The first phase of Trident Ploughshares 2000 (TP2000), an open campaign to prevent nuclear war crimes by the nonviolent direct disarmament of the British nuclear arsenal, has wrapped up in Scotland. During two weeks of the initial action camp outside the Coulport nuclear weapons station north of Glasgow, there were over 100 arrests at Coulport and the nearby Faslane base, homeport of the (soon-to-be) four-sub British nuclear fleet. Six people remain in Scottish jails awaiting hearings in late September, including one Australian man, two Finnish women, and a Dutch woman. The campaign continues now with affinity groups responsible for their own actions over the next 17 months, at the Faslane and Coulport bases plus Trident-related sites including command, control, communications and intelligence networks around the country.

British Government Put On Notice

In early May, international press conferences put the British government on notice that if a commitment to disarm Trident by the year 2000 was not forthcoming by August 11, 1998, then the 97 international activists currently pledged to the campaign would undertake their responsibility for the tasks of disarmament. An appointed TP2000 negotiating team wrote letters to government and military officials outlining the campaign and the foundation for citizen disarmament initiatives in international law. A Scottish affinity group wrote to all the High Court judges in their country, challenging them to face up to their judicial responsibility to consider what action they can take against the state when it is shown to be guilty of illegal behavior, and pointing out that if official channels are exhausted, the activists will be involved in "what would normally be classified as violations of the law," and will begin the disarming work themselves.

In the weeks preceding the action camp, For Mother Earth sponsored an international peace walk from the Nuclear Weapons Abolition Days events in Belgium. Thirty walkers from nine countries traversed the length of Great Britain to arrive at Faslane Peace Camp by Nagasaki Day, August 9, while another 20 walkers from Romania, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Russia and Belarus were refused entry to Belgium to join the walk.

"Open Season" on Trident

Over 200 activists joined the kick-off demonstration at the Faslane base gate on August 11. Street theater included a metal model of Trident that a blacksmith forged into the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament symbol (known as the peace sign in the United States). A final public plea to the base commander to uphold his duty to law and solidarity with the human race by issuing orders to begin dismantling the illegal nuclear weapons system was met with silence. "Open season" on Trident was then declared.

The first few days brought fifteen arrests as small groups of British campaigners attempted to cut their way through the fence at Faslane, block traffic at Coulport, and ritually "cleanse the base" with floods of multi-colored, environmentally sensitive detergent poured downhill through the gate (a cooperative effort of Catholics, Episcopalians and Presbyterians).

TP2000 core group member Angie Zelter was the only person among this initial group held in jail, for failing to appear at a court hearing connected to the alleged requisitioning of a military police motor boat at Coulport last March. (Zelter and three other women took the boat around the peninsula to inspect for nuclear weapons at Faslane.) Zelter was released Friday, August 14, after proving that she had court permission not to attend the hearing.

Earlier Friday morning, women cut through two security fences at Coulport before being arrested, and three Swedish men, including a priest, were arrested after cutting a large hole in the Faslane fence on their way to disarm. "What kind of morality do we express by possessing nuclear weapons or by not resisting them?" asked one of the men, Klaus Engell. "Love your enemies!" The Swedes were jailed over the weekend.

Scottish CND Demo

The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament hosted a major demonstration Saturday, August 15. Former CND chair Janet Bloomfield brought greetings from the recent protest at Trident subbase Bangor, Washington, which she had attended. For Mother Earth press spokesman Pol D'Huyvetter invited the civilian and military police to organize themselves and stop obeying illegal orders, as is their right and civic duty under the Nuremberg Principles. He encouraged such action with reference to a group of police in Germany who last year refused to guard the nuclear waste at Gorleben on similar grounds. Fourteen more arrests were made for various attempts to disrupt or disarm the nuclear war base.

On Sunday, Australian brother and sister Jens and Anja Light were arrested after entering the Faslane base to demand that the commanding officer begin disarming the Trident fleet.

A few hours later, the security fence was breached in fourteen places during a long blockade at the Coulport base. At least 37 intruding disarmers were arrested, a few for the third time during the week.

Seven were again held overnight pending the first arraignments in nearby Helensburgh on Monday, August 17. St. Michael's Episcopal church was drafted by the court in the absence of another suitable venue for the supporting crowd. The justice of the peace handling the hearing tried to impose a bail condition barring the accused from within 25 meters of Faslane or Coulport, but when no one accepted the condition, it was withdrawn. Trial dates in January and March, 1999 were set.

Other arrests at the two bases brought the total to 60 by the end of the day, and several people arrested after a mass intrusion at Coulport were jailed until Wednesday.

