Statement - Religious Society of Friends

Peace Movement Aotearoa

Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends in Britain (Quakers)
Web:http://www.quaker.org.uk

Recording Clerk: Elsa Dicks

Dear Tony Blair,

As members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), we are writing to express our profound opposition to the use of military force in attempting to resolve the current conflict in Kosovo/a .

For over 300 years, Quakers have rejected the use of violence in all its forms. In today’s complex world, this rejection applies equally to all use of military force, whether by the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, by the Kosovo Liberation Army, or by our own country. When violence, in the form of bombing, is conducted by our own armed forces and paid for by our taxes, we feel a compelling responsibility to speak out.

To oppose the use of violence is not to do nothing; Quakers remain deeply involved in, and committed to, work for the peaceful resolution of disputes through peaceful means. Since 1991, Quaker Peace & Service (the international department of Quakers in Britain) has been gradually developing relationships of trust and co-operation in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia with locally run peace-building, relief and community reconstruction projects; two Quaker Peace & Service representatives in Sarajevo are currently working with civil society groups committed to rebuilding a sustainable peace in the region. We also have links with non-governmental initiatives in Kosovo/a itself, such as the Balkans Peace Team, Catholic Relief Services, and the Centre for Protection of Women and Children in Pristina.

From these contacts and from our own experience, we are convinced that coercive diplomacy and military action cannot lead to a just and sustainable settlement of the complex tragedy of Kosovo/a. Our fear is that they will, instead, serve to inflame existing fears and hatreds and spread violent conflict again through a region which has been a crucible of European wars for centuries. Far from alleviating ethnically motivated murders, the present bombing may intensify them with a vengeance.

We call on the UK Government to suspend military action immediately and to work through the UN Secretary General and Security Council, and through the OSCE, to initiate a multilaterally supported political process for new negotiations between the parties to the conflict within the framework of international law. Representation of the leadership in such negotiations should include not only governing officials, military officers and leaders of armed factions, but also the leaders of civil society institutions. In addition, we call for assertive and continuing efforts to hold all involved in the conflict accountable under international law for crimes, war crimes or crimes against humanity - excepting no official, no matter how central to the previous Dayton Accords or to any new negotiations.

Quakers have always had a deep respect for the rule of law, which we believe has been violated by the use of NATO, ostensibly a defensive military alliance, in mounting an attack on a sovereign state. We ask the UK Government itself, in all its attempts to resolve this crisis, to act in ways which are both fully accountable to Parliament and consistent with international law.

We pray that in this challenging situation peaceful ways may yet be found to promote a just and a lasting resolution to the conflict.

Yours sincerely,

Jane A. Chattell
Clerk of Meeting for Sufferings,
Religious Society of Friends in Britain

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