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| These are regular editorials
produced alongside the corresponding issues on Nonviolent
News. |
Also in this editorial:
The June referendum result in the Republic on the Lisbon
treaty dealt a severe blow to many EU planners who thought it was all systems
go for a blueprint which had already been rejected in other countries when it
was an ‘EU constitution’. The result (53.4% voting ‘no’), and its aftermath,
raises many questions about democracy as well as about the nature of the EU and
the direction it is heading. We wanted to focus primarily on aspects to do with
democracy though we are extremely concerned about the increased militarisation
of the EU and the ongoing undermining of Irish neutrality, such as it is (see Afri
and PANA pamphlets mentioned in NN 159)..
We live, in the EU, in ‘representative democracies’, that
is, representatives are elected periodically to a parliament. There is much
about this which is positive though governments can still do the bidding of
business or other elites. But this is only a small part of what democracy is
about. Democracy is also about civil society, the work and pressures of NGOs
and the campaigning groups who seek to influence governments and get different
decisions made. Under the system of representative democracy, governments are
elected to make decisions and sometimes make difficult decisions; if the
decisions they make are unpopular, and/or people mobilise against them, they
can find themselves either changing policies or rejected at the next election. But
given that it is usually the next election before people can exercise their
decision on the government, the system is somewhat imprecise and lagging in
when judgement day comes.
It would also be foolish to say that ‘the majority is always
right’. But there have been ample number of occasions when the majority has
been right and the government has been clearly wrong – take Tony Blair’s
backing of George Bush in the current Iraq war. Governments, if they are to
govern wisely, need to take the majority of people with them. This, also, is a
fundamental of democracy; on important issues, governments have to bring enough
people with them and/or persuade waverers subsequently that they were right. Clearly
the majority of people in the EU are not being taken along with Lisbon treaty
plans and numerous countries would reject it were it put to a popular vote. To
imagine that the Lisbon process is therefore ‘democratic’ in any meaningful
sense is therefore nonsense; it might be legal, it might be backed by most
countries’ governments, but that does not make it democratic. And the EU has a
very particular form of democratic deficit. Proponents of the Lisbon treaty
argued that it would have made the EU more accountable but it would also have
made it more centralised and, as it happened, it was rejected in Ireland just
as the EU constitution had been rejected elsewhere, in France and the Netherlands.
Ireland is a small country in the EU and world arena. It is
partly its smallness which allows the architects of the Lisbon treaty to think
they can continue almost regardless. What is even more remarkable about the
Irish ‘no’ is that the Republic is one of the most pro-EU countries going,
based on Eurobarometer figures. This makes the referendum judgement even more
dramatic; it was not a ‘no’ by people who are generally disenchanted and fed up
with the EU, it was a ‘no’ by people who have been supportive of it and have
also benefitted from it economically.
There are some countries who use a referendum model of
decision making on certain important issues, or, as in the case of the
Republic, issues which affect the constitution. The yes/no referendum is a very
imprecise and blunt instrument; the only options you have are to vote yes, vote
no, spoil your ballot paper, or not vote at all, and the last two options,
while indicating something, do not count in the actual decision. That said, the
fact that it exists, for example, prevented Fianna Fail in the 1950s and 1960s
from introducing the ‘first past the post’ electoral system and doing away with
the Irish use of Proportional Representation; the proposed change would have benefitted
Fianna Fail massively, as the largest political party, and further
underrepresented smaller parties, but the people rejected it decisively in the
second referendum on the issue.
There are, however, ways to have a more precise picture of
where people stand, and, as importantly, what compromises they are prepared to
accept. The modified Borda count or preferendum (see http://www.deborda.org/votingsys.shtml ) is an excellent way to identify the option which gains most support across
the board with the democratic advantage that all options are included.
Democratic debate would be fostered by such a voting procedure. Of course it
would be more difficult for a government to engineer the result it wants, which
is certainly an advantage – but then, as the recent referendum showed, it can
also backfire on them.
Democracy has been tried in the Republic and found wanting
by EU planners who wish to carry on regardless. The EU faces the danger of not
only ending up with a militaristic, neo-liberal state with fortress borders but
of being singularly out of touch with its peoples who then would become subject
peoples. A fundamental rethink is necessary of where the EU part of Europe is
going. The Irish ‘no’ should act as a catalyst for that rethink and not be
regarded simply as a bump in the road that has already been mapped out. The
Republic may have been the only country to have had a vote but it spoke for
many people of many political shades. Anything less than a complete rethink is
simply undemocratic.
