| Campaign for the
Accountability of American Bases |
Dear Friends,
Since the last newsletter the issue of the American National Missile Defense (NMD) programme has been constantly in the media. The third intercept test failed in the early hours of 8 July 2000. The test was to decide whether the system was technically feasible and on this result President Clinton was probably to have made an historic decision; whether to deploy the system or not. According to Defense Secretary William Cohen the failure was a ‘disappointment’ but he said that the fault did not occur in the most sophisticated elements of the system. This seems to suggest that regardless of the failed technology the programme may well go ahead. By the time the next newsletter is published the decision could have been made.
Unlike the French, German and Canadian governments and the Australian opposition for example, the British government has refused to speak out against the NMD programme. Instead they have hidden behind the excuse that the Americans have not yet made an official request for
permission to use RAF Fylingdales (crucial to the NMD system) and have steadfastly refused to acknowledge that the Space Based Infra Red System (SBIRS) at Menwith Hill (two radomes now nearly complete) is a integral part of the American Ballistic Missile Defense system. [see photo of SBIRS dishes]
It is clear that there is a growing disquiet from many quarters and we ask that your voice is raised in whatever way possible to protest against this most dangerous and destablising plan by the Americans; for US protection, domination and interests only.
It might be worth noting that in 1958 during the height of the Cold War the US Air Force developed a top secret plan to detonate a nuclear bomb on the Moon as a display of their military might.
On another matter concerning NSA Menwith Hill the ECHELON system has also been in the news. The European Parliament has set up a Temporary Committee of 36 members to investigate the ECHELON interception system. The Dutch government is also planning to hold hearings into the workings of ECHELON. The French are also very concerned (see Menwith section inside) Accountability all round ………perhaps????
The declaration presented to Menwith Hill Spy Base July 4th 2000 - picture by Craig Stennett |
|
Planning Applications
SBIRS Radomes
(See also issues 13, 12, 11, 7 and picture gallery).
Continuing Byelaws Saga
……Anni was arrested on 24 May 2000 (International Women’s Day for Disarmament) for entering MHS through the Main Gate exit barrier in her wheelchair and declining to leave. She was again not charged but ‘reported with a view to prosecution’.
……It now appears that the MDP will try and arrest and charge for anything they can ‘pluck out of the air’ rather than arrest and charge for open and admitted byelaws offences.
……We have had more discussions with lawyers re possible Claim re Byelaws arrests and a Declaration re invalidity of Byelaws.
Court News
……Lindis accepted responsibility for writing on a holding room wall at MHS re the continuing institutionalised manipulation of the byelaws by the Ministry of Defence police - Harrogate Magistrates ordered a total of £401 in fine, costs and compensation.
……York Crown Court: 19 May 2000 - A case involving the Stars and Stripes and Union Jack flags two years ago was finally discontinued on the day of the trial. Lindis had to struggle to get costs. A Judge and two Magistrates finally grudgingly agreed to award Lindis costs of £50.
……High Court London ordered Lindis to pay £25 nominal damages re three injunctions at USAF Alconbury, Deep and Near Space Tracking Center at Feltwell and USAF Mildenhall from 1995-1999.
……Anni has received a letter from the Claims Officer (MOD) who is making an application for an Order for a charge on her house of £2,515.48 which they say represented the costs awarded to the MOD in Leeds County Court in 1999. The case was a civil action for medical negligence and unlawful arrest and detention.
One of the women who witnessed the incident at MHS in 1991 wrote a negative statement which meant that the case had to be abandoned. The Legal Aid Board’s refusal to grant Lindis a certificate to challenge the MOD’s Appeal against her and John Bugg’s successful high Court challenge to the first set of MHS Byelaws also adversely affected the case. [Anni was denied her medication while in custody, collapsed and spent 2 weeks in hospital.]
……12 June 2000 Harrogate Magistrates’ Court Lindis accepted responsibility for an alleged obstruction of the highway at Menwith Hill but at the same time accepted no guilt. She was fined £60 and £70 costs.
……19 June 2000 Harrogate Magistrates’ Court - a case against Lindis for an alleged obstruction of the highway at Menwith Hill was reopened. The Magistrates had previously found Lindis guilty in her absence (on the ‘plea’ date) despite notifying the court by letter. The Magistrates convicted Lindis and increased the fine and costs to £60 and £70.
High Court Action against Star Wars:
Echelon:
……On 5 July the European Parliament appointed a 36-member Temporary Committee to spend a year investigating the American Echelon spy system. The Committee is scheduled to meet seven times between July - September 2000 and plans to hold public hearings this Autumn. US Representative Bob Barr (Republican, Georgia), an outspoken critic of US intelligence, welcomed the European effort. In a statement released through a spokesman he said, ‘My goal in examining our intelligence surveillance activities continues to be protecting the privacy of American citizens. While European nations are primarily concerned with protecting their commercial interests, I welcome any inquiry that helps further the debate about how intelligence activities should be conducted.’
