38 activists arrested at Y-12 nuclear weapons complex
Peace activists from around the country gathered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Aug. 5 to recognize Hiroshima Day at the Y-12 Plant, the last full-scale nuclear weapons facility in the US.

Compiled by Willy Rosencrans

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Aug. 6 — Fifty-six years ago today, the United States dropped a 12.5 megaton bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The blast produced deadly firestorms which killed approximately 140,000 people; 3 days later a second bomb killed 70,000 in Nagasaki, and countless others died of illness caused by the subtler but equally lethal haze of radioactivity in the years after the blast. The bombings also initiated a nuclear arms race at whose height in 1982, according to the UN, there was enough nuclear firepower to destroy the world 50 times over. The enriched uranium used in these and other bombs was produced at Y-12, the last remaining full-scale nuclear weapons facility in the US, located here in the company town of Oak Ridge. On Sunday, over 400 people converged at the gates of Y-12 to commemorate the bombing and protest the facility’s ongoing role in the US nuclear weapons program. 23 protesters were arrested for trespassing onto the facility Sunday, and 15 more the following day. Sunday’s event began with a procession from Bissell Park to the gates of Y-12, led by Buddhist monks Brother Konomo Utsumi and Sister Denise Laffan, who with 12 others had just completed a 330 mile peace walk from Atlanta, GA. They were not the only group to travel the hard road to Oak Ridge: two bicyclists, Lola LaFey and Cicada Brokaw, rode 161 Smoky Mountain miles from Asheville, NC. The event was as much a celebration of peace as it was a call for justice. Free food (courtesy of Food Not Bombs), music, Sufi dancing, and a giant puppet show re-enacting the bombing alternated with educational speeches and civil disobedience. The speakers list included Mary Olson, with the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), and Mary Beth Sullivan, representing the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. Olson, who traveled from Asheville, NC with about 70 others, educated the audience about the prolific concentration of nuclear facilities throughout the southeast. Sullivan gave an update on nuclear weapons in space. Paloma Galindo, of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA), informed the crowd of federal plans to spend $4 billion to modernize Y-12. “Think about where that money could go — health care, the education system,” she told the crowd. OREPA has been working to stop nuclear weapons production at Oak Ridge since 1988. The plant has been cited at least 13 times recently for environmental violations. Y-12 has dumped over a million pounds of toxic mercury into East Fork Poplar Creek and released mercury as vapor into the air. The Department of Energy has reported that between 1991 and 1998, 244 pounds of uranium were released into open air. Other hazardous materials released from the Oak Ridge plant include cadmium, chromium, arsenic, beryllium, lithium, PCBs, and volatile organics. Traces of highly enriched uranium have been found in the surface soils of the predominantly African-American Scarboro community in Western Oak Ridge. In 1998, OREPA launched the “Stop the Bombs” Campaign to raise public awareness about the continuing production of nuclear weapons at the Y-12 plant. According to an OREPA staff person, “In the past, we have focused on the environmental impact of the plant, but if they’re continuing to make nuclear weapons, we have to draw attention to the mutually assured destruction that nuclear warfare represents.” Y-12 is part of the Department of Energy’s “Stockpile Stewardship” program, planned to upgrade the entire US nuclear arsenal, extending the “shelf life” of current warheads and developing multi-billion dollar production and testing facilities for new bombs. This program intentionally undermines the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and violates international law, which has outlawed the “use or threat of use” of weapons of mass destruction. Y-12’s budget was $437,000,000 in 1999. Nationally, the US spent $96 million a day on nuclear weapons programs in 1998. The United States is the only country ever to have used a nuclear bomb against another nation in history. The day’s events culminated in a trespassing action. As people poured out of the tents, affinity groups preparing for the trespass gathered behind colorful peace banners and prepared to face 45 police officers, who had earlier taken up positions along the Y-12 property line. Some groups crawled over or under barbed wire; others crossed the line at the Bear Creek entrance. Lori Girshick of Asheville was among those arrested, whose numbers included parents with their daughters and sons and whose ages ranged from 17 to 84 years. Their cases will be heard Aug. 17 in Oak Ridge City Court. Police officers carried out the arrests peacefully, but their restraint was tested Monday morning when employees entering the complex were greeted by activists dressed as security personnel and holding signs reading “Stop Ahead — Security Exercise in Progress.” Traffic was delayed for seven minutes at a roadblock of sawhorses decorated with peace signs and slogans, where a crowd of more than 40 called for an end to nuclear weapons production. 15 were arrested. They were held until their arraignment, at which all charges were dropped. Similar events and actions were held across the country. In Washington, DC, on Sunday, Fumiko Amano, 70, and Keiko Hara, 63 — both Hibakusha, or atomic blast survivors — were joined by others in a dusk ceremony at Lincoln Memorial. “The primary reason for doing this is to keep alive the memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” said John Steinbach, co-convener in DC of the Gray Panthers, a multi-issue advocacy group. “The Hibakusha are very concerned that the world is going to forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” According to both survivors, the ceremony was not just about remembering those who died. For Amano, the anniversary of the day an atomic bomb destroyed her home rekindles memories of “a kind of hell.” Hara said that she wants to spread the message that “we should abolish nuclear weapons, because there is no way they can coexist with humankind. I hope there is no more Hiroshima, no more Nagasaki, no more Hibakusha!” Sources: The Oak Ridger, Associated Press, Atlanta Indymedia Information: Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance; (865)483-8202; P.O Box 5743/Oak Ridge, TN/37381;

