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Carry on
camping
Janet Kilburn
On 9 August, charges against ten
women (and a dog), brought
under the Aldermaston byelaws,
were dropped ( "Women arrested
at cocktail party", July/Aug PN).
The women had been charged
with "camping" and "lighting a
bonfire", following the introduction
of new bylaws on 31 May 2007.
Their original arrest  on 8 June Â
was, frankly, bizarre; Ministry of
Defence (MoD) police took more
than three hours to get women to
the nearest police station  partially
due to women vanishing, drinking
beer, falling asleep, or taking their
clothes off.
Camping as terrorism
In April 2006, areas within the
fence at Aldermaston were designated as protected areas under
the Terrorism Act 2006, which
introduced provisions of the
Serious Organised Crime and
Police Act (SOCPA) at Aldermaston and other military sites, and
apparently aimed to help the MoD
police "to determine the difference
between trespasser and potential
terrorist". (So far, one woman has
been arrested  and charged Â
under SOCPA, joining cases at
Menwith Hill, Lakenheath and,
most recently, at Faslane.)
At the same time, new byelaws
were quietly put out to
consultation. They would  according to the MoD  "protect the general public's democratic right to
protest, by ensuring that any such
protests are conducted in a safe
and controlled environment".
In their original form, the new
byelaws would have prohibited all
forms of protest, including meetings, assemblies and processions,
handing out leaflets and holding
placards. Somehow, AWPC Â
armed only with the Human Rights
Act  managed to get all these
"criminal acts" removed, but sadly
not the prohibitions on "camping in
tents, caravans, trees or otherwise", lighting bonfires and
"attach[ing] any thing to, or
plac[ing] any thing over, any wall,
fence, structure or other surface"
(like banners on a fence?).
Taking AWPC to court
Like other MoD sites, AWE Aldermaston had been subject to military land byelaws for years, but
these had not been enforced since
legal challenges at Greenham and
elsewhere in the late '80s.
Undoubtedly, the MoD hoped they
had learnt from previous byelaws
disasters and had removed all their
flaws. The case against the first ten
arrested was thrown out because
the MoD were unable to provide
the Crown Prosecution Service
with any evidence; so we can keep
exposing the flaws till next time.
Taking the MoD to court
A legal challenge to the byelaws Â
in the form of a judicial review  has
been mounted, and there has been
positive legal advice on the
prospects of its success. Treasury
Solicitors have been informed that
despite the changes to the
byelaws, they remain disproportionate, and incompatible with the
Human Rights Act.
AWPC are sending a clear message to the MoD that women will
continue to occupy space outside
AWE Aldermaston, continue resisting Britain's nuclear weapons pro-
gramme, and continue claiming the
right to protest, to camp, light fires
and attach things to surfaces. Why
not join us? The next camp is from
12 to14 October.
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