Nuclear Weapons and the Aviano Air Base: Italian Peace Activists File Complaint Against U.S. Government

Translation by Stephanie Westbrook, U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome
http://www.peaceandjustice.it

On December 22, a group of peace activists from Pordenone, Italy, filed a complaint against the U.S. Government. The complaint, presented to the Civil Court of Pordenone, solicits the judge to declare the presence of nuclear weapons on the Aviano Air Base illegal and harmful and, therefore, to declare that the United State is ordered to remove all nuclear weapons from the base at Aviano as well as from all of Italy.

The document, prepared by a staff of attorneys of IALANA-Italy (section of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms - www.ialana.net), recalls the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, signed and ratified by Italy, which decrees the obligation for Italy not to stock nuclear weapons and for Nuclear Weapon States, such as the U.S., not to transfer such weapons to other States.

The first hearing has been scheduled, by request of the plaintiffs, for July 7 2006, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the sentence of the International Justice Court which established that the use (or the threat of use) of nuclear weapons is in contrast with international law and States have the legal obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament.

The plaintiffs (Tiziano Tissino, Giuseppe Rizzardo, Michele Negro, Carlo Mayer, Monia Giacomini) are available to provide additional information on the motivation for legal action and future initiatives aimed at assuring wide popular support of the action. They also hope to receive the support and backing of political parties as well as social and labor movements.

(Original in Italian
http://www.vialebasi.net/article.php3?id_article=172
Includes a link to the summons in English)