The trail of six of the Raytheon 9, and their acquittal in Belfast,
is an important victory for those who wish to build a peaceful Northern Ireland
in a broad sense – one not exploiting the opportunity to gain jobs and earn
money through the arms trade and international exploitation and violence. The
trial was transferred from Derry to Belfast because the state wanted to have
them found guilty – the chance of that happening in Derry was negligible – and
still they prevailed with their defence that an action which might otherwise be
a crime, in order to prevent a greater crime, is not a crime. Their action was
taken at the time of Israeli military action in Lebanon, including the massacre
at Qana.
The legal outcome of such an action is always uncertain, and
a pending trial like this is very draining. There has been considerable
duplicity regarding the work done by Raytheon in Derry – including from
politicians, but the action and trial, despite an amazing lack of media
coverage, has helped throw at least some broader light on the murky world of
Raytheon. The defendants have now been found not guilty by a jury of their Belfast
peers and this is good news for the struggle against Raytheon’s presence in Derry
and good news for nonviolent direct action in general. Along with the acquittal
of the Shannon Catholic Worker Five for damaging a US warplane, it provides
important evidence that both North and South, damage to war-related property in
nonviolent direct action may not be considered a crime when the men and women
of the jury get to consider the evidence.
Eco-Awareness Eco-Awareness
Larry Speight brings us his monthly column:
People who live in the rich world, which is the world in
which the average household throws one bag of food out of every three they buy
into the bin, are inclined think that climate change is something for future
generations to deal with. However, an international report on the effects of
climate change (The Guardian, 15 May) informs us that climate change is
affecting ecosystems on every continent, and is responsible for 90% of
environmental damage. Cynthia Rosenzweig, one of the authors of the report, is
of the view that climate change “is already changing the way the world works.”
The change in the way the world works is evident in our
daily lives. From April 2007 to April 2008 the price of oil in the UK rose by
17%, the price of food by 6.9%, and the price of electricity in Northern
Ireland rose by 14% on the 1st July, with another rise promised later in the
year. The price of heating oil is 84% higher than a year ago. What will the
situation be like for the average household if, as widely expected, the price
of oil rises to $200 a barrel sometime in 2009?
Not only is Ireland, north and south, one of the most
oil-depended countries in the world, we are also heavily depended on the import
of food, raw materials and manufactured goods.
If you want to gauge our level of dependency on the rest of
the world read the labels on the things in your home and place of work to see
where they were produced. Your tea is likely to be from Sri Lanka, your coffee
from Kenya, bananas from Central America, and strawberries from California. The
list of the countries we depend on for food, juices, wines, herbs, oils and
flavours would fill the pages of a book. With regards manufactured goods, 80%
are made in China. In addition, our high standard of living in large part rests
on slave labour in the poor world. Think of clothes. (See: The Observer,
22.6.08)
Our dependencies mean that we on this small island are in a
very vulnerable position. If a small number of eco / economic systems that
provide us with key produce were too simultaneously collapse we would very
quickly face starvation. Another reason why we would face starvation is because
‘the just in time’ delivery service the supermarkets rely on leaves every town
and city in the British Isles with only 3 days supply of food in stock.
In consideration of the thin-ice on which the edifice of
modern society stands we would be wise to completely rethink how we organise
the business of living and what we image the future will be like. Since the
industrial revolution the idea of the future that almost everyone subscribed to
is that of material progress, leading to improvements in the quality of life.
This has largely been true for people in the rich world, and was made possible
by cheap oil.
The days of cheap oil are over. This is something
politicians are reluctant to acknowledge as seen by President Bush and Prime
Minister Gordon Brown recently asking Saudi Arabia to increase its output of
oil, and as always, talking about what can be done to increase economic growth
in their respective countries. Denial does not change reality.
The only way to ensure that our basic needs will be met in
the coming years is to become self-sufficient, environmentally sensitive, and
to let go of desires to have ever more things, including overseas holidays. We
need to learn how to grow and process food, mend and share, and live without
reliance on private fossil-fuel vehicles. The urgency of our situation requires
that we begin the transition to self-reliance and environmental care without
delay.
by Mark Chapman
Monday 16th June saw a useful day of witnessing and
protesting against Bush’s presence in Belfast with a well-attended rally at the
City Hall which closed down Donegall Square North for a couple of hours, a few
of us delivered Citizen’s Complaints to the PSNI outlining some of Bush’s war
crimes and requesting his immediate arrest, and then another rally closing down
the main Stormont gates so that Bush had to scuttle in the side entrance to
glad hand the obsequious few there.
