Issue No. 3 - September 1997
Produced by: Anni and Lindis
Indigo, 8 Park Row, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 IHQ, UK
Tel No. 01943 466405 or 01482 702033
Fax No. 01482 702033
E-mail: caab.lindis_anni@virgin.net
Dear Friends
On 6 October 1997 NASA plans to launch the Cassini space probe to the planet Saturn from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA, with 73 pounds of deadly plutonium on board.
The plutonium is to be placed in three radioisotope thermal generators (RTGS) and is only to be used as a power source to produce electricity for instruments on the probe, not for propulsion.
Some American scientists are saying that if NASA had the will, the needed electricity could be obtained through solar energy gathered by photovoltaic panels on Cassini and, when the sun is too distant, from long-lived fuel cells.
Campaigners from Citizens for Peace in Space and from the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice say "There is a hidden agenda. The 'civilian' space mission is being used as a stalking horse for large scale military plans to use plutonium for space platforms and weapons. As the one super-power left on Earth the US now has its sights on complete supremacy in space."
For more information about Cassini and the campaign to stop it, see the Yorkshire CND spce page, or write to Yorkshire CND at 22 Edmund St, Bradford, BD5 OBH. Tel: 01274 730795.
MEANWHILE, nearer home various American bases are continuing to expand as the NSA, USAF and the American military entrench themselves ever more deeply into some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain ... and the struggles through the courts continue.
Planning Applications
Regular monitoring of the Planning Office in Harrogate paid off when we learnt that there was to be a major expansion at Menwith Hill Station. Enough objections (13) were received by Harrogate Planning Department which meant that four planning applications were heard publicly by the Area 1 Sub-Planning Committee at Ripon Town Hall on 19 August 1997. Lindis was again there to speak against the proposed developments and to gently raise in the Councillors' minds the crucial question of the democratic process.
Probably for the first time, Dennis Harling expressed his concerns publicly to the press and
in his recommendations to the Councillors.
'Members are aware that I have major reservations regarding this proposal and its southerly
intrusion on to open land towards the A59 ... My concerns have been expressed to the MOD
... With some reluctance, I must conclude that notwithstanding my reservations and the
objections put forward in opposition to the development I can see no real alternative but
to accept the proposal submitted. Given the level and extent of the existing undertaking
and its importance nationally, I consider that formal opposition to the application would
not be reasonable.'
It went through with the other three applications but not before one of the
councillors asked what would happen if the council voted 'no' [a question not raised
before]. The lawyer acting for the Council said that it would be sent back to the MOD,
who would appeal to the Secretary of State for Defence ... [and he would approve it].
The other three applications which went through, with some abstentions, were:
Quote by MOD:
'It can be seen that the Mission Support Building is required as alternative accommodation,
simply for planned major refurbishment work, for 6-7 years. It is also likely, that by
2005 other existing buildings will require major refurbishment work and the MSB will
continue its support function.'
Although it all went through the District Council expressed concern in their recommendations at the need to
extend the operations area and there was, for the first time, a wee degree of accountability. Several of
the Councillors commented that the time to have opposed MHS should have been in the '50s.
All Members of the Council have at last grasped the fact that local democracy is seriously
compromised by Menwith Hill and those in occupation ... THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY OF AMERICA.
MORE SPURIOUS CHARGES ...
Lindis has been charged with 'assaulting' an MDP officer at MHS on 15 April 1997 plus other charges of obstructing MDP officers and two charges of criminal damage: a byelaws sign and a watch. She has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and will appear at Harrogate Magistrates' Court on 29 September 1997. The trial is set for a week with a Stipendary Magistrate appointed.
The charge of 'assault' is deeply offensive and distressing to her, given her adherence to a nonviolent stance and philosophy. It feels all too familiar. The MDP are yet again bringing spurious charges in an attempt to discredit, criminalise and undermine her integrity: a re-run of the case at Mildenhall last year when she was accused of three false charges of assault on civil and MDP officers. By the time the case came to trial the charges had been amended five times.
She was acquitted of all charges and the Stipendary Magistrate commented at the end of the case that "the level, duress and duration of the violence to Ms Perey [by the Americans] was shocking".
It did not happen last year and it did not happen this year ... and it's frightening what lengths 'they' will go to. No action was taken against the two American personnel who had actually assaulted her.
(Update in Issue 4.)
History of the Campaign of Protest at Menwith Hill Station
Christine Dean (Assistant Honorary Keeper of Otley Museum), who has been involved with the
MHS protest for many years and kept meticulous records, is chronologically cataloguing and
updating the files containing the archive material since the beginning of the campaign of
protest at MHS. It is important to document the work, to tell the story from the start and
to hand it on to future generations.
She has asked if anyone has any items such as news, press cuttings. leaflets, court actions,
which could be included in this history.
To save Chris time and expense please could photocopies rather than originals be sent to:
Christine Dean, 5 Garnett Street, Otley, West Yorkshire LS27 IAL.
Thank you.
