QCEA: Around Europe No. 275 September 2005

QCEA has produced a set of 9 briefing papers which outline the main elements of the European response to this issue. They are available on our website (www.quaker.org/qcea/).

The papers are not intended to be a political analysis but rather a starting point for having a discussion on the basis of factual information. What has the EU actually done so far and how effective (in its own terms rather than ours) has it been?

What do the briefing papers tell us about the EU response?

• Terrorism is not a new phenomenon in Europe

• The events of 11 September 2001 have fundamentally changed the debate about the response to terrorist activities

• The response of the EU has been less aggressive than that of the US

• There has been huge pressure on the EU from the US externally and from the UK internally to align the EU response more with that of the US

• There is still considerable reluctance to enhance cooperation in practice – notwithstanding the words.

How is terrorism defined?

The EU has adopted a common definition of terrorism:

Any acts committed with the aim of seriously intimidating a population, or unduly compelling a Government or international organisation to perform or abstain from performing any act, or seriously destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an international organization shall be deemed to be terrorist offences.

This definition is wide, is not restricted to violent acts and does not include a reference to the objectives of those committing the acts in question. It ignores the question of state terrorism.

This is not the only definition around and it is important to look at the difference in the approach taken by different writers. It also opens up the debate about what many human rights and peace activists would use as a definition in place of this or any of the other common ones.

Terrorism and Human Rights

One of the most fundamental concerns about the response of the EU and its Member States is the potential to undermine the human rights of people – not just of those committing the acts in question but of all of us.

So far, our research would indicate that the EU has shied away from excessive restrictions of human rights and civil liberties. However, this is not necessarily so in some of the EU Member States. And to the extent that Member States undermine human rights and civil liberties in their countries, there will be increased pressure on others to follow suit in the name of enhanced cooperation among the law enforcement agencies across borders.

The most worrying development in the EU is the discussion around the possibility of defining a new offence under the name of ‘apologie du terrorisme’ or apology for terrorism. If this is defined as an offence then it will become increasingly difficult to have an open dialogue about the root causes of terrorism and the possible approaches to removing them because any reference to root causes might be interpreted as an apology.

So this is what we need to focus on in terms of our lobbying to ensure that it does not get onto the statute book. Lobbying and advocacy at Member State level (with your MPs and your Government Ministers) is a really important part of this.

What about the Response of Civil Society to the Threat of Terrorism?

What are the challenges to civil society? I want to list just a few here – it’s not an exhaustive list:

• How do we live with the reality of a threat to our personal safety which lies beyond what we would normally accept as part of life? The threat is real; we have to face it somehow.

• How do we make our voices heard over the clamour of the sensationalist media?

• How do we make it clear that at least for some of us the deaths of victims of terrorist attacks, war, genocide and disasters in other parts of the world are as important as those in New York, Madrid and London? This message alone might be helpful in diffusing some of the anger and bitterness we are now faced with.

• How do we communicate effectively with our governments and with decision-makers in the EU to let them know that we do not want to offer up human rights and civil liberties in return for a sense of security, real or imagined?

• How do we communicate with all parts of the societies we live in to reduce the threat – this involves understanding why for some members of our society political disagreement turns into hatred; this involves accepting a degree of interference for the sake of security (i.e. is it reasonable to have one’s passport or ID card checked more often than normal? Do we accept longer queues at airports?)

• How do we maintain our own position of non-violence and respect for all people (and that includes our political leaders – whether we agree with them or not) at the same time as we are clear about our disagreement with certain policy developments and with any violence committed, for whatever reason?

For the next stages of our work on these issues, we need your feedback on these issues and questions. Please write to me at mweitsch@qcea.org or to our postal address here in Brussels

Martina Weitsch

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Cheron Constance joins QCEA

I was born in the UK and grew up in the West Indies and in the United States. I returned to England last fall in an apparent effort to ‘live adventurously’. Though I spent just eleven months in the East Midlands while attending Nottingham Friends Meeting, I have had an interesting exposure to some of the current issues facing Friends in the UK. I am eager to learn more about the concerns of Friends in mainland European countries and to encourage the Quaker vision of Europe, as espoused by QCEA’s work.

I became acquainted with Quakerism while at university studying urban development at Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges in Pennsylvania in the United States. I have been going to Quaker meetings since 1997, and I am a member of Friends Meeting of Washington in Washington, DC.

My interest in economic justice issues was born from and fostered by a concern for the links between how we feed ourselves and many of our Quaker testimonies. In a year-long fellowship (2003-2004) at Pendle Hill Quaker Study Centre in the US, I examined various food issues (including agriculture, nutrition, and sustainability) while doing social action work with low-income residents in a nearby city. I feel led to investigate some of the larger economic issues I encountered in that time. I will be focussing on international trade policy and business practices over the next twelve months, and I hope this experience will help me discern the next steps on my path, including post-graduate work.