Swimmers With Hammers

In the wee hours of Tuesday, while some members of the Titanic Trident affinity group tried to enter Faslane through the fence, three others donned wetsuits and fins for a swim across the Gare Loch and perhaps a few hammer blows at the docked Trident HMS Vigilant. Katri Silvonen, from Finland, Rick Springer from the United States and Krista van Velzen from the Netherlands were plucked from the water near the berthed submarine, inside the inflatable security booms protecting the docks. They were jailed overnight until another arraignment at the church on Wednesday.

At Coulport on Tuesday, two women were arrested after an hour of painting bright, five foot high letters on the perimeter fence, spelling out "Trident is Illegal - ICJ 1996" "Disarm Now" and "Site of Crime."

Several trial dates have been set for January through March, 1999.

On Wednesday, August 19, classical viol recording artist Amelia Benjamin of Venus' Birds quartet inspired resisters with a Bach solo at the Faslane gate before being arrested for breach of peace and resisting arrest. There were a handful of other arrests but as many disarmament tools had been confiscated by police over the past few days, re-outfitting was on the agenda. Also on the agenda was the second mass arraignment at St. Michael's. Charges against the Coulport resisters jailed since Monday were dropped and they were released. The three swimming disarmers were released with standard bail conditions and trials set separately in September, October, and November.

On Thursday the total number of arrests topped 100. The Australian siblings joined Angie Zelter in cutting through the Faslane security fence. After spending the night in jail, Anja Light posted bail but her brother Jens and TP2000 organizer Angie Zelter were remanded until September 22. In court Thursday, the three Swedish men were released again despite a third breach of bail conditions resulting in arrest.

Early Friday morning, August 12, Sylvia Boyes and Rachel Wenham were arrested inside Coulport base. Prior to her arrest, Boyes said, "I am going to continue my disarmament actions in order to uphold international law because a crime is being committed against humanity. If the government won't disarm Trident it's up to responsible citizens to uphold the law." Boyes and Wenham were refused bail and remanded for five days until trial.

Serge Levaillayer from Cherbourg in France was fined £50 for breaching the peace. Continuing his tradition of holding a vigil every Friday outside the construction yard in Cherbourg where France builds its nuclear submarines, the retired schoolteacher had been singing as he vigiled outside the Coulport gate.

On Sunday night, August 23, Katri Silvonen and Krista van Velzen again swam across Gare Loch in their wetsuits and nearly boarded the docked Trident with their bolt-cutters, hammers, and sirup before being apprehended. Silvonen told supporters as she departed for the Loch, "If they send me to join the three other women in a Scottish jail, I can only say they arrest the wrong people." Van Velzen added, "We have no doubt that this Ploughshares movement is going to force Westminster to fulfill its commitment under Article VI of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty by the year 2000. Neither the people of the U.K., nor the global community, want these costly weapons of mass destruction. It is time to invest this waste of money and resources into meeting real social needs."

Surprisingly, the women were both again released the next day, while another repeat disarmer, Helen John, was remanded to join the other women in prison until a trial September 29. Also on Monday, a Citizens' Complaint was filed in Dumbarton Sheriff's Court against members of the U.K. government and British nuclear weapons' industry employees. The complaint was drafted with the assistance of the World Court Project, which had brought the case before the International Court of Justice resulting in the 1996 ruling against the use and possession of nuclear weapons.

Hanna Jarvinen, also from Finland, joined Silvonen and van Velzen to return a third time to Faslane, equipped with hand tools to disarm the Trident control room. They were arrested and released for the third time on Tuesday morning, when the prosecutor dropped all charges against them.

The three women's fourth attempt resulted in their arrests inside Faslane after cutting through the fence late Tuesday night, August 25. Appearing in court again Wednesday morning, they were finally remanded until late September court dates. Asked if she was aware she could go to Scottish Women's Prison in Cornton Vale, van Velzen replied, "Yes, I understand. But you've got the wrong people."

On Sunday night, August 30, in the first post-camp disarmament attempt, Ian Thompson was arrested while cutting his way through the Coulport fence. In court on Wednesday, September 2, Thompson was also remanded to Greenock Prison until a hearing on September 23.

The TP2000 camp will convene again November 6-8 for the first of quarterly gatherings and mass ploughshares actions to follow. Meanwhile, all Trident related sites across the U.K. are now susceptible to direct disarmament actions, according to TP2000 guidelines.

For more information, contact Trident Ploughshares 2000, 42-46 Bethel St., Norwich, Norfolk NR2 1NR, England, UK, phone +44(0)1603-611953, email: reforest@gn.apc.org

Letters of support may be sent individually to Hanna Jarvinen, Helen John, Katri Silvonen, Krista van Velzen, and Angie Zelter, HMP Cornton Vale, Cornton Road, Stirling, FK9 5NY, Scotland, UK;
and to Jens Light and Ian Thompson, HMP Greenock, Gateside, Greenock PA16 9AH, Scotland, UK.