case studies

Peace Camps first came about in the 1920s as 24-hour protests outside of military bases by members of the peace movement. They became topical in the 1980s due to the worldwide publicity generated by the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp.

Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was established to protest against US nuclear weapons being stored at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire, England. A Welsh group called 'Women for Life on Earth" started the camp in September 1981. Tens of thousands of people came together in April 1983 to form a human chain around the 23km base. 200 members of the women's peace camp scaled the fence to the base in a stronger demonstration of protest.

The last nuclear missiles left the camp in 1991 but the camp remained in place until 2000, finally disbanding when protestors won the right to house a memorial on the site.

Other peace camps born of a similar vein include the Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp, Faslane 365 and Menwith Hill in Yorkshire.

May 1983. The height of the cold war. The anti-nuclear movement was very large and the authorities were cracking down. A nationwide protest was organised against nuclear cruise missiles and nuclear escalation.  One of the actions was a 3-day blockade at the Upper Heyford air base near Oxford. Over 700 people were arrested.

The courts arranged for batches of 30 arrestees to be tried each day. On a remarkable August day one of these groups and their supporters took over Banbury Magistrates Court.  The sense of nonviolent empowerment that took place that day was so tangible you could almost reach out and touch it.  At the very beginning someone took it upon themselves to ask the court to observe a minute's silence as a mark of respect for the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the magistrates agreed and it seemed to have a profound affect on the atmosphere in the court room thereafter. Each defendant represented themselves. In an atmosphere of hushed silence, many gave moving personal testimonies as to why they had taken part in the blockade.

As important was a spontaneous refusal by all defendants and supporters to observe customary court etiquette in standing for the magistrates.  As a consequence, the magistrate ordered the court to be cleared. This took over 30 minutes to achieve and the magistrates didn't do again.

Many defendants declined to plea. Instead they acknowledged their actions but asserted that they had done no wrong. Two young women who had been wrongfully arrested defended themselves in a trial within a trial.  It came down to their word against that of their arresting officer.  Their obvious sincerity and truthfulness convinced the magistrates and they were set free amid scenes of great emotion and joy.  It is rare for magistrates to act against police evidence but it happened that day.

When it came to their turn to answer the charges, a number of individuals declined to stand for the magistrates, sometimes out of a principle of equality, sometimes because the magistrates tried to stop them delivering their personal testimonies.  Consequently, about a quarter of the accused were sent to the cells for contempt of court. Most eventually agreed to stand but one continued to refuse and it was this issue that set the scene for the climax to the day.

The court had been in session from 10.30 am.  Normal practice is to finish around 4 or 4.30pm.  At 4.30, the one lone defendant was still refusing to stand for the magistrates and had already spent 5 hrs in the cells.  The magistrates had tried everything in their power to get him to stand, including removing the chair from the witness box. He simply sat down on the floor. Four times he was brought up from the cells and asked to stand up for the magistrates and four times he refused.  On the fifth time, the clerk of the court read out the formal charge of Contempt of Court in a particularly weighty and serious tone.  He emphasised that the charge carried a possible 12 month prison sentence and asked the defendant "Do you plead guilty or not guilty ...........or (lengthy pause) would you like an adjournment."  The tension in the courtroom could be cut with a knife; everyone believed he was going to receive a lengthy sentence for contempt.  In a scene reminiscent of the Monthy Python film "Life of Brian", where the Roman guard says to the prisoner "Crucifixion or cake?", he responded, "Oh I think I'd like an adjournment, please."  The clerk seized on it and shouted case adjourned; the magistrates immediately fled and the court erupted into cheering, clapping, laughing, crying, hugging as the other defendants and supporters registered their intense relief and delight. 

We learnt afterwards that the court officials had spent all afternoon begging and pleading with the defendant to stand up for the magistrates. They  seemed genuinely concerned that he should not end up in prison.  To us in the body of the court, it seemed certain that he would be found guilty but unbeknown to us the clerk had secretly visited him and offered him a settlement of an adjournment. His trial finally ended at 6.30 pm after 7 hrs in the cells.  

All Contempt charges were subsequently dropped and at his rearranged trial the magistrate simply accepted that he would not stand.

From 1990 to 2005, Nepal was a constitutional monarchy retaining much power and limiting the effectiveness of political parties. In 1996, Maoists who had been shut out of the political game went underground and instigated a civil war against the monarchy and mainstream political groups. As is often the case in war, civilians inevitably were caught up in the conflict and suffered at the hands of both sides.

In August 2005 one group of village women in the eastern part of the country successfully stood up to the army and demanded the freedom on a community member using nonviolent measures, which has then led them to tackling other issues affecting their community. The women belong to the caste of ‘dalits’, traditionally called ‘untouchables’ in English, meaning their lives are a constant struggle against disadvantage and prejudice.

In the women's village an elderly and disabled teacher had been providing lodging to a student. One day the young man left to visit his parents but he never arrived. His disappearance led the army to suspect that he had run away to join up with the Maoist guerrillas and that the teacher was connected to the rebels as well. Soon after the young man had gone missing, the army came and took the teacher to the barracks where they beat him, tortured him, and interrogated him. Not receiving any satisfactory answers, they put him in a deep hole in the ground and would not allow anyone near.

Word travelled round the village about the teacher’s imprisonment and about 20 village women went en mass to the barracks and requested his release. The officer in charged refused stating that they would hold the teacher until they got the information they needed from him.

In protest of the man’s detention, the women sat silently under the open sky and without food for two days outside the barracks. Many of them carried their children in slings tied across their backs. After two days the commander gave in and said he would release the teacher providing the women gave certain guarantees and took responsibility for him. 

The women agreed and asked the officer to apologise and touch the teacher’s feet (a traditional gesture of apology), which remarkably he did as well as giving him a small compensation. The women’s strength so impressed the commander that subsequently he consulted the leaders of the women's group before taking other actions in the community.

Since this empowering experience, the village women have gone on to tackle issues of domestic violence in their community.

In November and December 2006, TTT staff member Steve Whiting travelled to Nepal to participate in a nonviolence and social change Training for Trainers programme in collaboration with QPSW's South Asia Programme and the South Asia Peace Alliance (SAPA). This is one of the stories shared with him during that visit. Visit www.southasiapeacealliance.org to learn more about the outcomes of that training and SAPA's work.