CITIZEN
INSPECTIONS

Bangor Sub Base
February 26 1998:  a Citizens' Weapons Inspection Team visits the Bangor Washington submarine base

Bath Iron Works
February 28 1998:  a Citizens' Nuclear Weapons Inspection Team visits Bath Iron Works in Bath Maine for the launch of the USS O'Kane

Davis Monthan Air Force Base
March 1 1998:  a Citizens'  Inspection Team is denied access to Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson Arizona

Livermore Lab
March 5 1998:  five United Nations Citizens arrested after demanding access to the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Laboratory in California to search for weapons of mass destruction

Los Alamos Lab
 a Citizens' Verification Team denied access to Los Alamos Lab

Project E.L.F.
April 24 1998:  last 4 of 21 members of the January 18 1998 Citizens' Inspection Team at Project ELF adjudged guilty

International:

Coulport and Faslane
March 3 1998:  the International Weapons Inspectorate visits Clyde Naval Base in Scotland

Albemarle
April 26 1998:  the Nuclear Weapons Inspectorate (Northumbria) visits Albemarle Barracks Secure Vehicle Compound in Great Britain

Egozi Air Base
the Israeli Citizens' Verification Team, equipped with geiger counter, visits a no-longer-secret nuclear missile base

Kleine Brogel
March 18 1998:  a Citizens' Nuclear Weapons Inspection Team visits the Belgian NATO air base at Klein Brogel

The antecedents for what we call in this issue, "Citizen Inspections" are many, and even predate the July, 1996 Advisory Opinion on nuclear weapons of the International Court of Justice, now a cornerstone for such actions.  Since then, activists in several countries have adopted the model.  Many share the perspective that in the absence of a recognized means to enforce such international judgments, individuals are responsible to begin the task, and first by identifying the sites and elements of the crimes against humanity.

For want of a universally adopted expression, other names recently associated with like actions include Civil Inspection Team, War Crimes Investigation, Honorary Marshals of the International Court of Justice, Citizens' Weapons Inspection Team, and Citizen Verification Team.

Citizen inspections are characterized by the public act of seeking to discover or verify reports of military activity contrary to understood principles of international humanitarian law.  Typically, the military activity involves planning, designing, building, testing and/or deploying weapons of mass or indiscriminate destruction.  Citizen inspectors usually justify their attempted entry into secure or secret military offices, laboratories, bases or test sites by an appeal to the same body of international law that the United Nations relies upon to justify the challenge to state sovereignty embodied, for example, in the present U.N. weapons inspection teams operating in Iraq.

Recently, the tragic irony of growing U.S. threats of a massive attack on Iraq over the issue of weapons of mass destruction helped move several groups to build on this developing model for nonviolent direct action.  The first purposefully planned international citizen's inspection in the United States occurred at Project ELF in Wisconsin, last January 18. (See citizens' inspection: Project ELF)

For more information,contact the following groups or people regarding the actions:

Project ELF: Laurentian Shield Resources for Nonviolence, 12833E Hwy 13, Maple WI 54854 (715)364-8533, e-mail: laurentiannv@igc.org

Sub Base Bangor: End the Arms Race, 405-825 Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 1K9, Canada, (604)687-3223, e-mail: info@peacewire.org

Bath Iron Works: Sean Donahue, New Hampshire Peace Action, POB 771, Concord, NH 03302, e-mail:nhpeaceact@igc.org

Davis Monthan AFB: CIT, c/o the Nuclear Resister, POB 43383, Tucson, AZ 85733, (520)323-8697,e-mail: nukeresister@igc.org

Livermore Lab: Tri-Valley CAREs, 5720 East Ave. #116, Livermore, CA 94550, (510) 443-7148, e-mail: marylia@igc.org

Los Alamos Lab: Los Alamos Study Group, 212 E. Marcy St. #7, Santa Fe, NM 87501. (505)982-7747, e-mail: lasg@igc.org

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