new nuclear'. Please send any queries to: campaign@stopnewnuclear.org.uk or call our hotline on: 07527-219476

Chinese Environmentalists Protest, Riot, Defeat Copper Plant in Sichuan

9/7/12

Following three days of mass protest, overturned police cars, tear gas and violent clashes between protesters and riot police, the city government of Shifang in the province of Sichuan, southwest China, announced last week that it is scrapping plans for a copper alloy plant. This is but one of dozens of industrial projects that have been successfully defeated by large scale protests and riots in China in recent years. As in protests elsewhere in China, enraged activists stormed the city’s government headquarters and staged a successful occupation.

“We have so many people in Shifang. We aren’t afraid of them (the authorities),” an 18-year-old activist boldly stated to Reuters by telephone from Shifang just before the government acquiescence to demands. “The Shifang people will definitely not surrender.”

But the victory comes with serious sacrifice. Dozens of protesters have been injured and many more rounded up and detained. Their legal future is uncertain.If similar post-protest crack-downs are of any insight there will be dozens of more organizers rounded up in the months to come as government attempts to quiet such protests publicly is countered by a private draconian witch hunt to silence “ringleaders.”

The government has accused the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong and the Dalai Lama for instigating the violence. But these are the common scapegoats used by the government anytime popular uprisings take place in China.

A Letter of Resistance in Shifang

The following is a translation of a handout posted around the city of Shifang in the lead up and during the protests.

Save Shifang! All City Residents Unite!

People of Shifang, let’s save our city!! It already a “cancer town,” and they still want to build that molybdenum copper plant. We resolutely oppose this! This is our shared home, and it is our responsibility to protect it. Everyone is responsible for protecting the environment!!

Perhaps many people still do not know Shifang plans to build a molybdenum copper plant, and still more people do not know the damage this will cause. Once construction of the factory begins, it will already be too late. We do not want to leave Shifang! Shifang is the “Bright Pearl of Western Sichuan.” We cannot leave! Heavy metal pollution will cause us terrible harm.

Are there really that many Shifang residents who have the money to move to another province? We must come together and work to keep the molybdenum copper plant far from Shifang!

People of Shifang, rise up!!

Anti-fracking Blockade in Moshannon State Forest

9th July 2012

Nearly 100 Earth First! activists, friends and allies forced a 70-foot-tall EQT hydrofracking drill rig to suspend operations for 12 hours yesterday in Pennsylvania’s Moshannon State Forest. This is the first time that protesters have shut down a hydrofrack drilling operation in the US. A tree sitter hung above the access road, with their anchor ropes blocking it. A second person was also in a tree to support the sitter while dozens of supporters guarded ten large debris piles that were across the road. Another group of 50 activists blockaded the entrance to the access road. The State Police, with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, dispersed the blockade around nine p.m. And removed the tree sitters with a ladder truck. Three arrests were made for disorderly conduct, but protesters were cited and released on-site.

There are a limited number of actual drill rigs in operation in the state which are ferried around from site to site on a tight schedule. By halting operations for a day on this site, the blockade has likely created a costly disruption for a handful of wells in the area which EQT apparently planned to drill in succession.

The activists reported that the police were reckless with the sitters’ safety, such as being quick to cut their anchor ropes. The supporting sitter’s safety and descent ropes were cut by the police as he climbed higher in the tree. The police in the ladder truck had no radios and communication to the ground was difficult over the noise of the diesel engine; at one point the ladder hit one of the sitter’s support lines. Police were seen taunting the sitter by waving around one of their anchor lines and making jokes at them while shaking the hammock.

The site is part of a high concentration of wells in Moshannon State Forest, one of the most heavily drilled state forests in Pennsylvania. Over half of the forest’s 190,000 acres have been leased for Marcellus drilling using hydraulic fracturing. Despite widespread public opposition, the former PA secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources predicts 12,000 Marcellus wells will be drilled in state forests in the coming decade¹. A recent poll showed that the majority of Pennsylvanians are opposed to fracking on public lands².

Local farmer Jenny Lisak, whose own property has been impacted by fracking, describes the devastation she has seen in the Moshannon, “Having grown up enjoying Moshannon State Forest in so many ways, I am absolutely appalled at the ongoing destruction. The once narrow and inviting oak-shaded lanes are now being replaced by dust and traffic choked roads for chemical laden trucks – there are no words to describe the injustice of taking public land, meant to provide a source of beauty and wilderness for all and turning it into an industrial zone.”

