International conference against US/NATO military bases, Dublin The first International Conference Against US/NATO Military Bases organised by a newly formed Global Campaign Against US/NATO Military Bases is taking place at Liberty Hall, central Dublin, from 16th – 18th November. There are more than 1,000 of these bases in over 170 countries, and they have been used as pillars of US/NATO wars of aggression around the world. They have also been responsible for tremendous environmental destruction in the areas where they are located.
In January of this year US American peace groups came together in Baltimore, Maryland to discuss their concerns about US Foreign military bases. Following meetings with other peace movements around the world, it was decided to hold the First International Conference Against US/NATO Military Bases in Ireland, hosted by the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA). John Lannon represented Shannonwatch and PANA at the Baltimore conference and expressed his concerns about the use of Shannon Airport by the US military. Ireland, once respected at UN level as a neutral nation, as now one of the countries with a de facto US military base. See John Lannon's contribution to the Baltimore conference - this includes an excellent analysis of the Irish and EU situation on military developments.
Those speaking and inputting at the conference include Roger Cole, Chair, Peace and Neutrality Alliance:
Bahman Azad, Coordinator, Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases, USA; Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD, Clare Daly TD; Ed Horgan, International Secretary, Peace and Neutrality Alliance; Dr. Aleida Guevara, Member of Cuban National Assembly, Cuba; Socorro Gomes, President, World Peace Council; Thanassis Pafilis, Member of Greek Parliament; General Secretary of WPC; Alfred L. Marder, President, U.S. Peace Council; Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate; Ann Wright, Veterans For Peace, CodePink; John Lannon, Member of the Executive, PANA, Founding Member, Shannonwatch; MK Aida Touma-Sliman, President, Peace and Solidarity Committee, Israel; Dave Webb, Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), UK; Moara Crivelente, Member of the Executive, CEBRAPAZ, Brazil; Chris Nineham, Chair, Stop the War Coalition, UK; Paola Renada Gallo Peláez, President, MOPASSOL, Argentina; Dr. Zuhal Okuyan, Chairwoman, Peace Committee of Turkey; Joe Lombardo, Co-Coordinator, United National Antiwar Coalition, USA; Kristine Karch, Stop Air Base Ramstein, Germany; Iraklis Tsavaridis, Executive Secretary, World Peace Council, Greece; Gerry Condon, President, Veterans For Peace, USA: Hideki Yoshikawa, Director, Okinawa Environmental Justice Project, Okinawa; Milan Krajca, Chairman, Czech Peace Movement; Dr. Zuhal Okuyan, Chairwoman, Peace Committee of Turkey; Silvio Platero, President, MOVPAZ, Cuba; Myriam Parada Avila, Executive Director, School of Peace Foundation, Colombia; Paola Renada Gallo Peláez, President, MOPASSOL, Argentina; Hiroji Yamashiro, Director, Okinawa Peace Action Center, Okinawa, Japan; Teddy Casiño, Former Member of Congress, Philippines; Anette Brownlie, Chairperson, IPAN, Australia; Dr. Issam Makhoul, Chair, Emil Touma Institute, Israel; Medea Benjamin, Founder, CODEPINK, USA; Dr. Akel Taqaz, Coordinator, Palestinian Committee for Peace and Solidarity; Ilda Figueiredo, Chair, Conselho Português para a Paz e Cooperação, Portugal; Frank Keoghan, Chair, People's Movement, Ireland; Ajamu Baraka, Black Alliance for Peace, USA; Anne Atambo, President, WILPF Kenya; Chris Matlhako, South African Peace Initiative.
The full programme of the Dublin conference is available at http://nousnatobases.org/conference-program and you can register at http://nousnatobases.org where options range upwards from a ‘no lunch’ rate of €10. The PANA website is at https://www.pana.ie Information on this conference appeared in the last issue but this piece contains more up to date and detailed information.
Afri moves around the corner Afri has moved around a couple of corners in Phibsborough, Dublin, to a new office at 8 Cabra Road, Phibsborough, Dublin 7, D07 T1W2 so it is no longer at 134 Phibsborough Road. The new office is almost immediately after St Peter’s Church if you are coming along the North Circular Road out of the city. The phone number has also changed to 01 - 8384204. The web address is http://www.afri.ie
Another 50 photos of Afri past activities have been added to the Afri photo album on the INNATE Flickr site, see and click on ‘Afri’.
