MARCH 30, 1983 THE OTHER PRESS J | OTHER FEATURE . \ PAGE 11 ? and one of the first places they sailed to was an area where France explodes atomic bombs. ‘They have a security zone around the underground test area. When we arrived just outside the 12 mile zone the French legionnaires paralleled us and boarded. We had the children on the deck. I felt: very vulnerable be- cause we wére just a few people on a little boat,’’ says Longmuir. ‘‘They broke our mast and refused to help us. It was a very dangerous situation.”’ The action of the French legionnaires is only a small example of the cover- ups which surround nuclear weapons testing, she continues after a pause. “The most important thing at this stage is to try to educate people. We've got to make people realize this is an issue which obviously treads on their. ground. Our hope is in non- violent resistance.”’ Convinced that civil disobedience is an effective way to protest against nuclear weapons, the crew sailed the Peacemaker to the Hood Canal, where arrived at its Bangor, Wash. base on Aug. 12, 1982. Despite threats of harsh punishment if security zones were breached, 50 people participated in civil disobed- ‘tence. They had been training for and thinking about the action and its poss- the first Trident nuclear submarine ° s Peace a Floating Concern ible consequences for months. The Pacific Peacemaker and another larger boat, The Lizard of Woz, were flag- ships for the non-violent resistance. ““‘We were in a position to transport smaller boats and to physically block- ade the‘Trident. Our hope was that the Trident stopping; could symbolize the reversing of the arms race,’’ says Longmuir. She describes being awakened early one morning with the news that the submarine was finally approaching. ‘Unfortunately, 99 coast guard boats and helicopters prevented our small boats from getting anywhere near the Trident. But a little boat was able to get through and circle the submarine. That was the only boat to transgress the security zones and yet the boat’s . crew wasn’t even detained, while 31 people who were on board the Pacific Peacemaker and The Lizard of Woz were all handcuffed and guarded with machine guns for 9 hours.’’ People on the small boat were not detained because the U.S. government does not want to bring any issue con- cerning the Trident submarine to trial, says Longmuir. ‘‘The Trident is a first strike weapon and, as such, it is ill- egal. ‘The U.S. has broken three of its own peace agreements it has signed with other countries. If this Trident sub- trial,’’ she says. marine was to come to trial and the information brought out about our his- tory of signing agreements, it would make the building of more submarines extremely difficult for the government. Because the submarine is illegal the charges would have to be dropped, or the case thrown out of court. The U.S. ‘government is afraid to bring us to People must do more than simply urge their governments to negotiate for a nuclear freeze, says Longmuir. ‘‘I see the freeze movement as a first step and not the end of. the line by any means. It’s absolutely imperative that there is non-violent direct action. The abuse of property is hardly ever com- pared to the abuse that property can bring to humanity.”’ Longmuir looks earnestly at the people interviewing her. Peace groups in North America are now buying Pac- ific Peacemaker shares, and a new crew is getting ready to oppose the increasing nuclear weapons buildup, she says. For now, Longmuir is content to let others take the helm. After a year of | adventure she is returning to Australia to have a baby and to continue to work with local peace groups. ‘RCMP and Military Learning — Riot Tactics in the United States Winnipeg (CUP)-A Toronto peace activist claims the police crackdown on peace groups since the Litton bombing is only the beginning. Ken Hancock of the Cruise Missile Conversion Project is one of 64 people facing poss- ible jail terms for participating in a non-violent demonstration Nov. 11 at-the Litton Indus- tries plant. In suburban Tor- onto, Litton is manufacturing the guidance system for the\ Cruise Missile, which its crit- ics claim will dangerously es- jcalate the arms race. The plant was bombed two weeks before the demonstra- ion by a group calling itself “Direct Action.’’ Toronto po- ice and the RCMP have since atried out a series of raids on ace groups. Hancock rejected the use of iolence by peace groups, and laimed the Canadian and merfican goyernmments are raining people to respond to rther violence. ‘‘Taking up arms, of course, ould be pretty stupid,’’ he aid. ‘‘For one thing, they have a lot more guns than we do. Canadian military and RCMP personnel are currently receiving training in the U.S. in putting down insurrections, operating tanks in cities, sur- veillance and psychological warfare. They’re being taught these things to use them against us, not the commun- ists.” He said the Americans are worried that Canada is becom- ing too independent. ‘‘The American government is worr- ied that Canada is slipping out of its control, and the Cruise project is just another example of how they are trying to main- tain that control.”’ The police crackdown is not working, Hancock said, an has instead created solidari and improved communication| among anti-cruise groups. These groups must develop strong ties with the labour movement, Hancock said. ‘The tragic thing is that all those who were injured in the Litton bombing were working’ people,”’ he said. ‘‘The Litton workers have no union, and are subject to surveillance and questioning. It’s one thing fo us to yell ‘Refuse the Cruise,’ and it’s quite another to jo workers on the picket line a 6:a.m.”’ People who join the refus the Cruise movement mus overcome internal barriers Hancock said. ‘*So much of the battle again st us is psychological. Whe they put up a fence in front o: you, there are actually tw fences--the physical fence an the fence in your mind. Whe I went over the fence to pro test-on Nov. 11, I destroye that fence in my mind.”’ —