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

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:

Read more http://drohnen-kampagne.de/
and http://www.codepink4peace.org/article.php?id=6553

Comment

If you like a crypted answer you may copy your public key into this field. (Optional) Public Key

To prevent the use of this form by spam robots, please enter the portrayed character set in the left picture below into the right field.

CC license   European Civil Liberties Network   Bundesfreiwilligendienst   We don't store your data   World Beyond War   Use Tor router   Use HTTPS   No Java   For Transparency