Drilling in the area has a troubled history. In June 2010, a major blowout at another well in Clearfield County spewed 35,000 gallons of toxic drilling waste into the Little Laurel Run watershed and caused the evacuation of Moshannon State Forest³. Since 2008, only 24 of EQT’s 198 Marcellus wells in the state have been inspected and violations were found at every single inspection. When they have been cited, they’ve refused to change their practices. On May 9, 2012, in Duncan Township, Tioga County, EQT was cited for faulty construction on a flowback water impoundment; three weeks later the pit failed, contaminating a nearby spring⁴.

“This is part of an escalating direct action campaign against fracking in the Marcellus Shale region,” said Danielle Dietterick, an activist affiliated with Marcellus Earth First! from Benton, Pa. “People from all around the country have joined with Pennsylvania residents to put their bodies on the line to stop fracking.”

The action comes on the heels of a 12-day blockade to stop the displacement of the Riverdale Mobile Home Park, in Lycoming County, and the shutdown of a fracking wastewater injection well near Athens, Ohio. Groups across the country are planning more anti-extraction interventions like RAMPS in West Virginia and the Tar Sands Blockade in Texas, later this month. All these independent, grassroots-led actions show perhaps a coalescing national uprising against exploitative extraction.

Susan Riley, another supporter, cheered on the bold action, “The state government has sold off our public lands and, with Act 13, stripped us of our rights to local self-governance. The fracking industry has free reign in this state and no one’s gonna stop them unless we do.”

8th July 2012

Activists from Marcellus Earth First! have erected a slash pile blockade and two tree sits blocking an access road to an EQT hydro-fracking site in Moshannon State Forest in Clearfield County, PA., halting drilling operations set to begin this week. The blockaders were joined by 40 supporters and concerned citizens, who turned around a Halliburton truck. The blockade is trying to stop the further destruction of Pennsylvania’s state forests—more than half of which have already been leased for drilling—and call attention to the devastating effects of hydrofracking on the state’s communities. The sitters’ anchor lines are blocking the road by crossing each other and the road, and if an anchor line is cut a sitter will fall. This action has been coordinated as the post-Rendezvous action. Each Summer Earth First!ers and allies come together to skill share, take part in discussion workshops, and keep it wild in our last remaining wilderness places in the US. Following a week in the woods, we take part in an action in support of the local organizers hosting the camp out, also know as the Round River Rendezvous, or Rondy.

Today’s blockade is the latest in a series of escalating actions of resistance to the destructive impacts of hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale. Last May, residents of Butler County occupied the office of State Representative Brian Ellis, demanding accountability for widespread contamination caused by horizontal drilling. In June, seven families, along with dozens of supporters, blocked the entrance to the Riverdale Mobile Home Community to prevent their imminent eviction at the hands of Aqua America PVR. Aqua sought to destroy their homes and construct a water withdrawal facility permitted to extract up to three million gallons of water from the Susquehanna River daily for use in fracking. Residents were able to maintain the blockade for 12 days. On June 17, 1,000 Ohioans stormed the statehouse in Columbus and passed a “people’s resolution” banning hydrofracking. Most recently, a 31-year-old landowner from Athens County, Ohio chained herself to concrete barrels and shut down operations at one of Ohio’s 170 injection wells, which contain about 95% of the toxic and radioactive fracking waste generated from Pennsylvania drilling.

Momentum in the anti-fracking battle will continue to build across the Marcellus and Utica shale regions throughout July. Next weekend, residents from Ohio and beyond will gather at an anti-fracking action camp in Youngstown and prepare to enforce the “people’s resolution” against fracking. The upcoming months show the beginnings of a national rebellion against extractive industry across the board. On July 28, anti-frackers from across the nation will gather in Washington D.C. for “Stop the Frack Attack,” the largest mobilization against fracking ever. In West Virginia, Appalachians and allies will stand together at the “Mountain Mobilization” and shut down an active strip mine the last week of July. In Montana,the “Coal Export Action”, a ten-day campaign of civil disobedience at the beginning of August will target coal shipments from strip mines in the Powder River Basin, overseas. And later in the month, Texas residents have called for the “Tar Sands Blockade” to block the recently approved southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Where the government has failed to act to protect communities and the earth from the ravages of an out-of-control energy industry, the people are rising up to resist. No matter where you live, you have the opportunity to join the fight for our future. Find your place, stand your ground, and in the words of Mother Jones, “Boogie Chilluns.”

UPDATE, 11:53 am:
Police making vague threats at blockade about assault rifles going off and wandering through blockade with assault rifles. However, at the rally they said there’s a sick bear up the road that needs to be put down, and not to freak out if a gun shot is heard.

Police initiated another round of negotiation with the rally insisting folks move the debris that’s in the road because it’s a safety risk, making veiled threats about things escalating if that doesn’t happen. Police have informed people it’s illegal to block the road, but have not given any order to disperse, they said “if it doesn’t happen [dispersal] they don’t want things to escalate.” Otherwise, situation unchanged.

