“The High North and International Security Conference” the 27th- 29th June 2013 organised by the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Summary of the presentation by Kirsti Kolthoff, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom – WILPF, Sweden.
Kirsti Kolthoff is former treasurer and vice president of WILPF international and was the president of the Swedish Section of WILPF until March this year. She was in Kiruna as part of a project run by WILPF Sweden to study the militarisation in the North as well as to speak on the subject of Feminism and Militarism in the UN. Kirsti has also been networking with the Swedish Organising Committee and was in contact with WILPFers in different countries before the meeting took place.
Kirsti Kolthoff brought greetings from WILPF:
"The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is pleased that the 21st annual meeting of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space is being held in Kiruna, Sweden in order to highlight the militarization of the High North. WILPF members from Norway and Sweden are participating in the conference. WILPF's International Secretariat strongly supports the conference and its participants in their work to publicize and eliminate the infrastructure for missile defence, military satellitesand test drones in the region, as well as halt NATO military exercises and advanced weapons testing. The High North should be a region of peace, not war.”
Kirsti Kolthoff about feminism and militarism
The concept of security is understood by many as being built upon the use of violence and military operations to solve conflicts. The ideology of militarism presents the military as the good, natural and necessary solution. One example is the idea that drones have become a normal way of life. The discourse of militarism is also linked with masculinity, which is especially evident in the argument that military intervention (the good men) was necessary to save the women of Afghanistan even though sexual harassment and violence against women are practised within the military forces.
From a feminist perspective militarism is built on a patriarchal tradition including in its definition of masculinity that men seems to take on the duty to protect women. Militarism includes the positionto solve conflicts by usingviolence encouraging military force. Feminism, on the other hand, is built on a non-militaristic position, which supports the defence of human rights, dialogue and peace - to shape a real, long lasting, sustainable peace. This is as simple as common sense, to work for a reduction of every form of violence, from the structural violence of poverty, everyday physical violence and intimidation to the organised mass violence of war.
The choices to make are to build human security through conflict resolution, demilitarisation and disarmament, non- military solutions linked to ideas. The enormous amount of money spent on the military is needed to build more just societies, for instance to fight the increasing feminisation of poverty. The choice is to build a sustainable peaceful society with human security.
Integrated approach as a strategy
WILPF is a global organisation with 40 sections in six continents working for peace, disarmament and human rights and has consultative status with the UN. Different strategies during soon 100 years have been used to bring about change. WILPF is now working with an integrated approach meaningto link together human rights issues, disarmament issues and women’s rights.
The integrated approach combines WILPF’s international programmes and the work done in national sections with the work carried out within the different UN bodies. At the UN, WILPF integrates its work on human rights and disarmament in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).WILPF sections can then take action in their respective countries.
WILPF’s General Secretary Madeleine Rees, at WILPF’s International Board Meeting in February this year in Madrid, explained why an integrated approach is needed now more than ever:
“We learnt that during the 23rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), some of the thorniest negotiations revolved around the Resolution on Sexual Violence, the conflict in Syria and the Right to Peace. A separate analysis of these negotiations brings a worrying sense of backlashes on many fronts affecting women’s rights and international security.”
Further Madeleine Rees added: “A comprehensive analysis of the negotiations showed an even more worrying conclusion: the growing intention of Russia and of many other States to separate any issue being discussed at the Security Council from the issues being dealt with at the Human Rights Council. That is to say: separating peace and security from human rights, as if they were separate matters.”
Kirsti meant that WILPF, with a holistic approach to conflicts and the right to peace, keep reminding UN Member States that conflicts have multiple causes and consequences and because of this need to be addressed in a comprehensive way. All armed conflicts involve human rights violations and the UN Human Rights Council has a mandate and an obligation to address these violations to include a humanitarian and diplomatic response.
WILPF and the drones.
Using this integrated approach, WILPF has actively brought the issue of drones in the different UN bodies including to the UNHRC as a human rights issue and is campaigning against drones.
In October 2012 WILPF Pakistan launched a campaign together with women’s rights activists and human rights organisations. WILPF Pakistan has given evidence of how (their) every day life is affected by the drones and the fear of unpredictable killings.