MII new president Margaret Considine replaced Sabine Walsh as president of the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland (MII) at the annual conference in Blanchardstown in mid-October which was attended by 170 delegates. Sabine Walsh said “The key focus and highlight of my presidency was, of course, the enactment and commencement of the Mediation Act 2017 after many years of lobbying. This has given mediation the legal recognition and robustness it deserves and will undoubtedly shape the future of mediation practice in Ireland. I am confident that the Institute will continue to go from strength to strength, remain the go-to institution for mediators in Ireland under the chairmanship of Margaret Considine and I wish her every success in her new role.” The Mediators’ Institute of Ireland is the professional association for Mediators in Ireland. It is a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to promote the use of quality mediation by ensuring the highest standards of education, training, professional practice and regulation. http://www.themii.ie
Shared Future Shared Future News is an online publication dedicated to providing news, information, and personal stories on the topics of peacebuilding, reconciliation, and diversity. Posts are published at least once weekly. It seeks to develop peace journalism in the province of Ulster, by providing depth and context to peacebuilding activities in Northern Ireland and the border counties. Its vision is a shared Northern Irish society where peace is improved by reporters and storytellers. See http://sharedfuture.news If you would like to write for Shared Future News, or have any other query, then please contact Allan Leonard at editor@sharedfuture.news
Front Line Defenders a winner of UN Human Rights prize Front Line Defenders was named in October as one of the four winners of the 2018 United Nations Human Rights Prize. The other three winners are Ms. Rebeca Gyumi (Tanzania), Ms. Joênia Wapichana (Joênia Batista de Carvalho) (Brazil) and the family of Ms. Asma Jahangir (Pakistan), who died earlier this year. In a statement, Front Line Defenders said they dedicate this Prize to “human rights defenders at risk (HRDs) around the world, who struggle every day to advance and defend the rights for their communities. In its work in providing resources for the protection and security of HRDs, Front Line Defenders has worked with incredibly brave and resilient activists, who inspire and shine a light in often dark places.” Front Line Defenders was founded in 2001 to provide rapid and practical support for the security and protection for human rights defenders at risk, including protection grants; training and capacity building in physical and digital security and strategic communications/visibility; international advocacy; rest and respite; emergency hotline for HRDs in imminent danger; and campaigning. Each year, Front Line Defenders provides support to over 2,000 HRDs at risk around the world. For more information, see http://www.frontlinedefenders.org
Brexit to weaken human rights protections in North Research by the BrexitLawNI team has concluded that Brexit will have detrimental consequences for the peace process in Northern Ireland and will weaken human rights and equality protections, according to six interlinked reports unveiled in Queen’s University Belfast in September. One concern is the impact Brexit may have upon North-South cooperation, including the potential for it to divide British and Irish citizens and increase racist immigration enforcement along the border. A second concern is that there is a real danger that Brexit could re-ignite conflict. Other problems flagged up in the reports include the negative impact the UK leaving the EU could have upon equality protections and the international oversight of human rights in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. The full reports are available at https://brexitlawni.org Source: CAJ https://caj.org.uk
ICCL calls for hate crime legislation The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has welcomed the Yes vote in the referendum on blasphemy as an important step for free speech and the modernisation of democracy in Ireland. ICCL is also calling on the Government to take immediate action to coordinate state bodies’ responses to hate- and hostility-based crime and to bring forward legislation to protect from hate- and hostility-based crime. Executive Director of the ICCL, Liam Herrick, said: “During our campaign for a Yes vote, our guiding principle was respect for freedom of expression. However, we have also argued that the right to free speech is not absolute and should be limited to the degree necessary to protect people from hate- and hostility-motivated crime. Hate crime is something which is entirely different to blasphemy as it is directed towards individuals or groups, rather than ideas or institutions. There is no legislation in place to deal with hate crime in Ireland at the moment.” Ireland is obliged by European and international human rights law to have in place a robust framework to respond to and prevent hate- and hostility-based crime. In April ICCL released a report which showed that Ireland is seriously deficient in addressing hate crime when compared to other EU member States; see https://www.iccl.ie/hatecrime
Jubilee Farm Jubilee Farm is buying a 13½ acre site near Larne as a community-owned farm coming from a Christian, creation care background but with a wider vision. There is the opportunity to assist the purchase of the land by buying shares, available from a £50 investment upwards; individuals over 16 or groups and organisations can invest. Jubilee needs a minimum of £110,000, optimally a bit more, by the end of the year. Further details at https://www.jubilee.coop and https://www.facebook.com/jubilee.coop
International Centre for the Arts and Human Rights Based in Dublin, Smashing Times Theatre Company are in the process of establishing an International Centre for the Arts and Human Rights dedicated to the promotion, protection, study and practice of the arts, human rights, and gender equality. The centre will operate as an arts space and digital hub for artists, communities and the general public across Ireland and internationally, providing a resource service and networking agency, and an annual inter-disciplinary arts programme. To support the centre, Smashing Times have launched a new website that will operate as an online centre for the arts and human rights, providing information and welcoming contributions from artists and citizens from Ireland and around the world in relation to the arts and human rights. http://smashingtimes.ie/centrefortheartsandhumanrights
Belfast launch of Troubles cartoon exhibition Community Dialogue’s exhibition “Visual Voices of Norn Irony: Cartoons and the Conflict in Northern Ireland” will have a Belfast launch on Tuesday 20th November at 12.30pm in the Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts, Antrim Road, Belfast. The exhibition consists of 60 panels and can be used to stimulate viewers' thoughts on what was involved and how things were dealt with at the time, as well as where things are going today. It was compiled for Community Dialogue by Rob Fairmichael [the editor of Nonviolent News] in a personal capacity. The exhibition will be on display in Duncairn from 20th – 23rd November. Community Dialogue is an organisation that uses dialogue to transform understanding and build trust amongst people who hold opposing political, social and religious views. For more information please contact Jim O’Neill jim@communitydialogue.org The Community Dialogue website is at http://www.communitydialogue.org
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