pledge

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We are aware that the U.K. has signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968, Article VI of which stated that each of the parties "undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and to a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control". Thirty years have now passed and the U.K. still continues to deploy nuclear weapons and NATO is still a nuclear alliance containing three of the major nuclear powers. The Trident system is an escalation in the U.K.´s nuclear capability having three times the range, being far more accurate and being able to hit eight times as many targets as the Polaris system it replaces. 

We are also aware that on 8th July 1996, the President of the International Court of Justice (which is the highest legal body of the United Nations), Mohammed Bedjaoui, stated, "The nuclear weapon, the ultimate evil, destabilizes humanitarian law which is the law of the lesser evil. The existence of nuclear weapons is therefore a challenge to the very existence of humanitarian law, not to mention their long-term effects of damage to the human environment, in respect to which the right to life must be exercised". The Court confirmed that the Declaration of St. Petersburg, the Hague Conventions, the Nuremberg Principles, the Geneva Conventions, and the Genocide Convention all apply to nuclear weapons. It stated very clearly that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is generally contrary to international humanitarian law. The Court could find no lawful circumstance for the threat or use of nuclear weapons. 

We believe that the Trident nuclear weapon system is illegal, dangerous, unjust, polluting, a terrible waste of resources, and deeply immoral. We think Trident poses a threat rather than a defense. 

It is the duty of every citizen to uphold the law relating to nuclear weapons and under the Nuremberg Principles, carefully, safely and peacefully to disarm any weapon system that is breaching humanitarian law. We are also aware that most national legal systems, including the U.K´s and other NATO countries´legal systems, allow serious damage to be done to objects if the damage is done in the belief that this would prevent serious crime from taking place. We believe that the damage our group, Bread not Bombs Plowshares - Disarming Trident for Global Justice, intend to cause to the U.K. Trident system will stop the ongoing crime of the threat to use nuclear weapons which is contrary to humanitarian law. 

As global citizens with international, national and individual responsibility, we will endeavor peacefully, safely, openly and accountably to help to disarm the U.K. nuclear weapon system by the year 2000. We will do this by actively joining with others in the Plowshares Campaign for Disarming Trident and cooperate with other campaigns like the Trident Ploughshares 2000. This means that if the U.K. Government has not guaranteed to completely disarm the British Trident system before the 1st January 2000 then we pledge to personally enter Trident related facilities from the 11th August 1998, in order that we can dismantle the system in such a way that it can not be used to threaten or harm living beings. 

Our acts of disarmament are and will be intended to stop ongoing criminal activity and passivity under well recognized principles of international, national and moral laws. We pledge that we will harm no living being by any of our acts and pledge to be calm and peaceful. 

Ann-Britt Sternfeldt, Annika Spalde, Stellan Vinthagen, September 1998
Bread not Bombs Plowshares - Disarming Trident for Global Justice