[Peace-discuss] Berlin Declaration

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Your participation and support is invited.   Please join the other Peace 
Makers in the world. If you wish to join this distinguished group as a 
signatory to this Declaration please follow instructions at end of email.

thanks,
doug

***

The Berlin Declaration

The war on terrorism does not work. Every week, there are new reports of 
bombings and hostage-taking in different parts of the world - Moscow, Bali, 
Mombassa…..

The war on terrorism cannot work. It cannot work because terrorism is a 
crime, the expression of a new type of global privatised violence. The word 
'war' dignifies the terrorist as an 'enemy' instead of a criminal. It 
polarises the world between 'us' and 'them', which is just what the 
terrorists want. It inflicts further violence on innocent people and nurtures 
feelings of hate and revenge that lead to terrorism.

We are on the verge of an escalating process of world-wide violence, 
something akin to the Israel-Palestine conflict on a global scale. This 
impending cycle of destruction might include the possibility of the use of 
nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, further genocidal crimes, 
unpredictable acts of terrorism, not to mention more US 'pre-emptive 
strikes', which will turn out to be counter-productive strikes.

There is no such thing as a just war in our interdependent globalised world. 
But we need legitimate force to contain privatised violence. So there is 
still a role for military forces, to enforce international law and to protect 
people, to do what the police ought to do and cannot. 

We call on governments , parliaments , NGO`s , responsible scientists  and 
media, artists, universities, spiritual communities and citizens to oppose 
war and unilateralism and to mobilise in favour of an alternative strategy 
for combating terrorism. This strategy has to be multilateralist and 
co-operative and must aim at the construction of a global legal order. It 
should include:

- The promotion of human values and norms that should underpin international 
law. Human rights must be applied in a non-selective way, in Iraq as well as 
in Saudi-Arabia or Iran, in Chechnya and in Russia, n Pakistan as well as in  
Afghanistan. Human rights watch and women rights are necessary in many 
countries and in all areas of conflict. There needs to be an authentic 
dialogue among those who favour democracy so as to find sustainable solutions 
to the "black holes" of the world, which breed terrorism - Congo, Sudan, 
Kashmir, Chechnya   to name some of the most important.

- The establishment of mechanisms to enforce international law. This 
International Criminal Court should be established as soon as possible with 
no exemptions. Human security forces at a European or a global level need to 
be established especially designed to protect civilians in conflicts and to 
capture those who commit crimes against them.

- An increase in resources at a global level to finance a global legal order 
- to fund the global public goods, like eliminating poverty or tackling the 
environment as well as global legal and policing institutions, needed to 
extend a global rule of law.

We do not claim that this strategy can eliminate terrorism. The most, 
perhaps, that can be done is to contain terrorism, to prevent its spread and 
escalation. But we do believe that we can no longer preserve democracy and 
the rule of law only in one part of the world. War will destroy those values 
that we consider precious. The only hope we have is through the application 
of those values throughout the world. This is a task for every individual as 
well as government.

12/10/2002 -in honour of the Nobel prize for peace to Jimmy Carter 

Signatures from nobel prize winner for literature Günter Grass to european 
politicians ,activist-networks and academics from Europe , USA , Russia , 
Israel-Palestine , Africa , Asia, Latin-America :