The housing needs of American air force personnel at the Mildenhall military base in Suffolk
are being seen as 'an exceptional case' by the local authority. Forest Heath District
Council has just given planning permission for a 100 new homes to be built nearby and
leased to the USAF. The properties will be built in Beck Row, a small village where many
of the local people live in mobile homes. The air force wants to take out 10 year leases
on the houses. An application to build another 150 properties is to be considered by the
council. Forest Heath development control manager Richard Plowman denied the USAF was
being prioritised above local housing need (Inside Housing, 18 July 1997). The base is
not only expanding outside but inside too.
The Saga of Violence on a Public Road outside Mildenhall - Complaints Review Board
Dr Widnall instructed that the Complaints Review Board (CRB) should convene to decide
whether criminal or disciplinary action should be started by the US authorities (something
they should have done immediately - only when they were jerked into doing something, by
being sent the video, did they act).
The CRB should have met on 14 November last year. All manner of hold-ups have delayed the
process. However the Third Airforce Instruction 51-301 (24 October 1996) titled
'Complaints by British Nationals against USAF Personnel' states "the Board shall institute
procedural rules enabling it to pursue full, fair and accurate enquiries into complaints.
The Board shall undertake to review complaints expeditiously and present findings as soon
as possible".
The CRB is meant to be 'independent'. The appointment of Lyndon B. James as Administrator
to the CRB immediately caused us concern however. He is the 'Host Nation Attorney' and
represents the interests of the Americans. He is quoted as saying, 'I merely play the
game. I have no interest in justice unless it is in the interest of my client'. He has
represented the Americans at many of our cases and is bound to be in the High Court in
October. He has perverted the course of justice over many years and cannot be trusted
to be impartial. Requesting his replacement (seems a simple enough request) is proving
difficult.
(See also the 5th Space Surveillance Squadron Home Page and the "CAAB experience of Feltwell").
As part of the US Space Surveillance Network,
RAF Feltwell hosts the US 5th Space Surveillance Squadron - which operates under the The US Space Command's 21st Space Wing.
"The 5th Space Surveillance Squadron at Feltwell detects,
tracks and identifies deep space satellites using the Deep Space Tracking System and low altitude satellites using the Low Altitude Space Surveillance system.
Deep space objects are those with orbits that take more than 225 minutes to rotate the earth. Satellites are categorized as low altitude if their orbit is generally less than 225 minutes.
The unit occupies two main buildings, with three 18-meter parabolic dish antennae and two 6-meter parabolic dish antennae covered by radomes.
The entire complex, accessible through covered walkways, encompasses 55,000 square feet and 22 acres.
The squadron was originally activated as Det 2., 73rd Space Surveillance Group in February 1989. The Air Force redesignated it as the 5th SPSS in October 1989.
The site reached operational acceptance in September 1993.
When the 73rd Space Group inactivated in April 1995, the squadron fell under the 21st Operations Group of the 21st SW as a geographically separated unit.
With the closure of the 17th Space Surveillance Squadron at RAF Edzell, Scotland, in October 1996, the 5th SPSS incorporated the LASS mission.
The 5th SPSS is the only 21st SW squadron which conducts these two missions from one operations center."
There are no Ministry of Defence Police actually present on this base; they have to come
from up the road at Lakenheath. Security is certainly tighter than it was before our
attentions to the base (and so it should be given the dastardly deeds it gets up to).
A temporary injunction against Lindis was successfully applied for by the MOD in the High
Court on 24 June 1997 on behalf of the Americans. Perhaps too many questions and too much
research!
This is another base with no MDP present; they have to come from Alconbury some way away. There is some expansion going on and some strange-looking aerials have appeared. The document in our possession makes it very clear about the extent of American involvement round the world.
A snippet from this document ...
"ACCOUNTABILITY. Commanders must know where our people are, what they, are doing and that they. are properly supported. This is particularly, difficult, yet important, in a theater of 83 countries with regions of active conflict …"
A different concept of ACCOUNTABILITY maybe!!!!!!
A large part of the base including the runway was handed back to the MOD several years ago. It is
the support base for Molesworth, MDP are based there (10) and the Americans are firmly in control still.
Lindis was warned in August under section 69 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act not to return within three months ... [just looking!]
The Writ served by Lindis against the United States of America and two United States Air Force officers, Colonel Larry Carter (previously Base Commander of 48th Fighter Wing, 3rd Airforce at 'RAF' Lakenheath) and Lieutenant Colonel Robert Byrd (Commander of 48th Fighter Wing of
the US Security Police at 'RAF' Lakenheath) is for battery, assault and unlawful detention in a series
of violent incidents at Lakenheath and Feltwell (see also the "CAAB experience of Feltwell").
For over five years Lindis has been protesting non-violently at the Lakenheath and Feltwell bases.
Lakenheath contains the largest store of American nuclear weapons in Britain.
Since 1994, with the arrival at the base of Colonel Carter and Lieutenant Colonel Byrd, she claims that she has been subjected to a policy of intimidation and violence by the Americans.
