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News Archive |
LAST UPDATE
October 29, 2009
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| October 26, 2009 |
International Peace Constitutions Conference for Nuclear and Foreign Military Base Abolition |
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During its 67th Global Voyage, Peace Boat will call in Manta, Ecuador on November 5 and 6, 2009 to hold exchange programmes with people from the Manabi region of Ecuador, and to carry out a conference on peace constitutions, such as those of Japan, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
Co-organized by Peace Boat and the International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Militairy Bases (NO Bases), with support from the Eloy Alfaro Civic Center of Manabi in Montecristi, the Eloy Alfaro Lay University of Manabi in Manta, and the Tohalli Movement, the International Peace Constitutions Conference for Nuclear and Foreign Military Base Abolition will focus on the concrete functions and outcomes of peace constitutions, especially in the areas of nuclear abolition and foreign military base abolition. In particular, Article 9 of Japan's Constitution, which renounces the maintenance of armed forces and war as a method of settling international conflicts, and Article 416 of Ecuador's Constitution will be analyzed and discussed. Article 416 promotes the peaceful solution of conflicts and rejects the use or threat of use of force. It also promotes universal disarmament, and condemns the use of weapons of massive destruction, as well as the imposition of military bases by States in the territory of other States.
In addition to sessions on nuclear abolition and foreign military base abolition, testimony from Hibakusha—survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki--will be an integral part of the conference. Ten survivors are currently travelling with Peace Boat as part of its Global Voyage for a Nuclear Free World – Peace Boat Hibakusha Project Started in 2008, this project has contributed to generating the growing momentum worldwide for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Momentum is also growing for the removal of some of the more than 700 foreign military bases in operation around the world. Ever since an air base in Manta was authorized for use by the US military in 1999 as part of Plan Colombia, various human rights organizations and peace movements in Ecuador have denounced the illegality of the agreement, as well as its harmful consequences for the local population. Such consequences include claims of uncompensated land seizures from local farmers for base expansion, denial of access to the port local fisherman had used for centuries, an increase in prostitution in the region, and the aggressive sinking of fishing boats. Throughout the past decade, thousands of Ecuadorean citizens actively worked to permanently close the base—an effort that culminated not only in the current government's decision to not renew the base's lease when it expires in November of this year, but also in the inclusion in the country's new Constitution of a clause that prohibits the presence of foreign military bases and installations in Ecuadorean territory. Their accounts of success in closing the base, as well as the problems left behind after its removal, will be included in the conference.
For more information about the conference, please contact: barcodelapaz.ecuador[a]gmail.com.
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NO Bases Network
The Worldwide Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases (or NO Bases Network), was born during the World Social Forum in India in 2004, to which Peace Boat also brought its ship. In March of 2007, the network organized the first international conference of the Worldwide NO Bases Network in Quito and Manta, Ecuador. The principle functions of the network include the exchange of information, solidarity with the struggles taking place around the world to prevent the establishment of new foreign military bases or to close existing ones, the development of a strategy to abolish military bases in general, and support for local and regional demands for justice and compensation. For more information, visit: www.no-bases.org
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