……A Dutch Parliamentary committee has announced that it intends to hold hearings on Echelon.
……French prosecutor Jean-Pierre Dintilhac has ordered the French counter-intelligence agency DST to investigate whether the US Echelon global surveillance system violates the rights of French citizens. The French are seeking legal redress against the UK and US governments.
STOP PRESS:
Planning Matters
Arrests:
……On 23 May Lindis and Anni (and the MDP) ‘walked’ round the electric fence enclosing the phased radar structure and were not arrested this time.
……On 30 May Lindis was arrested and charged with ‘theft of a Byelaws sign’ after openly removing the sign in front of an MDP officer who stood by and watched her put the sign in her car and drive away. [This is a continuing action which we have pursued over many years because of the abuse of the Byelaws by the MDP. We have ‘no intention to deprive the owner of his property’ and have always removed the signs openly. We have informed the MPD before and after removing the signs. Many of the signs have been taken to the Secretary of State for Defence in Whitehall. We intend to continue this action until the MDP begin to act lawfully and honestly]
PC Greenaway neither said nor did anything to prevent Lindis. Later Lindis was arrested for ‘theft’. One of the MDP threatened to smash in her car window. She was held overnight at Scarborough Police Station and appeared in court the next morning. Lindis elected to have the case heard in the Crown Court. The case was discontinued two weeks later. [Theft? With a police officer watching and taking no action……..!! Yet another example of one of many spurious charges against Lindis over the years].
……On 9 June Lindis was arrested for alleged breach of her bail conditions while checking out an area of land that has been returned to the Forestry Commission by the MOD. She had in her possession a map which she had been given by the Forestry Commission in Pickering. Lindis was held overnight in the cells at Scarborough police station and appeared in Scarborough Magistrates’ court the following morning. Bail conditions were re-imposed.
……On 26 June Lindis was arrested and ‘de-arrested’ three times for alleged Byelaw offences. She was eventually arrested for ‘obstruction of a police officer’ and taken to Scarborough police station where the MDP tried to substitute a charge of ‘breach of the peace’. The solicitor representing Lindis in custody quoted several authorities re ‘breach of the peace’ to the custody officer; including Percy v DPP (Balcombe and Collins 1994). ‘Breach of the peace’ was not pursued but Lindis was charged with ‘obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty’. A pre-trial review has been adjourned so that documents (including records of telephone calls made by the MDP) can be produced.
Point the Finger at Fylingdales - 8 July Demo:
Lindis (for CAAB) was the only one who walked all the way. The walkers were sponsored but due to lack of communication with National CND the money raised was only divided between Yorkshire CND and National CND. If anyone feels moved to sponsor CAAB retrospectively we would be most grateful.
About 120-30 people came to Fylingdales to protest at the new crucial role this base is to play in the NMD programme. There were speeches by Jeremy Corbyn MP, Dave Knight, Carol Naughton and Lindis Percy. A Declaration of Protest was handed in to Squadron Leader Moore by Christine Dean (CAAB) and Dave Knight (CND). The MDP would not allow Anni or Lindis to enter the base for the handing-in as they said both had been arrested many times at Fylingdales. There was a disappointing press presence. The demonstration was again video-filmed by the same MDP officer from Menwith Hill on 4 July.
(See also report on 8 July demonstration)
Freedom of the Borough:
The council is planning a week long celebration of American-style fun leading up to a grand ceremony on 27 August to honour the US Third Air Force.
A similar award was given to RAF Honington in 1972.
New Commander:
Prior to assuming his current command Kenneth Hess served as Director of Command and Control with the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations at Headquarters US Air Force, Washington DC.
Drugs on base:
Eight American servicemen who were also involved in the incident were dealt with internally by the USAF’s own disciplinary procedures instead of through the British courts. They were held in secure units on the base and have since been court martialled and discharged from the US Air Force.
A USAF spokeswoman from USAF Mildenhall said: ‘We do not have a problem with drugs on the base as the rules are quite clear for servicemen and women. If any individuals [American military ] are found to be involved it gets dealt with very swiftly. We hold those individuals responsible for what they did and they have been punished.’ [Bury Free Press]
Reunion 2000:
Brigadier Chris Holtom (UK base commander) hosted the week. The reunion has taken two years to plan. We have asked Norman Baker MP to ask a PQ as to who paid for the week’s activities and at what cost.
On the first day Lindis ‘popped’ in as a visitor with our version of the Stars and Stripes with the words STOP STAR WARS written on it. The Chicksands Stars and Stripes was quietly lowered and our flag was attached to it before both were raised to half mast. The flags flew together for about 10 minutes before a British soldier raised them to the top of the flag pole. Lindis retrieved the ‘STOP STAR WARS’ flag and was eventually escorted out of the base. The local civil police were called but took no action.