UPDATE 10:14 am:
State police on scene at supporting rally.

UPDATE 10:10 am:
Two tree-sitters blocking the well pad access road–their anchor lines are crossing the road and each other, and if an anchor line is cutter a sitter will fall. There’s also a slash pile in the road. No police on seen and apparently no security either.

UPDATE 9:30 am:
Marcellus Earth First! and supporters have set up a blockade at an EQT well pad in the Moshannon Pennsylvania State Forest. An additional group of 40 supporters are holding a rally down the road, and have blocked a Halliburton truck. The activists plan to stay as long as they can. Stay tuned for more updates as information becomes available.

BP F***ing the Future subverts

6.7.12

With the Olympics now only three weeks away, protests against Olympic sponsor BP are escalating. Today dozens of BP logos across London were sabotaged, including the UK’s most prestigious billboard site at Cromwell Road. Around the capital, protesters hit petrol stations, BP-sponsored cultural institutions and advertising hoardings, protesting against one of the world’s most environmentally destructive companies being a major sponsor of the London Olympics. Signs were splattered with oil and BP’s tagline ‘Fuelling the Future’ was subvertised with the URL ‘f-ingthefuture.org.uk’.

BP has continuously been slammed for its systematic disregard for the environment, human rights and worker safety, including its failure to clean up after the Gulf of Mexico disaster of 2010, its decision to enter the devastating Canadian tar sands, and its plans to drill for Arctic oil. This criticism has increased dramatically since BP was announced ‘Sustainability Partner’ of the London 2012 games, and today’s protests follow a series of recent actions targeting BP’s Olympic sponsorship:
* On the eve of BP’s AGM in April, protest group CAMSOL posed online as LOCOG and announced BP had been dropped as Sustainability Partner.
* In April, the UK Tar Sands Network nominated BP in the Greenwash Gold campaign as ‘worst Olympic sponsor’.
* Since April, the Reclaim Shakespeare Company has been invading Shakespearean performances across the country to protest against BP’s sponsorship of the Cultural Olympiad.
* Last week, acclaimed actor Mark Rylance spoke out against BP’s sponsorship of the Games, revealing he had questioned his own involvement in the Opening Ceremony.

One of those taking part in the action, Brendan Pierce, said, “BP is paying tens of millions of pounds to clean up its tarnished image, in what could well be the most expensive use of propaganda in history. But with even its own business projections preparing for a six degree temperature rise, BP knows it is damning us to a future of runaway climate change.”

Another activist, Deborah Dudley, said “Reports suggest that BP’s sponsorship of the Olympics has been highly effective at laundering its filthy image, so we’re revealing the dirt behind the glossy branding. I’m proud to be taking direct action as part of a worldwide movement for climate justice. I encourage others to get involved.”

A website, f-ingthefuture.org.uk, shows pictures of the action and outlines the problems with BP’s sponsorship of the Olympics.

For more information, interviews and high-resolution photos, email: f.ingthefuture@gmail.com

What the website says:

——————————————-

Why shouldn’t BP sponsor the Olympics?

BP’s green logo is plastered all over the Olympics. The company is ‘Official Fuel and Gas Provider’ and also sponsor of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival.

Worst of all BP is ‘Sustainability Partner’. That’s right, the organisers of the Olympics have decided to allow BP, one of the dirtiest companies on earth, the opportunity to rebrand itself as socially responsible and take an active role in proposing how society should approach climate change.

Do you remember images of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s deep-sea Macondo well back in 2010, coating the ocean and its inhabitants? Have you heard of BP’s plans in the tar sands, the world’s second largest oil deposits after Saudi Arabia, that can only be extracted by using four times as much greenhouse gas and have been labelled the most destructive project on earth? Have you heard about BP’s deals to extract oil from the depths of the pristine Arctic, despite the potential risk of a catastrophic spill even harder to clean up than the Gulf?

Do you think BP has earned the right to be ‘Sustainability Partner’ to the London 2012 Olympics?

Does BP have the right to have any association whatsoever with the Games, whose founding statement speaks of ‘universal fundamental ethical principles’, whose 2011 Charter declares that the Games should be ‘promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity’, and require ‘mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play’?

Do you think oil and sport shouldn’t mix?

Do you sometimes have the feeling that wherever you turn these days, advertising has intruded a little further, uninvited, into your personal space?

BP is a corporation that feeds off injustice and the destruction of the natural world that we and countless other species rely on. That destruction comes most threateningly from the current brutal destabilisation of the world’s climate.

