Ploughshare Activist on Hat Trick of Presidential Pardons!

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report Tuesday June 15, 2004 12:17 by Pitstop Ploughshares pitstopploughshares at hotmail dot com

Australian peace activist given presidential pardon from East Timor leader, Xanana Gusmao for disarmament of a US Navy Aircraft docked at Shannon Airport, Ireland where 10,000 US troops pass through every month.

Xanana Gusmao & Ciaron O'Reilly

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao, following in the wake of Martin Sheen of the West Wing, embraced and pardoned Australian peace activist Ciaron O'Reilly. O'Reilly met Xanana in Ireland and gave him a copy of his book "Remembering Forgetting-A Journey of Nonviolent Resistance to the War on East Timor" (Otford Press, Australia, 2001). Turning to the photo of a disarmed BAe Hawk Jet Fighter in the book, Xanana smiled and embraced O'Reilly. The Hawk had been disarmed in January 1996 at BAe's Warton Lancashire factory. The fighter, ready for immediate export, was painted in Indonesian military markings and was disarmed by four women "The Seeds of HopePloughshares" (http://www.plowsharesactions.org/webpages/weba.htm).

O'Reilly moved to England as the four women were brought to trial in Liverpool in July '96 after spending 6 months in Risley Prison on remand. Jose Ramos Horte gave evidence at the trial to how his siblings were killed by bombardments by British war planes flown by Indonesian pilots. Horte remarked, " In 20 years of struggle we have not been able to ground one of these war planes, yet you ploughshares women have done it nonviolently without even injuring a pilot." Horte was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize later that year.

O'Reilly was involved in organising support around the trial and stayed on in Liverpool to found a nonviolent resistance community with pacifist Catholic Workers and East Timorese exiles. They carried out a sustained campaign of nonviolent resistance to BAe, one of the world's largest arms dealers. The community suffered multiple arrests, high court injunctions and infiltration by a private intelligence corporation subcontracted to BAe.

In 1998 O'Reilly with Treena Lenthall (formerly of the Liverpool Catholic Worker) carried out a ploughshares action at the Jabiluka uranium mine disabling an excavator. After completing a 5 month sentence in Berrimah Prison Darwin, they travelled to East Timor to celebrate Indonesian military evacuation with some of the East Timorese with who they had lived and struggled.

In 2002 O'Reilly founded the Dublin Catholic Worker in Ireland the country of his father's birth (http://www.dublincw.community.ie). He began to campaign against the militarisation of Shannon Airport in County Clare. By the end of 2002, over 10,000 U.S. troops were passing through Shannon on their way to war in Iraq. Recent reports point to prisoners passing through to Guatanamo and the passage of cruise and patriot missile components through Shannon.

On February 3rd. 2003 O'Reilly and four other Catholic Workers made their way into the airport and disarmed a U.S. Navy war plane. The Pit Stop ploughshares 5 await trial in Dublin charged with $US 2.5 million criminal damage (sic) to the war plane and €200 to the hangar window. They face a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment (http://www.ploughsharesireland.org).

O'Reilly recently stated, "A court result like Liverpool '96 would be nice but wouldn't determine if the witness was a success or not! The ANZUS Plowshares at Griffiss Air Force base in New York 1991 for which I was sentenced to 13 months and "transportation to Australia" and the Jabiluka ploughshares were great communities & acts of nonviolent resistance. The Pit Stop ploughshares are a great crew and the actions immediate result was one piece of the U.S. war machine turning around & going home and 3 companies transporting U.S. troops to war vacating Ireland. Long term, the Jabiluka mine is closed as is Griffis Air Force Base - they had "Woodstock '99 there. The Pit Stop ploughshares have acted in conscience, now the jury's conscience will have a chance to express itself. ploughshares actions are beautiful human actions. The Seeds of Hope disarmament touched Xanana in his prison cell and obviously touches him today as a President!. All these actions and communities of nonviolent resistance should inspire us all! A hat trick of presidential pardons would be fun"