She claims to have been thrown to the ground, violently handcuffed, blindfolded and forced into an American security car and often unlawfully detained by American military personnel. Rather than being dealt with by Ministry of Defence Police, as required by British law, she has been illegally detained by American personnel.
The case was heard in the High Court in London (in Chambers) on Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 October 1997.
As the Americans had already entered a Certificate of Immunity the two-day hearing was to hear matters of law as to whether the court actually had the jurisdiction to even hear the case.
At the end of the hearing Master Trench reserved his judgement for three weeks.
As all domestic remedies, criminal and civil, have now been exhausted, the case is lodged in the European Court as the next step.
(See also Issue 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9).
Walking on the Fylingdales Moor (radome area) and keeping an eye on what 'they' are doing,
then driving into the base and sitting there in the car for two hours still did not
apparently mean that an 'offence' was being committed. Numerous notices round the base
inform the public that 'Military Land Byelaws are in force'. The byelaws issue is still
in a muddle. However, we will pursue it relentlessly! Fvlingdales is one of the bases
about which we have persistently asked questions concerning the legality, of the byelaws.
(See also - Yorkshire CND on Fylingdales).
An article in the New York Times recently, revealed that a huge amount of money, was being invested in this secretive British base by the NSA.
Ann Cryer, MP for Keighley (widow of Bob Cryer who tirelessly asked questions about MHS until tragically killed in a road accident in 1994), is asking questions about MHS and other American bases now that Max Madden is no longer in Parliament. We have just sent her a list of 33 suggested questions and await replies.
In the meantime Norman Baker, MP for Lewes (Lib Dem), has been asking interesting questions about the security of tenure issue at MHS and many other related questions concerning American bases. His specific interest is Freedom of Information and accountability. He has asked about 294 PQs since arriving in Parliament in May! He was criticised by one MP for asking so many questions costing about £30,000! But then isn't that one of the jobs that Members of Parliament are meant to do? We are going to meet him sometime soon.
The answers coming back from the New Labour Government are pretty much the same as the last regime in power. The only difference has been that some information is now withheld under the guise of 'exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information'. One minor success has been to get a document, which was referred to in one of the court cases, released to the Public Records Office - another small piece of the jigsaw!
Talking of Freedom of Information ... last year Anni asked for a name fist of all the NSA sites in the UK under the American Freedom of Information Act. It was denied in its entirety by the NSA.
"This Agency is authorised by various statutes to protect certain information concerning its activities. We have determined that such information exists in the document. Accordingly the document is exempt from disclosure pursuant to the third exemption of the FOIA which provides for the withholding of information specifically protected from disclosure by the statute."
This was appealed unsuccessfully on the grounds that "releasing a list of NSA sites would disclose NSA functions and activities and cause our mission and personnel to become vulnerable". The next step was to seek a judicial review on the withholding of the document which is yet to be done! (Goodness it's hard enough here ... but let's hope that our proposed Freedom of Information Act is more open and accessible when we finally get it).
MENWITH HILL
(near Harrogate, North Yorkshire)
A History of the Planning Applications from 1975 can be found in the Harrogate Borough Council Development Service Application Progress Sheet.
Enough objections (13) were received by Harrogate Planning Department to mean that four planning applications
were heard publicly by the Area 1 Sub-Planning Committee at Ripon Town Hall on 19 August 1997.
Lindis spoke against the proposed developments and to gently raise in the Councillors' minds the crucial
question of the democratic process.
A significant application and the one that Dennis Harling, Planning Officer, was troubled
about was the expansion of yet two more radomes and support buildings which would encroach
far beyond the existing operations area, bringing it much nearer to the busy A59.
The 'justification' by the MOD, for their 'client' [the Americans] is for the rehousing of
plant, personnel and equipment while various key buildings in the inner operations area
are being refurbished.
MILDENHALL
(near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk)
After the assault incident on a public road outside Mildenhall in 1995 concerning Anni and
Lindis, the video taken by the Americans was sent to Dr Sheila Widnall Secretary to the
Airforce (US), by a friend. This friend was appalled that no action was to be taken
against the Americans involved in the incident, despite complaints being made to the
civil and Ministry of Defence Police.
FELTWELL
(near Thetford, Norfolk)
MOLESWORTH
(near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire)
ALCONBURY
(Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire)
LAKENHEATH
(Lakenheath, Suffolk)
FYLINGDALES
(near Whitby, North Yorks)
The case concerning the 'defective' byelaws at Menwith Hill Station in 1993 had
reverberations throughout the country. It now meant that there were no arrests under
these or any other military land byelaws. New byelaws were brought in at Menwith Hill
only and since the successful appeal by the MOD of the old byelaws (we tried to appeal
to the Lords but were denied legal aid), the byelaws at many bases should theoretically
be used once again. Trying to test this out has produced an astonishingly devious response
by the MOD.
IRTON MOOR
(near Scarborough, North Yorks)
PARLIAMENT
Updated July 1998