In March this year, WILPF issued a comprehensive paper on drones, (by WILPF) Reaching Critical Will. This was after a public lecture on Friday March 1, by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who stressed the fact that the use of armed drones should be strictly regulated and controlled by International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL). It was announced that The UN’s special raporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism was to lead a group of international specialists to examine CIA and Pentagon-covert drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
WILPF also raised the issue of killer robots in a side event on Killer Robots on 28th May 2013.
WILPF’s Swedish section has launched a campaign in Sweden this spring demanding a stop for Sweden being a part of developing drones which could be used as weapons to kill. The campaign is collecting names to be given to the government.
Kirsti concluded: The integrated approach is a method following the UN’s mission to link international peace and security to human rights, as recognised in article 1 of the UN Charter andclearly repeated throughout the history of the UN. Ever since the beginning, WILPF has kept reminding of the UN charter and addressed the root causes of conflict in an increasingly complex context by including economic models, the environment and the roles of different actors.
WILPF will celebrate 100 years work for peace in 2015. Welcome to The Hague in April 2015 to a global manifestation of the important work for peace and disarmament!
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to meat with you and learn and give this presentation!
Below are references for further reading:
1.WILPF | WILPF Pakistan Says No to Drones! | Page: 1
www.wilpfinternational.org/wilpf-pakistan-says-no-to-drones/ - Cached
9 Oct 2012 ...WILPF Pakistan Says No to Drones! ... The meeting gave women's rights activists and human rights organisations from around Pakistan the...
2.WILPF | DRONES: THE DANGER OF 'CLEAN WAR' | Page: 1
www.wilpfinternational.org/drones-the-danger-of-clean-war/ - Cached
On March 6, 2013 posted by WILPF International. On Saturday March 2, the
International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) screened a short...
3.Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, Stop Drone Assassinations | WILPFwilpfus.org/../eliminate-nuclear-weapons-stop-drone-assassinations - CachedAlso see news on Branch Actions to stop drone assassinations and to shift tax money from waging war to ensuring human security and human rights. In May, we..
4.Meetings and Events - Bloomington, Indiana WILPF Branch
wilpf.org/events.html - Cached - Similar
The National WILPF office has put together a calendar of events appropriate to or
... known peace leader and anti-drone activist Medea Benjamin to speak on the ...
Code Pink and the international human rights organization Global Exchange,...
5.Women's International League for Peace and Freedom | WILPF – ACT
wilpfact.wordpress.com/ - Cached 3 days ago ...WILPF, as an anti-war and pro-peace organisation, cannot tolerate the military ....
Tagged Human rights, militarisation, redefine security, violence against .... The
move to expand the capabilities of US drones comes amid...
6.WILPF East Bay Branch
www.wilpfeastbay.org/ - Cached - Similar 16 Jun 2013 ... Rita is an East Bay WILPF member and human rights activist who was .....Drones are used to kill citizens in at least 7 countries; Afghanistan,...
- Women's International League for Peace & Freedom - WILPF ...
www.wilpf.org.au/wp-content/.../09/Peace_and_Freedom_Sept_2012.pdf - Cached
3 Sep 2012 ...WILPF's May Kentish, commented on drones: Of great concern is the legal
position with ... Where are people's human rights being considered?
8.Nuclear Abolition, Drone Research, and More! What Matters ... - Salsa!
org2.salsalabs.com/o/5372/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast... - Cached
WILPF members create the peaceful transformation they wish to see in the ... The
rights of the Constitution are intended for human persons only, not for any...
9.JOIN US! Ground the Drones Protest 27th April 2013 | WOMEN'S ...
wilpf.org/join-us-ground-the-drones-protest-27th-april-2013 - Cached
23 Apr 2013 ...WILPF members will be heading to RAF Waddington on Saturday 27th ...Drones have become the latest weapon of choice in the so-called war on terror. ...
Human security, not military security ... Strengthening women's rights.
10.Early Delegates Report Back | Drones Watch
droneswatch.org/2012/09/30/early-delegates-report-back/ - Cached
30 Sep 2012 ... 5 members of the WILPF chapter joined us, including one woman who is on the Pakistan Human Rights Council. Mrs. Nizar is setting up a...