International Peace Conference condemns unlawful wars

Von Sponeck, Biehler and Norris link Shannon, Prestwick and Leipzig

Former UN Assistant Secretary General Hans von Sponeck, Professor Bernot Biehler, and Senator David Norris highlighted the futility of attempting to make peace by making war. The shocking and bloody failures of the recent wars and occupations of Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine/Lebanon, demonstrate the urgent need to enhance and enforce the rule of international law, and to create international peace by peaceful means.

Speakers at a peace conference at the University of Limerick, held on Remembrance Day, 11 November 2006, have appealed for the reinforcement of the rule of international law in order to replace outdated concepts of international security with a sustainable system of ‘human security’.

The three keynote speakers consisted of a former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, an expert in international law and an Irish legislator: Hans von Sponeck, Professor Gernot Biehler, and Senator David Norris.

The three were united in their denunciation of the recent wars and occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine/Lebanon, which they unanimously held to be unlawful. Creating international peace by peaceful means is not a pipe dream, they agreed; it is an imperative, to counter the use of weapons of mass destruction by a powerful alliance of western states.

The conference, organised by the students’ peace society at the university, had an international flavour, being attended by more than 70 students and activists from Ireland, Germany, the Middle East and even the Congo. Representatives from the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Shell to Sea campaign also contributed to the conference.

Speakers and delegates condemned Ireland’s complicity in the deaths of an estimated 655,000 people in Iraq, by allowing over 1,000,000 armed US troops to be transported though Shannon Airport. This is in direct contravention of the Hague Convention V, which establishes the obligations of states declaring themselves to be neutral.

One of the highlights of the conference was the launch of the English edition of Hans von Sponeck’s new book: A Different Kind of War - The UN Sanctions Regime in Iraq, which was hosted by O’Mahony’s bookshop in Limerick.

One of the purposes of the conference was to devise strategies to counter militarisation throughout the world. A lively exchange of experiences commenced between peace activists from civilian airports at Shannon, Prestwick, and Leipzig, all of which have recently been used by the United States for the transit of troops and munitions to the Middle East. Irish and German participants shared a wish to see sustainable regional development plans for the hinterlands of their respective airports.

For further information please contact:
Edward Horgan: edward.horgan at ul dot ie, 085-1026631
Fraser Gray: fraser.gray at ul dot ie, 087-4167849
Coilín ÓhAiseadha: aatchoo at gmail dot com, 086-0603818