Sources: The Oak Ridger, Associated Press, Atlanta Indymedia Information: Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance; (865)483-8202; P.O Box 5743/Oak Ridge, TN/37381;

House approves Arctic Refuge drilling

By Cat Lazaroff

By Cat Lazaroff Washington, DC, Aug. 2 (ENS)— The US House of Representatives passed an omnibus energy bill early this morning that would authorize opening a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and natural gas exploration. The controversial legislation would also promote so-called clean coal technology, and provide tax breaks for the nuclear power industry. After almost 12 hours of debate, the House voted 240 to 189 to pass the legislation (HR 4), combining four separate energy measures into a sweeping bill that includes many of the proposals included in President George W. Bush’s national energy plan unveiled in May. “Tonight’s House passage of comprehensive, balanced energy legislation is a tribute to President Bush’s leadership and a tremendous victory for America, for the economy, and for the environment,” said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. “Congressional action on the President’s National Energy plan, just a few months after its unveiling, is an important step toward meeting our long term energy needs and reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy.” However, the bill is likely to face strong opposition in the Democratically controlled Senate, which has already expressed its intention to reject efforts to open the ANWR to oil drilling. “While we are profoundly disappointed that the House turned its back on the pristine Arctic Refuge and the will of the American people, we are optimistic as the fight heads to the Senate,” said Carl Pope, executive director of the conservation group Sierra Club. “Drilling in the Arctic Refuge won’t address our nation’s energy needs or make a dent in gas prices.” Calling the House action “the best vote that big oil’s money could buy,” Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife called the bill “staggeringly irresponsible,” and, “stuffed to the brim with giveaways to wealthy oil and coal companies, and shortsighted rollbacks of rules that protect wildlife and the environment on public lands across this country.” The energy bill would provide $33.5 billion in tax credits and other incentives over the next 10 years, with about 80 percent going to boost domestic energy production and the remainder targeted for energy efficiency, conservation and environmental protections. Part of those funds would come from expected lease revenues from opening the North Slope of ANWR to energy exploration. An amendment to the bill directed the federal share of new ANWR energy production receipts would go toward two funds: The Renewable Energy Technology Investment Fund and the Royalties Conservation Fund. “If passed, federal receipts from environmentally safe energy production on a small portion of ANWR will help explore for new energy technologies for our long term energy security and help protect our environment for future generations of American families,” said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. The oil industry would get major boosts from the bill, gaining access to ANWR and other public lands for new exploration, and winning a waiver of all federal royalty payments for oil and natural gas drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico. “Big Oil called out their big guns and their big money on this vote,” said the Sierra Club’s Pope. “Americans want a balanced approach that gives us quicker, cleaner, cheaper and safer solutions, such as energy efficient technologies, renewable power and responsible production.” In an additional defeat for environmentalists, the bill mandates only a small boost in the fuel efficiency of sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Though House Democrats and environmental groups had pressed for an amendment that would have made SUVs and other light trucks abide by the same gas mileage standards as automobiles, the House instead ordered SUV gasoline use to be reduced by just five billion gallons over a six year period. A recent National Academy of Sciences report concluded that the auto industry could improve the fuel efficiency of SUVs by as much as one third over the next 15 years without raising overall costs for consumers. The House bill would expand federal support for so called clean coal technologies, which aim to reduce the pollution emitted by coal burning power plants. Through tax incentives and enhanced research and development programs, the bill would guarantee that coal continues to be used by the electricity industry, despite cleaner burning alternatives. In another boost for the coal industry, the bill would require the Department of the Interior to review all public lands, other than national monuments, parks or wilderness areas, for their potential for coal and renewable energy development. The nuclear industry would also gain a slew of new tax breaks to extend the operation of existing nuclear power plants. In a nod to supporters of energy conservation, the bill would expand assistance programs that aid low income households in paying for weatherizing their homes, and provide new tax credits for consumers that buy hybrid gasoline electric vehicles, energy efficient appliances, and residential solar panels. But House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt noted in a speech before the vote that the bill “provides less than 20 percent of tax breaks to renewable energy and energy efficiency.” “Over 80 percent of the tax breaks go to oil, gas, coal, nuclear and other big energy special interests who support the House Republican leadership,” Gephardt added. “Oil and gas companies making record profits could reap billions of dollars from the Republican energy bill.” Environmental groups vowed to step up their lobbying efforts against the bill, and to publicize the failure of a majority of House members to listen to the nation’s desire for a more balanced energy policy. “The American people deserved more principled, more responsible environmental leadership than they received today from a majority of House members,” said Betsy Loyless, political director of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). “With the exception of a large, bipartisan core group of representatives — like Edward Markey, Nancy Johnson, Jay Inslee, Sherwood Boehlert, Nick Rahall, John Lewis and Christopher Shays — the House failed to truly represent the environmental priorities and values of most Americans.”