I would particularly like to thank Friends in German Yearly Meeting for funding this post for the next three years and providing an opportunity for me (and other young Quakers) to support the work and prayers of Friends in Europe.

Cheron Constance

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1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005

Readers of Around Europe may be interested to hear of the project 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005. It defined as its objective the nominating of 1000 women to represent collectively the millions of women who are working for peace. The life stories, the visions, methods, strategies and networks of these 1000 women will be publicized. With this recognition they should receive both encouragement and gratitude for their commitment. After almost three years' work the list of 1000 women has been completed.

It must have been almost impossible to make the choices that were necessary to get the list down to a mere 1000. But the work has been done and the list is now available on the website of the project at http://www.1000peacewomen.org/eng/html/nominierte/index.php

This is the link to the English version of the website. You can choose on the site to also read the main pages in German, French, Russian, Arabic, Chinese and Spanish but the short biographies of the 1000 women are only available in English.

Because these women represent millions I had a hesitation to check how many Quakers I could find; and it’s not easy. The search facility is on a country, name or key word basis and Quaker is not a key word. And not all the women who have Quaker connections would necessarily have mentioned this in their short biography. But curiosity won out and I did a very quick check – I found 4 or 0.4% of the 1000 women referred to their Quaker background in their short biography. This compares to the world population of Quakers of 340,000 or 0.005% of the total world population.

I will not name them here because the point is that they represent so many – but I encourage you to search through the list – you will find many women who have done much to bring peace to their communities, countries and parts of the world.

The next step would be, of course, to get the women to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. The official nomination letter, co-signed by Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey, has been handed in to the Nobel Prize Committee in Oslo on the 27th of January 2005. Now it is in the hands of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. They will make their announcement in October 2005. Around Europe will keep you informed.

Martina Weitsch

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After the NPT Review Conference

As has been reported by Rhianna Tyson in the News in Review, the daily NGO newsletter from the 2005 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), May in New York was a month of “deplorable diplomacy, lack of leadership and dominance of narrow national interests that crippled the Seventh Review Conference of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty”.

The position of the European Union at the Conference was outlined at the beginning of a working paper ‘based on the European Union Statement for Main Committee I’ submitted by Luxembourg. It states that the NPT is “an irreplaceable multilateral instrument for maintaining international peace, security and stability” and that “the EU is committed to preserving the integrity of the treaty”. This and other official documents from the Review Conference can be found at http://www.un.org/events/npt2005/documents.html.

While the majority of states at the Conference worked hard to reach agreement, a smaller number of states, specifically the United States, Iran and Egypt, undermined and blocked attempts to reach any useful form of agreement at the Review Conference.

Despite the failure of Governments at the Review Conference the work towards creating a world free of nuclear weapons continues. As Alyn Ware, Coordinator of the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament, stated at a press conference on 26 May “We’re not giving up just because of the lack of progress through the NPT. We believe nuclear disarmament is a political, moral and legal responsibility- and a practical possibility- and we’re going to make sure that happens.”

Further Information:
‘The NPT review conference: no bargains in the UN basement’ by Patricia Lewis:
www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-summits/nuclear_2563.jsp

‘A Phoenix of Hope’ by Rhianna Tyson, at:
www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/NIR2005/final.html

Get involved with Campaigning for a Nuclear Free World by visiting: www.abolitionnow.org

Robin Bloomfield

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News in Brief

Reports from the QCEA Study Tour
QCEA successfully ran its annual Study Tour to the European Institutions in Brussels & Strasbourg from 2-10 July .

Reports from several participants of the 2005 Study Tour are now available on the QCEA website at: www.quaker.org/qcea/studytour

If you would like to attend the 2006 Study Tour please e-mail studytours@qcea.org or contact the QCEA Office for more information.

Women In Prison Online
QCEA has added a new section to its website on the joint project with the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva on the conditions of women in prison. Information on the project and how you can help is now online at: www.quaker.org/qcea/prison

EPLO Website Relaunched
The European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), the alliance of European NGOs, networks of NGOs, and think tanks active in the field of peacebuilding, who aim to promote sustainable peacebuilding policies among decision-makers in the European Union has relaunched its website.

The website now includes the latest publications and information on the work of EPLO as well as background on its Member Organisations and the EU and Conflict Prevention/Peacebuilding.

Visit the website at: www.eplo.org/

Stay Informed
Keep up to date with the work of QCEA by visiting our website (www.quaker.org/qcea) or by signing up to our e-mail list at: www.quaker.org/qcea/takeaction.htm

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