Trident Ploughshares (originally named Trident Ploughshares 2000) is an activist anti-

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

group, founded in 1998 with the aim of ''" beating swords into ploughshares"'' (taken from the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

). This is specifically by attempting to disarm the UK Trident nuclear weapons system, in a

non-violent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

manner. The original group consisted of six core activists, including

Angie Zelter Angie Zelter (born 5 June 1951) is a British activist and the founder of a number of international campaign groups, including ''Trident Ploughshares'' and the ''International Women's Peace Service''. Zelter is known for non-violent direct action ...

, founder of the non-violent

Snowball Campaign Angie Zelter (born 5 June 1951) is a British activist and the founder of a number of international campaign groups, including ''Trident Ploughshares'' and the ''International Women's Peace Service''. Zelter is known for non-violent direct action ...

. Based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, the group is a partner in the

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (abbreviated to ICAN, pronounced ) is a global civil society coalition working to promote adherence to and full implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The campa ...

. It has attracted media attention for both its non-violent "disarmament"

direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...

s, and mass

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

at the gates of

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

establishments with connections to the United Kingdom's Trident weapons systems. It was the recipient of the

Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob v ...

in 2001 "for providing a practical model of principled, transparent and non-violent direct action dedicated to ridding the world of nuclear weapons."

Trident nuclear missile system and international law

The foundation of Trident Ploughshare's various disarmament actions is the 1996 Advisory Opinion of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

, ''

Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons ''Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons'ICJ 3] is a landmark international law case, where the International Court of Justice gave an advisory opinion stating that while the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary ...

'', in which it found that 'the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict'. In addition to this, Trident Ploughshares also argues that, since the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

is not actively negotiating

nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the Atomic nucleus, nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear ...

and is actively considering upgrading the

UK Trident programme Trident, also known as the Trident nuclear programme or Trident nuclear deterrent, covers the development, procurement and operation of nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom and their means of delivery. Its purpose as stated by the Ministry of ...

, it is in violation of the

Non-Proliferation Treaty The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...

of 1968. Trident Ploughshares activists argue that since the British government has not responded to their various communications regarding the legal status of the Trident nuclear missile system, they must take individual responsibility for disarmament.

Previous Ploughshares actions

Prior to the setting up of Trident Ploughshare there were other actions carried out by members of the Ploughshares Movement, a Christian peace group. On 29 January 1996, Andrea Needham, Joanna Wilson and Lotta Kronlid - known as the 'Ploughshares Four' - broke into the

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

factory in Lancashire and caused £1.7m worth of damage to

BAe Hawk The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and B ...

number ZH955, a training aircraft that was to have been supplied along with 23 other jets to the New Order regime of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

was later arrested as she announced her intention to further damage the planes. Accused of causing, and conspiring to cause, criminal damage, with a maximum ten-year sentence, they argued that what they did was not a crime but that they ''"were acting to prevent British Aerospace and the British Government from aiding and abetting genocide"''. They were acquitted by the jury.

Protests and criminal trials

The second major disturbance was on 27 April 2001, when three female members of the campaign boarded the barge ''Maytime'' in

Loch Goil Loch Goil; ( gd, Loch Goil) is a small sea loch forming part of the coast of the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch is entirely within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. It is an arm of Loch Long. The v ...

and destroyed and took equipment. After being charged with maliciously damaging the vessel, stealing two inflatable life rafts and damaging equipment in an on-board laboratory, they were acquitted at the subsequent trial in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

, which was later appealed to the Scottish High Court with the

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

's Reference 2001. Although under

Scottish Law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...

the High Court did not have the power to overturn the acquittals, their judgement was that the basis of the defence case should not have been admissible.LORD ADVOCATE'S REFERENCE NO. 1 of 2000 BY HER MAJESTY'S ADVOCATE REFERRING FOR THE OPINION OF THE HIGH COURT ON POINTS OF LAW (TRIDENT) v. ANGELA ZELTER+BODIL ULLA RODER+ELLEN MOXLEY, 30 March 2001, Lord Prosser+Lord Penrose+Lord Kirkwood
/ref> In May 2005 the group squatted on

Drake's Island Drake's Island is a island lying in Plymouth Sound, the stretch of water south of the city of Plymouth, Devon. The rocks which make up the island are volcanic tuff and lava, together with marine limestone of the Devonian period. For more th ...

, a privately owned island in

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

declaring it a "nuclear free state" in order to ''"highlight Britain's hypocrisy over the non-proliferation treaty talks being held in New York"''.

References

External links

Main Trident Ploughshares website

Faslane 365

The official site of the Right Livelihood Awards

The Loch Long Monster
Documentary film on Trident Ploughshares
Anti-nuclear protest at dockyard
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Anti-nuclear organizations Trident (UK nuclear programme) Direct action Anti-nuclear movement in Scotland 1998 establishments in Scotland Organisations based in Edinburgh Organizations established in 1998

Trident nuclear missile system and international law

Previous Ploughshares actions

Protests and criminal trials

See also

References

External links