Court issues ruling against Abu-Jamal

By Monica Moorehead

By Monica Moorehead On July 19, Federal District Judge William Yohn issued a 13-page ruling in which he turned down a petition filed by the new legal counsel representing African-American political prisoner and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal. In essence, Yohn refused to accept the confession of Arnold Beverly as an addition to a writ of habeas corpus filed originally in this particular court on Oct. 15, 1999. The federal district court is the only high court that could automatically grant Abu-Jamal the right to an evidentiary hearing. He has requested such a hearing, at which he could present new evidence in his case, based on 29 violations of the US Constitution carried out during his original trial. These 29 violations were outlined in the original writ of habeas corpus. An evidentiary hearing would allow all suppressed evidence to finally be heard. Had Judge Yohn ruled in Abu-Jamal’s favor, it could have led to an overturn of the state court ruling that the case against him has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The recent negative ruling by Yohn makes it less likely that the evidentiary hearing will ever happen. Arnold Beverly signed an affidavit stating that he was a hit man who had been hired and paid by the mob to kill a white policeman, Daniel Faulkner, on Dec. 9, 1981, in Philadelphia. Abu-Jamal was accused and subsequently convicted of that killing. He has been languishing on death row since July 3, 1982, and could face execution once his federal appeals have been exhausted. Two death warrants have been signed by the Pennsylvania governor and then withdrawn under mass pressure during Abu-Jamal’s state appeals. This most recent petition filed by Abu-Jamal’s new legal counsel — Marlene Kamish, Eliot Grossman and Nick Brown — explained that Beverly’s confession about killing Faulkner was first made in a deposition on June 8, 1999. The main motivation Beverly gave for the murder was that “Faulkner was a problem for the mob and corrupt policemen because he interfered with the graft and payoffs made to all illegal activity including prostitution, gambling and drugs with prosecution in the center city area.” Effective Death Penalty Act restricts prisoners’ rights Yohn cited the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 as the main reason for not accepting the Beverly confession. The AEDPA was signed into law during the Clinton administration after the Oklahoma City bombing. The AEDPA makes it virtually impossible for death row inmates to get federal courts to overturn state convictions in capital punishment cases, even when new evidence is presented to prove their innocence. The law states that unless death row inmates submitted a writ of habeas corpus to the federal courts on or before April 23, 1997 — the date the law actually went into effect — federal judges are not obligated to review the state rulings based on suppression of vital evidence or even constitutional rights violations. The impact of this law is not only to gut the writ of habeas corpus but to speed up the rate of state-sanctioned executions that target the poor and people of color. Yohn specifically applied the AEDPA to the recent Abu-Jamal petition. According to the Yohn ruling, “because the statute of limitations for asserting the Beverly claim had expired, petitioner is also precluded from requesting discovery (or new evidence) regarding the claim. Moreover, the Commonwealth argues that because petitioner cannot satisfy the requirements for an evidentiary hearing as set forth in the AEDPA — he is likewise not entitled to discovery concerning the Beverly claim.” Yohn admits that the AEDPA exists to limit the access to federal habeas corpus for the petitioner or defendant. This “limitation” means factual evidence not raised during the original state trial will not be taken into consideration. Yohn also dismisses Abu-Jamal’s claim that the prosecutor during his state trial purposely suppressed evidence that would have cleared him of all charges. Key prosecution witnesses Veronica Jones and Robert Chobert retracted their earlier testimony during post-conviction relief hearings in 1995 and 1996. These witnesses and others said they had been coerced by the Fraternal Order of Police into falsely accusing Abu-Jamal of shooting Officer Faulkner. Yohn’s “reasoning” is that even if Beverly’s confession were credible, the confession could not be tied to any of the suppressed evidence and does not prove that the government consciously or unconsciously suppressed or possessed any evidence in order to conspire against Mumia. Yohn also states that based on the AEDPA, the time line for submitting the Beverly claim to the federal district court began on Oct. 15, 1999, and ended on June 8, 2000. He goes on further to say that “before a district court can consider the merits of a state prisoner’s habeas corpus petition, he must have exhausted all available state remedies.” In fact, Abu-Jamal’s new attorneys have filed a legal brief of over 300 pages with the state court claiming “ineffective counsel” in reference to Leonard Weinglass and Dan Williams, who were Abu-Jamal’s attorneys during the period that Beverly made his confession. The state court has set a tentative date of Aug. 17 to hear oral arguments based on this brief. Whether Abu-Jamal will be present during this hearing has not been verified.

Source: International Action Center