20131217 Anti-Drohnen Bewegung formiert sich in Europa

17.12.2013 Anti-Drohnen Bewegung formiert sich in Europa

"BAN WEAPONIZED DRONES" - Anti-drone movement spreads in Europe

Beechcraft MQM-107 Streaker of the Swedish Air Force inflight, cc2.0, Author Milan Nykodym from Kutna Hora, Czech Republic Last week Aktion Freiheit statt Angst was a member of a meeting of the European ant drone movement. The members release the following press statement:

Participants in a demonstration today against the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Stuttgart, Germany, announced a new European anti-drone initiative and presented a statement from civil rights advocates, peace activists and parliamentarians of six European countries, Pakistan, and the USA: "Ban Weaponized Drones!".

AFRICOM is where US secret service and military personnel, working out of Stuttgart, select African targets of US drone strikes. Among those demonstrating against AFRICOM today were Heike Haensel and Annette Groth, both members of the German Bundestag in the Left party, and the well-known US peace activist and drone expert, Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK.

During a visit to Berlin last week, Benjamin met with members and staff of the Social Democratic (SPD), Green, and Left (DIE LINKE) parliamentary groups in the German Bundestag. However, the Christian Democratic (CDU/CSU) parliamentary group and Chancellor Merkel's government refused to grant Benjamin an appointment.

"It is urgent that the international community bring these new weapons systems under control and ultimately ban them," said Benjamin. "On the very day that I met with European peace activists in Berlin, at least seventeen people at a wedding celebration in Yemen were killed by a US drone strike. The German government is an accomplice to this and other US drone murders. The Satellite Relay Station at the US base in Ramstein, Germany, plays an essential role in every US drone strike in the Middle East and Africa. Why do the German people continue to allow their government to be complicit in such crimes?" she asked.

The statement "Ban Weaponized Drones!" was one result of an intensive working meeting of peace activists, civil rights advocates and parliamentarians from several different countries and political parties who came to Berlin to meet with Ms. Benjamin last week. A similar statement has been circulated since last spring by the German Drone Campaign and has won significant support.

The participants in the working meeting in Berlin criticized the European Council for considering approval of a European drone development project that does not explicitly rule out military uses for European drones. The European Council will meet in Brussels on December 19th and 20th to decide upon European defense matters, including the drone proposal.

However, the participants in the working meeting said they very much welcomed the current German public discussion about drones that has, at least for the moment, effectively called into question whether the German government will be able to go ahead with its plan to acquire armed drones for the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces). The debate in Germany represents a first -- and quite promising -- success, they said, for the campaign to stop the proliferation of weaponized drones in Europe. Italy, France, and the Netherlands are reportedly considering acquisition of weaponized drones in the near future, but public and parliamentary resistance could possibly put a halt to these plans.

A Global Day of Action against weaponized drones and targeted killing is scheduled for October 4th of next year. An international drone conference is also planned for 2014.

Berlin declaration "Ban Weaponized Drones!

Statement by the European Section Global Anti-Drone Network

Berlin, December 12, 2013

Ban Weaponized Drones!

We oppose the use of drone technology for killing, surveillance and repression.
We oppose weaponized and surveillance drones because their deployment
lowers the threshold to armed aggression,

is used for “targeted” killing of people within and outside warzones – without indictment, trial and conviction,
terrorizes the population of the targeted territories,
fuels hatred, thereby increasing the cycle of violence,
leads to the development of autonomous killer robots, thereby making even more horrifying wars likely,
initiates a new round in the arms race.

We demand that all governments

cease the production and acquisition of armed drones, as well as their research and development, and
work towards a worldwide ban of these weapons.

Statement approved as of December 12, 2013 by:

Althaler, Birgit	Palestine Solidarity Basel, Switzerland
Androvandi, Constanza	International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), Germany/Italy
Aune, Björn	Boycott, Sanctions, Divestment (BDS) Campaign Berlin, Germany
Benjamin, Medea	Code Pink (Co-Founder), USA
Björkmann, Rosie	Women for Peace, Sweden
Bosma, Geart	Vredes Informatie Centrum (Staff) & War Resisters Intl. (WRI), Netherlands
Braun, Reiner	IALANA (Executive Director) & International Peace Bureau (Co-President), Germany
Cole, Chris	Drone Wars UK (Founder) & Drone Campaign Network (Convener), United Kingdom
Dubrow, Niels	Staff Assistant to Dr. Ute Finckh-Krämer, Member of Bundestag (SPD), Germany
Finckh-Krämer, Ute	Member of Bundestag (MdB), Social Democratic Party (SPD)
Fuchs, Barbara	Attac & DIE LINKE (Left Party) & Deutscher Friedensrat (German Peace Council), Germany
Fuchs-Kittowski, Klaus	Forum of Computer Scientists for Peace and Social Responsibility (FIfF), Germany
Ghannam, Doris	Boycott, Sanctions, Divestment (BDS) Campaign Berlin, Germany
Hammerschmidt, Rainer	Aktion Freiheit statt Angst e.V. (Action Freedom instead of Fear), Berlin, Germany
Hunko, Andrej	Member of Bundestag (MdB) & of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, DIE LINKE (the Left)
Javaid,Tariq	Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), Germany
Kachel, Thomas	Parliamentary Advisor on Peace and Security Issues, DIE LINKE (the Left) in the Bundestag, Germany
Käss, Helmut	Intl. Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), Germany
Kalkman, Kees	Journalist & Researcher, VD AMOK, Netherlands
Khan, Ali Mongol	Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), Germany
Khan, Muhammad Farooq	Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), Germany
Krutsch, Elfriede	Intl. Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), Germany
Lammerent, Hans	Vredesactie - Peace Movement (former Chair), Belgium
Martensson, Ingela	Women for Peace & former Member of the parliament (Liberal Party), Sweden
Müller-Reiss, Brunhild	Drone Campaign & Peace Office Hannover & War Resisters Intl. (DFG-VK in WRI), Germany
Nineham, Chris	Stop the War Coalition (StWC - Vice Chair), United Kingdom
Norberg, Agneta	Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space & Women for Peace, Sweden
Paulini, Peter	Stiftung Friedensbildung (Foundation for Peace Education), Germany
Pflüger, Tobias	Drone Campaign & Info. Agency on Militarization (IMI, Founder) & former MEP (DIE LINKE), Germany
Rassbach, Elsa	Code Pink & Drone Campaign & War Resisters Intl. (DFG-VK in WRI, Board), Germany/USA
Reimers, Roland	Initiative of Natural Scientists for Peace and Future Sustainability, Germany
Schoeppe, Florian	Staff Assistant to Katja Keul, Member of the Bundestag, Green parliamentary group, Germany
Steffen, Jens-Peter	Intl. Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW, Staff Adviser on Peace Issues), Germany
Stryk, Lydia	Playwright, Germany/USA
Wijnberg, J.M.T. (Miek)	Burgerrechtenvereniging Vrijbit (President), Netherlands
v. Wimmersperg, Laura	Drone Campaign & Peace Coordination Berlin (Speaker), Germany
Wirl, Lucas	ICC No to NATO (Co-Chair) & Intl. Network Engineers, Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES), Germany