BP is deeply embedded in British society – our energy, our pensions, our investments, our culture… It pumps serious money and effort into keeping things this way. Marketing works. Shiny advertisements around the capital do change the way people perceive a company. By sponsoring activities like the Cultural Olympiad, the London 2012 Festival, the World Shakespeare Festival and the Games themselves, BP is able to continue its catastrophic, though increasingly profitable, operations. That’s why we had to act.

Remember, if you see any ‘improved’ BP advertisements, please take a photo and email them to f.ingthefuture@gmail.com – and don’t worry, we won’t assume that you have any responsibility for them!

Here are a few more things you can do:

Take action for climate justice! See Rising Tide UK and Climate Justice Collective for ways to get involved.
Learn more about BP’s enormous environmental and human rights atrocities. Start with tar sands.
Move your money away from banks and other institutions who will lend it to fossil fuel-based projects
Harness your creativity to a more caring, conscious future, possibly by contributing to Art Not Oil‘s ‘Cutural or Vultural 2012?’ gallery.
Be part of a movement for real, deep, positive and lasting social and ecological change: http://www.occupyuk.info, http://occupylsx.org
Cut your carbon! Cut out short-haul flights, minimize car use, minimize your meat consumption, insulate your house. There are plenty of things you can do…but whatever you do, try to challenge the overarching mindset and system that’s allowng this insanity to happen!

(NB. These links are not connected to us, we just like ‘em!)

Photos

Videos

Action round-up from Faslane anti-nuke action month

Four Olympic Gold Medal Winners arrested at Faslane Naval Base on Monday 11th June!

The four women from Glasgow and Edinburgh are members of the Gareloch Hortis peace group which was taking part in thirty days of actions to mark thirty years of Faslane Peace Camp’s protest against Trident nuclear weapons. The group staged the Peace Olympics with events as varied as synchronised swimming and putting the Haggis.

The medallists were arrested during the Tug of Peace across the North Gate of the base.

The event drew attention to the continued presence of the illegal and deadly weapons in Scotland, and all eight other nuclear nations. The winners’ podium highlighted that the only way to win the Race for Peace is to lay down the weapons of mass destruction.

Activists blockade Faslane Naval Base

19.6.2012

Today at 7 o’ clock in the morning activists of the Faslane Peacecamp blockaded the Trident Naval Base. Three people locked on in front of the South Gate. From the original five people at the North Gate two were arrested immediately while the rest were able to blockade one lane of the road. The blockade lasted about 90 minutes.

A spokesperson said on behalf of the Peace Camp: ” We are having this blockade today because we want to show our opposition against nuclear weapons. We express our fear and our anger in a nonviolent way. We ask the British government to listen to the opinion of the majority of Scottish people and MSP’s. The People do not want Trident! They do not want this base with it’s nuclear weapons in Scotland. Due to the fact that in the next few years Scottish independence may be achieved now is the time to put pressure upon the British government. Instead of starting to put money into a Trident replacement we want them to shut down the Faslane Naval Base and stop their nuclear weapons program.”

An international activist added: “This blockade was a very international one. People from all parts of Britain and activists from Spain and Sweden were involved. I think that it is my right and my duty as a global citizen to do nonviolent direct actions against nuclear weapons as long as our governments do not fulfill their duty and stop fighting wars. Nuclear weapons are illegal by international humanitarian law and I want all countries to respect this and make a step to a more peaceful world.”

This blockade is part of the 30 days of action from the 9th June to the 9th July. To find out more about what has happened and will happen in the future visit our blog.

http://faslanepeacecamp.wordpress.com/

Faslane Peace Campers Trespass at Coulport Nuclear Weapons Depot

15/06/2012

Angus Chalmers and Leonna O'Neill of Faslane Peace Camp entered RNAD Coulport in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

They left the camp on foot at approximately 10pm with the intentions of seeing how close they could get to Coulport under the cover of darkness. By the time they were approaching the outer fence perimeter the two still hadn't been apprehended or detected by security or any of the night vision cctv cameras, and so decided to continue to see how far luck (or the ineptitudes of the security system on what should be the most heavily guarded naval depot in the UK) would get them.

They decided to approach the Explosives Handling Jetty via the shore line and entered by wading water and climbing a razor wire fence. At this point they decided to walk visibly and announce themselves to the first police they saw. To their surprise they were met with zero security personnel and were able to access a jetty a matter of feet from the Explosives Handling Jetty where the Trident nuclear warheads are loaded to the Vangaurd submarines.

Angus climbed a further fence into the establishment setting off the bandit alarm and alerting the MOD security and cctv camera operators. Both were soon apprehended by MOD police and arrested and charged with miilitary by-laws and the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA). Both were held in custody until court on Thursday afternoon where the SOCPA charges were dropped and they pleaded not guilty to the by-laws charges.

