by Daniel Kinch
I: The Action
Late last year, For Mother
Earth (FME), a peace and environmental activist organization based in Belgium,
began to organize a peace walk from The Hague, Netherlands, to Brussels,
Belgium. The walk was to coincide with the end of the international Hague
Appeal for Peace conference being held at The Hague on the centennial of
the first such conference.
FME envisaged a walk from
the Hague, where the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has taken the
first steps toward the banning of nuclear weapons, to Brussels, Belgium,
headquarters of NATO, to hold accountable member states who control some
70% of the world's nuclear arsenals.
The world situation had
changed radically by the time the Hague Walk for Peace began on May 16.
At The Hague, some 300+ walkers from 30 different countries agreed that
a protest against NATO's actions in the Bal-kans should be part of the
protest in Brussels on May 27.
FME let city officials know
they were coming to peacefully "inspect" NATO headquarters for nuclear
weapons. Mr. De Donnea, the Mayor of Brussels, responded by closing all
accommodations to the walkers (campsites throughout the city refused to
allow the walkers to set up campsites), and declaring a state of emergency.
On May 27 (a news day dominated
by Slobodan Milosevic's indictment for war crimes), over 500 walkers were
at NATO headquarters. FME had promised the Belgian authorities a nonviolent
protest with civil disobedience actions. Instead, the walkers were confronted
with water
cannons and legions of helmeted riot police.
Some protesters reported
being attacked by riot baton-wielding police. Others were sprayed with
water cannons, pushed, shoved, and dragged.
In all, some 190 people
were arrested that day. FME spokesperson Pol D'Huyvetter noted, "Brussels
and Belgrade are the only two places in Europe where demonstrations against
the war are being officially prohibited by authorities".
Friday and Saturday's protests
continued to follow the pattern of Thursday's. An additional 72 demonstrators
were arrested on Friday. A senior police official told Associated Press
"This is a war zone. We can not tolerate anybody interfering with NATO."
Saturday's protests resulted
in another 63 arrests. Belgian police even arrested suspected demonstrators
as they exited from trams and buses and walked towards NATO headquarters.
II: The Silence
This all happened in Brussels,
capital of Belgium, a supposedly democratic country that is part of the
NATO alliance, on May 27-29, 1999.
It all happened within a few weeks of the ten-year anniversary of the
Chinese crackdown at Tianamen Square. And it all happened in view of cameras
and journalists. CNN was reportedly there to cover parts of the demonstration
for its European network, and Associated Press spoke to officials and protesters.
Despite this, there were
no reports of the march or the protest broadcast in the U.S. Not a single
media outlet in the United States announced that a NATO country had used
water cannons against people protesting the war in Kosovo. If you search
Reuter's online news service, you will find a short piece about the protests
dated May 27 - the story was written before the arrests began. There are
no stories on the AP website. There are no stories on the BBC Website.
There were reporters from around the world ready to report from Brussels
during the week in question. All they had to do was turn on their
cameras and let the world know about the anti-NATO opinion of activists
from some 30 different countries.
All of this news is on the
For Mother Earth Website at http://www.motherearth.org.
There are photographs available on the site, and FME also has video footage
for news outlets.
For more information, contact
For Mother Earth International, Lange Steenstraat 16/d, 9000 Gent, Belgium;
Ph +32-9-233 84 39, Fax +32-9-233 73 02 Email: international@motherearth.org