It had been announced in advance that Bush had been invited
to Loughview Integrated Primary School later in the afternoon so Ciaron and I
went along too to provide an antidote to this malaise. We were on motorbike and
all traffic was being stopped on the road to the school and within minutes all
traffic was cleared off the main Ballygowan Road. We were told to park up and
were trying to pick a good vantage point to hold our banner when we were told
by a police officer that we would not be allowed to hold the banner and to hand
it over. We refused and walked off and shortly a PSNI landrover pulled up and 4
riot police (Tactical Support Group) came over. Two of them came up to me and
said I was going to be searched under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The use of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 has become
increasingly controversial. It bestows exceptional powers on the police to stop
and search at random, once a particular geographical area has been designated
by a chief officer as one that might be targeted by terrorists, and authorised
as such by the Home Secretary. (Times, 3/10/2005).
We were held by these TSG, Ciaron on the ground and me
against a fence, until Bush’s convoy had passed by. We then continued walking
towards the school, along Church Road and were stopped about 200 yards from the
school.
We had been joined by Ann and Phil and some TSG agreed to us
holding the banner on the footpath there. Soon more senior TSG officers arrived
and started frogmarching us down Church Road again towards Ballygowan Road. I
soon got tired of being pushed and cajoled like this and sat down. I was then
carried by the officers into a residential side road and told that I was being
arrested and would be charged with disorderly conduct, obstruction and
resisting arrest. I tried to use my phone but this was taken off me and I was
handcuffed. A local resident came by and asked me if she could phone anybody
for me and she was told to go into her house by the officers.
Ann, Ciaron and Phil were also corralled away from Church
Road while the convoy came back down from the school although Ciaron managed
to show his opposition and as he reported on indymedia.ie…
The cops weren't going to let us stand at the side of the
road and began frog marching me and the two others across the road. As I
reached the other side I attempted to fling the replica coffin back on the road
where Bush would pass. These new cops got pretty excited and a whole bunch of
them landed on me and went into restraint holds. I tried speaking to them calmly,
reassuring them it was a wooden replica wooden coffin not an IED.
From the bottom of the human pile I told them who Casey
Sheehan had been and about meeting his mother and of all the other folks
American, British and Iraq who had lost loved ones in Bush's war. I saw a
glimpse of the Presidential convoy pass. They got off me, detained me,
eventually released me and that's the last I think I'll ever see of George W
Bush. He never came to Europe before he was President and I can't see him
coming again.
I was taken to the PSNI station and released at about 8pm after being informed I would be reported to the PPS for their decision on prosecution.
I don’t expect to hear anymore about it but intend to report it to the
appropriate organisations and follow up on their advice.
In response to me reporting these events on local radio the
following morning, the local resident who had tried to help while I was
handcuffed had also been witnessing against Bush with her son on Church Road.
She came on the radio to say that that a placard on which was written ‘No to
all Bush wars’ was ripped out of her hands by a police officer. When asked why
he’d taken it, he replied , ‘They don’t want that kind of thing here’! So much
for civil liberties and the right to protest!
Colin Craig writes about applying TIDES’ learning from Northern
Ireland in Zimbabwe -
From just about every perspective the current situation in Zimbabwe
is disastrous for just about all of the population. The entire political,
social and economic infrastructure is under severe duress. Inflation is running
at around 7000%. Human Rights across their entire spectrum have been violated
and eroded. With the debacle of the current political situation, there is a
deep fear that inter-community and inter-tribal violence in the face of such
political corruption may become inevitable.
In Spring of 2004, following a consultation within Oikosnet,
which is the umbrella structure for the global ecumenical Christian movement,
Colin Craig of TIDES Training, Northern Ireland, was asked to help design a skills
based conflict management programme. The programme that was developed is
entitled Dialogue for Peaceful Change [DPC]. The programme developed was built
off the Conflict Management training programmes that we had been developing in
TIDES Training, in Northern Ireland, for the previous four years. From the
outset the programme operated in close collaboration with a Dutch based NGO
called Oikos that focuses primarily on informing the Dutch public on
Development Aid issues.
In late 2006, Mr Langton Kuveya, the current President of
the African Council of Lay Centres and Academies [ACCLA] who is also the
Training Director of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches [ZCC] asked could we look
at bringing the DPC training to Zimbabwe.
It was agreed that the programme would bring together a
collaboration of the ZCC as the co-ordinating group for the main Protestant Church
denominations, the Zimbabwe Catholics Bishops Conference [ZCBC] and the
Zimbabwe Evangelical Alliance [ZEA].
In the current situation the Churches, are one of the few
remaining and functioning expressions of civil society. Ironically given our
own Northern history here in Zimbabwe the Churches have been able to put aside
their doctrinal differences and have built and active coalition to work
together to collective make some impact on this socio-political crisis.