Leonna and Angus said "This is evidence that the Couport Nuclear Weapons Depot is unsafe. The capacity for this technology to irreperably destroy life and the environment should be reason enough to ensure that it is safe guarded and protected in a way that does not allow for human error or complacency. The relative ease at which we were able to approach and enter Coulport on foot and the close proximatey we were able to get to the Explosives Handling Jetty is surprising and disturbing".

Faslane Peace Camp and Trident Ploughshares Trespass at Faslane Naval Base

2/07/2012

Seven activists from Faslane Peace Camp and Trident Ploughshares entered Faslane naval base this morning with four members of the group slipping past guards and reaching points up to 100 yards inside the base. A further two were arrested in the attempt.

At 7am this morning Faslane Peace Camp and Trident Ploughshares activists attended the North gate of the Faslane Naval Base to serenade the approaching morning shift staff with peace and nuclear disarmament songs. The act doubled as a ruse to enable fifteen of the group to attempt entering the base. One TP activist, Brian Larkin, succeeded in gaining entry to the base whilst the rest were prevented from doing so by Minitsry of Defence and Strathclyde police.

Brian was charged with breach of SOCPA, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act, and miliatry by-laws and later released on an undertaking. Upon being released Larkin said “the serious organised crime happens inside the base and not in these actions for peace and disarmament. It is the ongoing deployment of Trident submarines – each carrying 48 warheads, eight times more destructive than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima which killed 200,000 people – that constitutes serious organised crime and violates every principle of humanity in international law.”

In a show of the same relentless persistence that has kept the Peace Camp and the anti-nuclear movement going over the years, the group later returned to make a second attempt at breaching the North Gate. Two were arrested during the attempt whilst six gained entry, four of which reaching up to 100 yards inside the base.

The bandit alarm was activated and the Naval Base was locked down, preventing traffic from entering the base and normal operations to continue within the base for 45 minutes. The action was part of the Peace Camp’s 30 Days of Action marking 30 years of continuous resistance to nuclear weapons at Faslane. Thirty people have been arrested in the campaign which began on 9 June. Nine people were arrested today.

It is not yet clear what the other eight will be charged with but a breach of SOCPA charge is likely in addition to breaching military by-laws. Angus Chalmers of the Fasland Peace Camp said “This land has been fenced and designated as a SOCPA area in order to make possible the serious crime of deploying Trident.” Margaret Bremner of the Trident Ploughshares Gareloch Horticulturalists affinity group added “We cross this line today to demonstrate that this land, this earth, does not belong to a state which is using it to threaten the destruction of the earth and all its peoples. We enter this gate in order to reclaim land for life not death.”

Each of those trespassing were carrying letters explaining the international illegality of nuclear weapons to present to workers inside the base. In 1996, the International Court of Justice wrote the advisory opinion that not only would the use of nuclear weapons be illegal but the very threat of use through deployment, maintenance and upgrade of nuclear weapons systems is in contravention to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Under the terms of the NPT which entered into force over forty years ago, the UK government is obligated to bring nuclear disarmament to completion. Instead the UK government has continued to maintain and is now upgrading its nuclear weapons system. The recent news that the MoD has awarded lucrative contracts to arms companies for the initial stages of a Trident replacement programme furthers this ongoing mockery of our international legal obligations.

As long as our government continues to fail in it’s obligation to make serious moves toward complete nuclear disarmament, members of Trident Plougshares and Faslane Peace Camp are committed to non-violent direct action to disrupt the deployment of these illegal and immoral weapons.

Further demonstrations are planned for the remainder of the thirty days of action which will finish on July 9th. Amongst other actions, there will be an academic seminar blockade on Friday and a Rebel Clown Army insurgence on Saturday. For more information on the 30Days Action Campaign contact the camp via faslane30@gmail.com.

Faslane Peace Camp: 01436 820901 or 07511793227
Trident Ploughshares: Brian Larkin 07768 312676

For More information on
Trident Ploughshares see: www.tridentploughshares.org.uk
Faslane Peace Camp and 30 Days of Action see: http://faslanepeacecamp.wordpress.com/

State Of Emergency In Cajamarca Follows Four Deaths in Mine Protests

6th July '12

A state of emergency has been declared in three provinces in the Andean department of Cajamarca, located in northern Peru, following the deaths of four people during protests against the multi-billion dollar Conga gold project.

6th July '12

Peru’s Executive branch approved the measure, which curtails civil liberties, in the provinces of Cajamarca, Celendin and Hualgayoc. The state of emergency came into force on Wednesday and will be valid for 30 days, the government said.

