 October 2003
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Patrica Watson, Editor Sara Burke, Assistant Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Four Anti-War Activists Stand Trial On December 21, 2002, thirteen people were arrested for participating in a "die-in" at a military recruitment office in Ithaca, NY. Four of these activists were minors, and their legal proceedings have garnered a special degree of support and attention. In July, at their original trial, a judge ordered the courtroom cleared of some 87 observers and supporters--however, they refused to leave. The trial was postponed until September, and declared open to the public. The young women chose to represent themselves, with the assistance of one lawyer as co-counsel, and much of the trial included their cross-examination of each other. Below are some excerpts from their testimony at their September trial.
As Peacework
goes to press, they are still awaiting a verdict. However, as
their co-counsel Joni Brandon observes, "Regardless of what
the judge decides, these four women are victors." To learn
more, contact Mary Anne Grady Flores at the Ithaca Catholic Worker,
514 N. Plain St., Ithaca NY 14850; mgrady@lightlink.com. Ana Grady Flores What was your intent when you went to the Military Recruitment Center? I did this action for my brothers because I love them too much to let them go and die in a war that has been built up by lies and deception. I will do anything in my power to keep my brothers and any young man or woman from killing and being killed in this war or in any war. I did this action with the intent to bring the truth to a place were truth is not being spoken. And I did it with the hope that I could make at least one of the young recruits think about what kind of institution they are going into and maybe change his or her mind.
...Obviously our president hasn't
heard the people's cry for peace (all the protests and petitions
and letters) or the Pope's or the UN's and I believe
it was time for some direct action. [Addressing Jevon Garret,
the prosecuting attorney] Wouldn't you say yourself Mr. Garret
that Ms. Rosa Parks' action during the civil rights movement
of sitting at the front of the bus was necessary for your benefit
and for mine and for all the rest of the minorities who live in
this country today? Oona Clare Grady DeFlaun Do you think your action was necessary? Yes, I do. All of us in our group had been working to educate the public about Bush's plan to invade Iraq and what the horrible outcome would be. We had been doing this by writing letters to the editor and organizing rallies here in Ithaca and in New York and Washington, DC. And educating our Congress people and Senators by signing petitions and sending letters and going to their offices. What, if anything, influenced you? Yes. A couple of years ago I found a quote from the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal of 1950...It says, "Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience. Therefore [individual citizens] have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring." This quote made an impact on me and has resonated with me ever since. And I think it applies to this action. My purpose in being there was not to violate a local law but to uphold well-recognized international law. Do you think your action was legal?
Yes. As I was saying, we had exhausted
all of our other options and no other course of conduct was reasonably
open to us. Under the United States constitution, Article six,
clause two, any treaties we sign are the supreme law of the land.
And I have a quote from Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General [who]
said that "If the US goes outside of the Security Council,
it will not be in conformity with the UN charter." So actually,
it is the US government that is breaking the law. Marie DeMott Grady From her opening statement I am the oldest in my family and I feel a great responsibility for my three younger sisters, especially the baby who needs so much love and care to be able to grow. I tried to imagine what girls my age in Iraq must be going through, wondering as they watched their baby sisters, if they would survive this shock and awe threatened by our government. I have had the honor and the privilege of watching another sister learn to crawl, and then walk, and now as she is learning to talk, I think of those girls in Iraq who instead got to watch as their baby siblings died, or will get to watch them die from the poison of Depleted Uranium which we have bombed them with. You will see that we did go to the Recruiter Center, that we did lie down, refused to leave and were arrested. But you will also see that we did this with great caring for all life. We didn't want to see any more young people from our military killed and poisoned by depleted uranium and we did not want to see any Iraqis die either. I did the action thinking especially of the older sisters in Iraq because they are the ones whose place I can easily put myself in. You, Your Honor, might put yourself in the place of a father who is helpless...cannot protect his family from the bombs that rain down on them. We did the action not trying to break any local law, but upholding international law which is the supreme law of our land. We trust you will treat it as such, and uphold it. Do you think your action would have been as effective if you had done the action outside?
If we had done it outside we wouldn't
be here today. Many of the people in this courtroom here would
not have heard about it and we would not be getting e-mails from
people (some in the military) across this country and around the
world thanking us for our action.
To contact the four young women:
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