The US is planning to use Britain as a base for long-range stealth bombers in a move likely to revive the cold war debate about the UK’s role as America’s ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed yesterday [16 July] that the Pentagon had chosen Fairford in Gloucestershire - nominally an RAF station - as a possible base for the bombers, America’s most expensive warplane, when they were needed to be ‘deployed forward’.
Washington has yet to discuss the plan with the British government, an MOD spokesman said. He denied Fairford would be a ‘permanent’ base for the stealth bomber and insisted its use by the US airforce would have to be cleared with Britain in advance.
Fairford was used by giant US B52 bombers during the Kosovo war last year when stealth bombers flew 30-hour strike missions on Belgrade directly from their Wightman base in Missouri.
Fairford is undergoing a £60m upgrading of its runway and fuel bunkers in the largest single military construction project within a NATO country since the end of the cold war.
‘Fairford is the only place in Europe we can realistically use for the heavy bombers’, a US 3rd Air Force headquarters official said at Mildenhall, Suffolk, last month.
Alternatives, such as Moron and Zaragoza in Spain, could face local opposition, the Pentagon believes. According to US sources, Fairford has also been chosen as an emergency landing strip for the US space shuttle.
Fairford is one of several bases the Pentagon wants to deploy long-range bombers. Another - which the US has used for B52 bombers, notably in the 1991 Gulf war - is Diego Garcia, in the Chagos archipelago which forms the British Indian Ocean Territory.
[Richard Norton-Taylor]
Mr. Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the operational purpose of RAF Lakenheath is, and how many (a) United Kingdom and (b) United States personnel are stationed there. (129682)
A: Mr John Spellar: RAF Lakenheath is a United States administered main operating base and hosts the United States Air Force’s 48th Fighter Wing. 589 UK and 5,343 US personnel are stationed there. [7 July 2000]
Q: Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) US military, (b) US civilian, (c) UK military and (d) UK civilian personnel work at Menwith Hill Station. (121780)
A: Mr. Spellar: As at 26 April 2000, at RAF Menwith Hill there were 415 US military, 989 US civilian, 5 UK military and 392 UK civilian personnel (excluding GCHQ staff). I am withholding the numbers of GCHQ staff under exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. [12 May 2000]
Q: Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many American (a) civilian and (b) military personnel are based at RAF Fylingdales. (121999)
A: Mr. Spellar: There are nine US civilian contractor employees and one US military officer at RAF Fylingdales. [12 May 2000]
Q: Mr Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the UK Government has spent per year since 1991 on ballistic missile defence research; and how much of each year's expenditure was on pre-feasibility programmes. (121793)
A: Mr. Hoon: The cost of the Pre-feasibility Programme, undertaken in 1994-96, was approximately £4.5 million. The Technology Readiness and Risk Assessment Programme (TRRAP), which emerged from the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and which is scheduled to run for three years from July 1998, has approved funding of £12 million within MOD's Corporate Research Programme. In addition approximately £500K per annum has been expended since 1991 on technical studies and experiments in collaboration with the US. [17 May 2000]
[Many PQs relating to NMD etc are now being asked - see Hansard on the Parliamentary website]
US Military Requirements:
Clean and presentable homes required in Northwood, Pinner, Harrow on the Hill, Moore Park, Eastcote, Ruislip, Stanmore and surrounding areas.
Please call 020 8423 7635"
[Harrow Times advertisment 13 April 2000]
Okinawans protest against US crimes:
A US Marine was recently accused of molesting a 14 year old girl after breaking into her bedroom. Another Marine was held recently after a hit-and-run accident. These latest incidences of US crimes have inflamed the islanders who are still angry at the rape of a twelve year old schoolgirl by three US servicemen in 1995.
The Okinawans also called for a reduction in the number of US Forces on their island. About 26,000 of the 48,000 US military personnel in Japan are stationed in Okinawa.
Since the reversion of Okinawa to Japan in 1972, approximately 5,000 crimes have been committed by U.S. military personnel. The American bases are protected by the Status of Forces Agreement which forbids the Japanese or Okinawan governments prosecuting from American soldiers for crimes against Okinawans.
We appreciate so much all the continued support that we receive. The struggle would be that much greater without it, particularly with Lindis in prison.
We always need funds to keep the campaign going as we depend on this financial support to continue our work.
Thank you too for all the gifts of 1st and 2nd class postage stamps - we use a great deal of them and they are always gratefully received.
For more information please contact us.
Quaker Meetings for Worship at NSA Menwith Hill
F/friends will gather together on the grass verge outside the main entrance to NSA Menwith Hill for an hour of Quaker worship starting at 2.00 p.m.