The measure follows the death in Celendin of three people and more than 30 injured on Tuesday, during clashes between police and demonstrators. One of the persons killed was 17 years old. More than 15 people were arrested. On the same day, a man was killed during protests in Bambamarca, capital of the province of Hualgayoc.

This week’s protests, with Minas Conga still in focus, are against the mayors of 65 districts who last week were in Lima with President Humala at the Government Palace to accept government investment in a series of infrastructure projects in their provinces.

It is the second time since last December that Peru has declared a state of emergency in Cajamarca to control escalating protests against the $4.8 billion Minas Conga project, which is being developed by gold mining company Yanacocha.

Yanacocha is majority controlled by US-based Newmont Mining (51%), with Peru’s Minas Buenaventura owning 49%.

Protests late last year against Minas Conga, over worries that it would harm the water supply to farmers, resulted in the suspension of the project.

At the same time, the delay in reaching an agreement with protesters pushed President Humala to make a major cabinet shuffle late last year, appointing former Interior minister Oscar Valdes as his new premier to apply a stronger hand in quelling the protests. Those against the mining project have only become more entrenched.

Independent consultants hired by the government have reviewed the Minas Conga environmental impact study, and the government said recently that the company could restart work if it made some changes like building water reservoirs before starting construction of the mine.

However, opposition has remained strong despite attempts by Peru’s government to resolve the dispute. One of the main opponents of the project is the regional government of Cajamarca, led by far-left governor Gregorio Santos.

Santos rejected the state of emergency and called on the government to lift the measure.

Minas Conga is the latest in a number of mining projects that have been targeted by community opposition, largely over environmental concerns. Analysts say some $50 billion in mining investments are at risk due to the social conflicts in Peru, a country where mining has been the lynchpin of economic growth.

Squat Milada brutally evicted after an attempt to make a one-off commemorative gig

The Prague's renowned squat Vila Milada, which was evicted three years ago after being one of the most important places for Czech autonomous underground scene, had been occupied by approximately 30 people on Saturday July 30th to commemorate the bleak anniversary by an improvised hardcore punk gig. Even though the authorities were informed that this is a one-off event which is not an attempt to reocuppy the squat for good but a symbolic pointing out of a passive approach of a Czech state to take care of unused buildings and of the oppression against alternative culture, the police reacted with a massive police operation including an aggressive attack against the non-violent concert-goers, which resulted in many bloody injuries and in a temporary arrest of tens of people. At least 20 people were brutally beaten up and psychologically humiliated inside the building out of reach of cameras and witnesses and the remaining 7 activists hid behind the chimneys on the roof of the building, fearing for their health and risking their lives over a 4-storey gap directing to ground. After a day-long negotiations and a couple of stupid attempts of the Czech police to harass tens of supporters in front of the building, the squatters decided to climb down if the Police lets them to gather their belongings from the lower parts of the house. In the early evening of Sunday July 1st, they realized all of their equipment, including laptops, loudspeakers, guitar combos and electric guitars, were smashed up by the intervening Police riot squad. The owner of the house is going to bring a lawsuit against the activists and more serious offenses are actually threatening them.

Brazil tribes occupy contentious dam site

30th June 2012

About 150 indigenous people are protesting a massive dam they say will dry up the river their livelihood depends on.

30th June 2012

About 150 indigenous people are protesting a massive dam they say will dry up the river their livelihood depends on.

A cluster of 12 men from the Xikrin tribe chant in their native language while marching together, arms interlocked, stomping their feet against the dry red dirt. They say this is their call of resistance from the Amazon.

The Xikrin are joined by about 150 indigenous people from three other tribes – the Arara, Juruna, and Parakana – that are occupying one of the work sites at the Belo Monte dam construction site in what is becoming a high-stakes standoff. The occupation, which is entering its second week, has halted a part of the construction on what will be the world's third-largest hydroelectric dam.

At the site of the protest, visited by Al Jazeera on Wednesday, the tribesmen were carrying clubs and spears and had built rudimentary sleeping quarters in what has essentially become a non-violent sit-in. An anthropologist was with them, typing away at her laptop as the indigenous people articulated their demands.

The tribes are occupying a road, built by the dam builders, which cuts through part of the Xingu River's waterways. The road blocks the natural flow of the waters.

The occupation of the site began at about 11 am on June 21 and played out like something from a fictional Hollywood movie. The indigenous people arrived at the work site in half a dozen small boats, charged the area, and announced that they were taking over. The construction workers, seeing the tribesmen with their faces painted for combat and armed with spears, immediately fled for safety.

"The workers were scared, so they immediately ran when we arrived," said Bepumuiti, from the Juruna tribe. "They probably thought they were going to die."

The tribesmen confiscated the keys to more than three dozen dump trucks and heavy machinery left behind.

