Press Statement 25th July 2005

During the past few weeks, London has seen an escalation in violence starting with terrorist atrocities and culminating in the equally shocking shooting of an innocent man by non-uniformed police. The UK forum for non-violence states that this situation is intolerable and that violence will not end violence, on the contrary it is already amplifying fear and causing more friction in our communities.

This is a time to give non-violence a place to deal with the present events and to build a non-violent future. The population, including the police, are increasingly frightened. Our police, however, bear responsibility to ensure that it does not contribute to further violence, but create peaceful communities. The government is calling for peaceful solutions but the visible actions appear to contradict their stated intentions. In fact the situation is getting progressively more dangerous.

The non-violence movement has a contribution to make. The police must not be drawn into the spiral of violence and counter-violence. They can play an important role in the process of building bridges within and between communities and developing more constructive solutions to current and future conflict.

And those communities will have to see real change in the attitudes and values of society as a whole in order to undertake the task of rescuing those individuals who are already seduced by the delusion that violence can further their cause. Sadly, their acts of violence are used to justify the erosion of human rights and civil liberties every human being aspires to.

Proposals:

1. A public enquiry into the murder of the unarmed Brazilian victim on a crowded underground train and the publication of the rules regarding plain clothes police bearing weapons and the “rules of engagement”.
2. To call for an immediate conference to bring together all organisations involved in non-violent conflict resolution and peace building, to collect all the expertise already available and to connect with the non-violent sectors of all cultures and communities.
3. Training of the police, different communities and schools in non-violent conflict-resolution in order to find alternative ways to deal with conflicts and prevent future escalation of violence.

The UK forum for non-violence is available to facilitate the process of networking with those organisations and to help organise the conference.

The UK Forum for Non-violence
Hook, Hampshire, 25th July 2005