In June of 2007 we ran a pilot Training of Facilitators
programme [ToF] at Victoria Falls.
This pilot programme would have four distinct learning
objectives:
Understanding the nature of conflict that enables participants consider
their own understanding of their cultural and personal experience of conflict.
Develop an enhanced conceptual framework that provides the participants
with new models through which to deepen their understanding of conflict, peace
and social transformation.
Provide a new Tool Kit that adds to the participants knowledge and skill
sets in order to enhance their work in conflict situations within the
community, their family and their church
Build confidence in the models and tools through application and practice
through scenario work based on a balance of conflict scenarios from both an
international and Zimbabwean context.
In the end we had 28 participants from across the
inter-church partnership. Eight of the group were involved at a senior level of
their Churches, 14 were part of either the ZCC, ZEA or the ZCBC programme
officer staff and 6 were parish based pastors.
Clearly and critical to the development of any future
programme was whether the DPC methodology would translate across into the
Zimbabwean political and cultural context. DPC had already piloted a programme
in Ghana in November of 2006 that had been very strongly endorsed but given the
current “melt-down” of normal society in relation to economics, health and
education this could not be presumed.
Any concerns we may have had were dispelled fairly quickly
as the programme rolled out. A number of points emerged from the participant’s
evaluation.
Carrying the endorsement of the Church Leadership was critical.
The leadership not only had to assess it to be a credible programme but
had to experience it directly to fully endorse the programme
It was important to draw extensively on local experiences through
scenarios to build up the practical understanding of how to apply the programme
It was important to shape the scenario groups to give some emphasis
towards practitioners and Church Leaders respectively
It was important for the training team to draw directly on their
experiences of using the methodology for us also to be credible. It doesn’t
matter as much that the material is strong conceptually [although this is
obviously important] but it is through the Trainers ability to not only deliver
the material in a accessible and interesting way but that they most also be
able to evidence using it. Do as I say and not as I do, does not work.
Following the pilot programme that had established the
validity of the programme to support the combined coalition of the ZCC, ZCBC
and the ZEA seeking to become agents of learning we needed to then work with
the partnerships groups to establish a number of key learning targets.
Together with the ZCC now acting as the agreed Zimbabwean
co-ordinator we agreed that the core aims of the project are: -
To develop capacity within the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and
partnering Churches and organisations using DPC as a proven method for Peacebuilding
and Conflict Management
Over the life of the project to recruit and train 480 facilitators from
across all the Churches in Zimbabwe and other Civil Society NGO’s in the
methodology, skills and practise of Dialogue for Peaceful Change
To provide clear and transparent pathways for committed facilitators to
apply to become a trainer in the methodology
Over the life of the project to recruit and train 20 trainers in the
methodology, skills and practise of Dialogue for Peaceful Change
To develop core training materials which can be easily accessed,
translated, reproduced and used by Facilitators and Trainers to support the
training
To develop and encourage partnerships between ZCC and other DPC hub
centres working in the field of Peace building and Conflict Transformation
across the world
To develop ZCC as a centres of excellence in Zimbabwe which can operate
as a ‘hub’ centre for Dialogue for Peaceful Change for this region of Africa
The journey to come to this agreement and plan was more than
two years in the making. Such is the nature of all of us who work for practical
peacebuilding, it takes sometimes only a little time to set back such effort
and commitments.
Ironically as I write this article in Northern Ireland, the
DPC team should actually have been in Zimbabwe training on a ToF programme. The
current political crisis has made that impossible and we have rescheduled our
next training for September 2008. Their situation is desperate, with most
people working on perhaps one meal per day. The people, we have met from across
the political parties, do not want more violence. They know in their hearts the
deeper pain and destruction this will visit on them all. Their resilience
against turning to civil violence has been remarkable. However the crushing
economic reality cannot be sustained and it is time for the African Union to be
more interventionist in their approach. Zimbabwe needs our help.
We have been set back but all of those we are working with
in Zimbabwe remain determined to see this programme become a living, breathing
reality. They know deeply of the place that resilience and hope lives
undiminished. This remains a journey with lots of surprises and uncertainties
yet to unfold. Then, I suppose we all know something of that in Northern
Ireland too.
Soliman M. Santos, Jr, Coordinator of the non-governmental
Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines (PCBL) attended the Dublin Cluster Bomb
treaty conference. In this 8-page article he gives a comprehensive overview of
the conference, treaty, and the way ahead.
PDF format (121 kb)
Rich Text Format (104 kb)
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