What the indigenous people want

Last year, a series of conditions were agreed upon with the indigenous people to reduce the impact of the construction of the dam on their communities. Some of the conditions included the demarcation of indigenous lands, the construction of health facilities and schools, and means of transportation for the tribal people when the rivers dry up.

In exchange for their agreement, the indigenous said they would not forcefully oppose the dam construction.

The problem, the indigenous now say, is that while the construction of the dam steams ahead, the promises made by the consortium building the dam and by government-led Norte Energia – the energy company overseeing the dam – have yet to be fulfilled.

So the tribes decided to invade. This was a historic and significant move, because the decision was made without the assistance or knowledge of local or international NGOs or government rights bodies, who in the past often assisted tribes during protest movements.

"We would not be here today if the builders and the government would have done what they promised us," Bebtok, a tribe elder from the Xikrin tribe, told Al Jazeera. "In my community, nothing has been done. There is no quality health post, there is no school, they have not built a road for us. My road is the river and that is going to be dried up."

Since October, the tribes most affected by the construction of the dam have been receiving a budget of about $15,000 from the government, through which they can request anything they want, such as gasoline for their boats, food or construction material.

But the tribes have been told that the money – called "emergency assistance" in government parlance – will stop later this year, infuriating the tribal people at the very moment they are starting to feel the negative impacts of the dam, they say.

The indigenous people are now also starting to see the impact the construction is having on their lives. Surara, from the Parakana tribe, showed Al Jazeera how a road built on the construction site through a natural waterway of the Xingu river has already started to dry out one side of the river.

"We were always navigating this river because we know this river like the palm of our hands," Surara said. "And today, as you can see, it's very dry. That is sad for us."

Surara predicted that, at the current pace of construction, in two years the tribe will no longer be able to reach their community by boat because of the changes in water levels. The tribes have a new list of demands they want fulfilled before they say they will end their occupation.

Response from government and builders

The tribes' occupation of the dam seemed to catch the dam builders and the government by surprise. In response, Norte Energia has taken what seems like a peculiar approach that involves two very opposite responses, using the carrot and the stick at the same time. Three days after the occupation began, a judge rejected a request to have the indigenous evicted by force from the area.

At the same time, Norte Energia is providing the indigenous people three meals a day at the occupation site. Often times, a representative from the company will show up at the site during a meal and ask the indigenous people for the keys back to their heavy machinery. So far, the tribes have refused to hand them over.

Last week, Norte Energia refused an Al Jazeera request for an interview on the matter. Norte Energia has said in the past that the economic and social assistance packages to help the tribes will be implemented at various points during the entirety of the project, as previously agreed upon.

Behind the scenes, the company is facing a daunting task. Not only do each of the four tribes involved in the occupation have their own set of demands, but there are also as many as 35 different sub-communities within the tribes taking part in the occupation, and each have their own interests and requests they want met.

Activists face arrest

Pressure is building on multiple fronts. Construction of the dam ramped up earlier this year, and there are strict timetables to get the dam up and running by late 2014.

Aside from the indigenous protest, several other tense issues surrounding the dam are coalescing at the same time.

In Altamira, the closest city to the dam site, 11 people – all unaffiliated with the indigenous protest now occurring – are fighting arrest warrants after being accused of helping organise an anti-dam protest earlier in June that the dam builders say led to property damage. Local TV channels have been airing video of broken windows and the burning of office equipment at the construction site.

The activists facing possible arrest all deny they were involved, and say any protests they organised were peaceful and legal. They include, among others, a Catholic priest, a nun, some members of Xingu Vivo Para Sempre – a local anti-dam NGO – as well as a local fisherman featured in an Al Jazeera report in January

Police have an open investigation, and have yet to formally announce if charges will be filed. However, even the threat of jail time has sent a chill through the tight-knit community of local anti-dam activists.

How will it end?

On Thursday, in the city of Altamira, more than 60 of the indigenous occupiers met with a high-level delegation from Brasilia that included the president of Norte Energia.

The meeting lasted nearly four hours, and was closed to the media. The indigenous people discussed their demands to end the protest, but no agreement was reached. Norte Energia said they needed to take the requests back to Brasilia for analysis. A new meeting was set for July 9. In the meantime, the tribes say their occupation will continue. It was also agreed by all sides that work will continue on the parts of the construction site not under the control of the tribes.

"This was a very friendly conversation; the tribe elders are very wise and measured," said Carlos Nascimento, president of Norte Energia, in a brief press conference after the meeting. "There are some young tribesmen that want some improvements, and as much as we can, we will do anything in our power so these kinds of things will not happen again."