Prof. Ulrich Albrecht, Berlin, Germany; Franz Alt, Television-Journalist, 
Baden-Baden, Germany; Dr. Zorissa Anisiruva, Interhealth, Moscow, Russia; 
Colin Archer, International Peace Bureau, Geneva, Switzerland; Sally 
Beaumont, Ecumenical European Christian Women, Scotland;  Prof Norman 
Birnbaum, Washington D.C. USA; Prof.  Amsar Baral, USA; Victor de la Barrera 
-Naumann, Int peace-bureau, France-Spain; Hanne and Bill Beitel, 
International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Berlin, Germany; David Mc Bride, 
German-American peace association, Berlin, Germany;Ken Coates,former MEP, 
Bertrand Russel Foundation , England ;  David Cortright, Fourthfreedom, USA;  
Marian Douglas, writer, Kenya; Erhard Eppler, former minister, Germany;  
Elisabeth Erlandsson, women for peace, Switzerland; Mient Jan Faber, 
Interchurch Peace Council, The Hague, Holland; Benjamin S.Ferencz, 
International lawyers for the ICC, New York, USA;  Prof. Hajo Funke, Berlin, 
Germany;  Bruce Gagnon, global network space4peace, Florida, USA; Anne Goeke, 
earth first and women in black, USA ; Ute and Günter Grass , writer , Lübeck, 
Germany ;Prof. Mary Grey, University of Wales; Solange Fernex, International 
women's league for peace and freedom, France; Eva Fjostol, wilfp,  Bergen, 
Norway; Prof. Dr. Peter Glotz, St. Gallen -University, Switzerland;  Gerd 
Greune, IFIAS, Brussels, Belgium;  Pekka Haavisto, former minister, Finland; 
Frederik Heffermehl, Norwegian  Peace Association, Oslo, Norway; Phill Hill, 
Journalist,  Berlin-Seoul; Gerold Hildebrandt,Jürgen 
Fuchs-circle,Berlin;Burkhart Homeyer, International council for the children 
of Chernobyl, Germany;  IALANA  and IPB, Florence. Italy; Prof. Mary Kaldor, 
London, England; Rifat Kassis, YMCA East -Jerusalem, Israel; Adam Keller, 
Editor of the other Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel; Hans Koschnik , former mayor of 
Bremen and EU-administrator of Mostar ;David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace 
Foundation, Santa Barbara, USA; B.Lacatus, people of Sibiu for peace,  
Rumania;  Rabbi Lerner ,TIKKUN-magazine , California, USA ;Dr. Manfred Linz, 
Wuppertal-Institute, Germany; Thomas Magnusson,  Swedish Peace Council, 
Sweden; Jonathan Mark, noflybynews, California, USA; Lucinda Marshall, 
Feminist peace coalition, New York, USA;  Ricardo Navarro, chair of friends 
of the earth international, El Salvador; Dr. Hermann Ott, 
Wuppertal-Institute, Germany; Marc -Oliver Pahl ,European federalists, 
Berlin, Germany; Sebastian Pflugbeil ,former minister ,association for  
victims of lower radiation ,Berlin ; Eva Quistorp, former  MEP, european 
women for peace , Berlin -Zürich -Prague-Krakau-Stockholm; Ernie Regehr, 
Plougshares, Canada; Soodhakur Ranslellah, action for justice and peace, 
Mauritius; Michel Rocard, MEP, France; Dr Doug Rokke,Illinois,USA ; Prof. 
J.Schneider,  natural scientists for peace, Göttingen, Germany; Dr. Larisa 
Skuratovskaya, World Council of Churches, Moscow, Russia;  Mag.Peter Stania, 
International peace institute, Vienna, Austria; Friedrich Schorlemer, 
Protestant Academy Wittenberg, Germany; Johanno Strasser, writer, Pen-center, 
Germany; Dr. Svoboda, MEP, Austria; Silvia Tennenbaum, grandmothers for 
peace, USA ; Dr .Reinhild Traitler, IRAS, European women's college, 
Switzerland Jakob von Uexkuell, rightlivelihoodaward, Stockholm-London; Beate 
Zilversmid, Gush Schalom, Jerusalem-Tel Aviv, Israel; Tilman Zülch ,society 
for endangered people ,Goettingen ;Josep Xeravius, co-ordinator of the 
UBUNTU-Forum, Barcelona, Spain; 

                   
Berlin declaration board :Eva Quistorp, Mary Kaldor,  Erhard Eppler, M. Jan 
Faber c/o IKV, The Hague. www.ikv.nl.org  or c/o int peace bureau, Geneva, 
www.ipb.org 

Please mail your signature   for the 10.-24.12.( but later too) and interest 
for cooperation and a meeting in Athens 2oo3, in Barcelona 2004 (www.ipb.org 
) to:
equistorp at aol.com
Berlin declaration signatures