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International Conference for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases
--Ecuador, 5-9 March 2007
International Conference for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases
Ecuador will be the venue of the International Conference for the Abolition
of Foreign Military Bases that will be held on 5-9 March, 2007. Foreign
military bases and other forms of foreign military presence are used to
secure the interests of a few at the cost of democracy, justice, sovereignty
and self determination. But these bases and their destructive impacts
are meeting with strong grassroots opposition around the world--from Vieques,
South Korea and Japan to England and Guam.
Over the past two years, movements for peace and justice have been building
an international network that works for the abolition of foreign military
bases around the world. The next step in consolidating this Network is
the International Conference for the Abolition of All Foreign Military
Bases. We hope that this will be the biggest gathering of anti-bases activists
to date where the political, social, environmental and economic impacts
of foreign military bases and the grassroots movements that oppose them
will be highlighted. The goal of the gathering is also to construct a
network and determine its strategies, structure and action plans. The
main objectives of the Conference are:
- Analyze the role of Foreign Military Bases and other forms of foreign
military presence in the strategy of global domination and its impacts
on the population and the environment.
- Highlight, share experiences, and show solidarity with resistance
struggles against foreign military bases.
- Reach consensus on objectives, action plans, coordination, communication
and decision-making mechanisms for a global network for the abolition
of all foreign military bases and other forms of military presence.
- Establish global struggles and action plans that strengthen local
and national struggles and the coordination among them.
The conference takes place over five days, from March 5-7. It will consist
of panels, presentations and workshops and to formally establish the anti-base
network. On March 8, International Women's Day, there will be a caravan
from Quito to the port city of Manta, led by Ecuadoran women's groups
also opposed to military bases. On March 9 in Manta there will be a joint
action by international and Ecuadoran participants, with a focus on the
US military base in Manta.
On-line registration for the conference
is available. For more information, please contact nobases@yahoo.com.
Organizers: Asociación Cristiana de Jovenes
(ACJ-YMCA Ecuador), Fundación Regional de Derechos Humanos (Ecuador),
Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ-E) (Ecuador), Confederación de
Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (Ecuador), Movimiento Tohallí
(Ecuador), Paulina Ponce Comisión Ecuménica de Derechos
Humanos (Ecuador), Grupo de Objetores de Conciencia (Ecuador), ALTERCOM
(Ecuador), Clínica de Derechos Humanos – PUCE (Ecuador), American
Friends Service Committee, US Peace Council (US), Nonviolence International
(US), American Friends Service Committee (US), Gathering for Peace (Filipinas),
Centro Memorial Martin Luther King Jr (Cuba), Campaign for Demilitarisation
of Americas (Latin America), Focus on the Global South (Thailand, Philippines,
India), Fellowship of Reconciliation (US), LALIT (Diego Garcia / Mauritius),
Transnational Institute (Netherlands), Asian Peace Alliance – Japan,
Japan Peace Committee (Japan), For Mother Earth (Belgium), Pakistan Peace
Coalition (Pakistan), Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (UK), World Peace
Council
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