From 3.00pm, weather permitting, there will be light refreshments and time to catch up on CAAB news.
On Saturday 5th August we shall read aloud the ‘Litany of Remembrance for a Nuclear Age’ read outside the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC on 16 July at a vigil commemorating the 55th anniversary of the first US nuclear Trinity Test.
Please bring something to sit on and wrap up well. Remember that the weather, particularly in winter, can often be quite challenging!
Contact Anni or Lindis for more details.
IS ON
Saturday - 7 October 2000
International Day of Protest against
American Militarisation of Space
Please contact CAAB for details nearer the time.
There have been no new planning applications since the last newsletter. Anni continues to ring the Planning Office weekly.
Both radomes are now complete and are expected to come ‘on-line’ soon - see photographs of the stages of development.
The fence is now fully alarmed and the CCTV cameras are working. The fence is extremely vulnerable and can be easily cut.
The MDP are no longer arresting Lindis under the byelaws after about 30 arrests and she has been allowed to walk freely on the piece of land not included in the permanent injunction area.
25 May 2000 Anni was arrested at MHS for alleged ‘obstruction of the highway’ at the Main Gate entrance barrier and charged. The trial will be at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court on 24 July 2000.
The case will probably now be heard in September or October. The Treasury Solicitor successfully applied for the hearing to be before a Judge and has now agreed for the matter to be in open court. The 2/3/4 Defendants will again try to get the Claim ‘struck out’. The 2/3/4 Defendants are to be represented by Professor Christopher Greenwood QC. At the trial the British Government have indicated that they will make their position clear concerning the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
A Japanese film crew interviewed Lindis and Anni at MHS and at the CAAB office on 1 June for a Japanese TV News programme about Echelon and US economic spying on Japanese business deals.
On Tuesday 18 July 2000 Colonel Christine Marsh, USA, took over the command of NSA Menwith Hill from Colonel Clyde D Harthcock, USA. This is the first time a woman has ever been in command of this base.
FYLINGDALES
(near Pickering, North Yorkshire)
Anni is monitoring the North Yorks Moors National Park Office on a weekly basis for news of Planning Applications. There is nothing new to report as we go to press.
On 26 April Lindis and Anni drove up the approach road to the Main Gate intending to drive around the security fence in protest at the possible use of the base by the Americans for NMD. Despite plenty of posters on the car (STOP STAR WARS NOW and STAR WARS - NOT IN MY NAME) they were surprised to be waved in through the Gate by an MDP officer on guard duty! They drove in slowly, continued on through a raised barrier and were eventually stopped about ten minutes later when the mistake was realised. Both were separately arrested under the Byelaws and taken out of the base before being ‘de-arrested’ without charge.
The walk (approximately 66 miles) from Menwith Hill on 4 July to Fylingdales on 8 July was mostly on busy main roads. We stayed in Ripon for two nights with friends and families; on the floor of the Friends Meeting house in Thirsk and the last night at the Youth Hostel in Lockley. Thank you to everyone who supported us (especially Stuart and Carol who drove the ‘support van’ and appeared at the most appropriate times with sustenance etc).
LAKENHEATH
(near Brandon, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk)
St Edmundsbury Borough Council has announced that the US Air Force will be awarded the ‘freedom of the borough’ on 27 August 2000.
MILDENHALL
(near Lakenheath, Suffolk)
Major General Kenneth W Hess assumed command of USAF Third Air Force stationed at USAF Mildenhall on 2 June 2000. He becomes responsible for all USAF operations and support activities in Europe north of the Alps and in Africa south of the Sahara. He is also the only point of contact for representing US Forces in negotiations with the UK Government and he oversees host nation support agreements for all US military forces based in the UK.
A local man was sent to prison for two years and nine months in April after officers from the MDP and the USAF Office of Special Investigations (OSI) using drug ‘sniffer’ dogs raided a dormitory on the base last August and found Ecstasy tablets worth nearly £1000. The man had worked as a steward in the food section on the base at the time of the raid
CHICKSANDS
(near Bedford, Bedfordshire)
There was a reunion from 10-15 July 2000 for American personnel who had served at this base. Chicksands was taken over by the Americans during the War and returned to the MOD in 1995. The base is now the British National Intelligence Centre and much work has needed to be done as the Americans left the place in a bad state. The Gilbertine Priory has had £4 million spent on it to restore it to it’s former beautiful state.
FAIRFORD
(near Cirencester, Gloucester)
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
SNIPPETS
"Luxury rental homes required for US Servicemen families and individuals.
More than 6,500 residents of the Japanese island of Okinawa held a rally on 15 July protesting at alleged crimes by US Forces stationed there.
MONEY MATTERS
ADVANCE NOTICE
Saturday 5 August, Saturday 7 October and Saturday 2 December 2000 from 2pm-3pm outside Main Entrance.