The indigenous seemed determined to keep up the fight for as long as it takes. "What we asked for, the dam builders did not give us an answer to, so we will only leave the construction site when they bring an answer to us on paper," Giliardi, from the Juruna tribe, said after the meeting. "And as long as they don't do anything in our communities regarding infrastructure, we are not leaving the occupation."

Meanwhile, more boats loaded with indigenous people are arriving at the protest site every day. It is an indication that this standoff in the Amazon could drag on for days to come.

Earth First! Summer Gathering Update – programme, directions, website and more

It’s only weeks until the Earth First! Summer Gathering begins.
Five days of workshops, info sharing and learning new skills, 1-5 August.

The Earth First Summer Gathering takes place each year to provide a space in which the radical ecology movement can share skills and plan for future campaigns and actions.

Discussions around the importance of community building in inner cities, the state of the anarchist movement and patriarchy in activism.

Skill shares including women's self-defence, researching corporations and navigation.

Campaign round ups from Frack Off! Smash Edo and Luddites 2000 amongst others.

If you have workshops you like to run or discussions you'd like to facilitate then email us at earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net

Full programme.

Camping is on a sliding scale of £30 to £15, pay what is genuinely appropriate.

Food will be from Anarchist Teapot and meal tickets will be £5 a day.

Kids can have separate meals if they want for £3 a day.

There will be a couple of kids spaces, and special workshops being ran for kids. If you’d like to run any kids workshops get in touch at earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net.

If you want you dog to come along then you’re going to have to email us at earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net

And of course there will be entertainment and a bar open in the evenings.

The camp is ½ mile from the Berrington village, and 1 mile from the larger village of Cross Houses.

We encourage non-cycling campers to use public transport if possible as Cross Houses is on a bus route.

BY TRAIN
The nearest train station is Shrewsbury. You can then get the bus to Cross Houses (see below). If coming from a long distance it can sometimes be cheaper to get a ticket to a large station such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Manchester or Crewe and then a separate ticket on to Shrewsbury. Check national rail for train times and prices. If coming from the London direction, it’s generally cheaper to buy a Super Offpeak Return, specifying “London Midland & Arriva only”.

BY BIKE
See here for directions and a map to the camp from Shrewsbury for cyclists and drivers.

BY BUS
When you arrive at Shrewsbury train station, ask someone to point you to the bus station. It’s only a few minutes walk from the train station. The bus service that runs from town to within a mile of Crabapple is the 436 towards Bridgnorth. It runs every hour from 7.40am to 5.40pm with a “late” one at 7.40pm. The journey to Cross Houses is approx 15 mins. You will need to press the stop button when you see the sign for Cross Houses. Some of the services on this route are low-floor accessible buses. Please note that the last bus leaves Shrewsbury at 7.40pm, Monday to Saturday and there are no Sunday bus services. For the bus timetable see here http://shropshire.gov.uk/bustimes/timetable.jsc?timetable=436mfi0412.
The camp itself is about 1 mile from the bus stop. From the bus stop at Cross Houses, walk back towards Shrewsbury past the petrol station (on your right) and take the first left turn signed “Berrington”. After about ½ mile, the road forks at the edge of the village. Take the right turn signposted “Betton Abbots” and we’re about ¼ mile up the road on the right.
If you intend to come by bus but need help getting to and from the bus stop, you can arrange a pick up with us: details will be available nearer the time.

BY TAXI
There is also a taxi rank just outside Shrewsbury train station. Accessible taxis can be got from here.- but it is MUCH cheaper to book a cab from a local company – Comet Cabs 01743 344444, or Vincent Cabs 01743 367777. Vincents also have a booking office just across the road from the station, which is handy if you don’t have a phone to book a cab in advance.

USEFUL LINKS
See here directions and a map to the camp from Shrewsbury for cyclists and drivers.
See a map of where the site is here
See the bus timetable
Directions from places other than Shrewsbury

Earth First! Summer Gathering Collective
earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net

http://earthfirstgathering.weebly.com

Climate Siren activists scale Palace gates Rio+20

Four members of the group Climate Siren, which included Occupy London supporters, chained themselves to Buckingham Palace gates on Saturday 23 June to highlight the biggest threat to our planet, climate change. The activists were there for over 4 hours and the stunt attracted national and international media attention. Their banners included a quote from Prince Charles that the ‘doomsday clock of climate change was ticking ever faster towards midnight,’ and called for 10% annual emissions reductions.

The action was timed to coincide with the end of the Rio+20 Earth Summit on Sustainable Development, which as predicted failed to deliver any binding agreement to put humanity on a path of true sustainability and peace. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on our elected officials to save the planet and the Rio +20 agenda was dominated by corporate interests bent on preventing any deviation from business as usual which will threaten their profits. People power is our only hope for saving the planet and all its inhabitants.

http://climate-siren.com/