District Court, Cochem, Reference No. 2010 Js 60922/18

Anabel L. Dwyer, upon information and belief, declares:

Introduction and Summary of Declaration

I have been asked to give my opinion on the fundamental unlawfulness (illegality and criminality) of planning, preparation, possession, deployment, threat or use of 20 B61s (50-170 kiloton) U.S. nuclear bombs at Büchel Air Force Base, Germany, and the right or duty of citizens to nonviolently or symbolically resist such violations of the rules and principles of humanitarian law or the Nuremberg Principles.

This Declaration shows and concludes:

1. The United States (U.S.), Germany and NATO know that each and every B61 nuclear bomb is designed and intended to unleash uncontrollable and indiscriminate heat, blast and radiation. Therefore, any planning, preparation, possession, deployment, threat or use of any variant of the B61 nuclear bombs, as a matter of known and intended fact, violates peremptory rules of law including the laws of war, the rules and principles of humanitarian law or the Nuremberg Principles.
2. The U.S. and Germany breach the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Article VI disarmament obligation and NPT Articles I and II prohibitions against “nuclear sharing” by continuing planning, preparation, possession, deployment/threat or use of B61 nuclear bombs at Büchel Air Force Base.
3. It is my opinion that Marion Küpker correctly asserts that the charges in this case should be withdrawn, dismissed or that she should be found not guilty of the offenses charged because all citizens of U.S., Germany, or other NATO countries who know of the planning, preparation, possession, deployment/threat or use of the indiscriminate and uncontrollable B61 nuclear bombs at Büchel Air Force Base, have a right or duty to nonviolently or symbolically resist complicity with violations of the intransgressible principles of international customary law inherent in those nuclear bombs.

Qualifications to make this Declaration:

I hold a J.D., am a member of the State Bar of Michigan and its International Law Section and for 30 years have studied, taught law school seminars, and lectured widely on nuclear weapons and the rule of law. I am a Member of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy. I was a member of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms’ Legal Team for the World Court Project during the 1995 oral arguments before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the “Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons” and rely on the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ and the Individual Opinions and Declarations of the Judges as the most authoritative statements of the law and legal obligations regarding nuclear weapons.^[1] I was on the drafting committee for the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention. I hold a Certificate in Public International Law from The Hague Academy of International Law, and have conducted extensive research at the Peace Palace Library in The Hague as co-counsel for the Michigan Nuremberg Campaign. I have served as a defense attorney in six Plowshares cases and other civil resistance to nuclear weapons cases in the U.S., and was lead author of an exhaustive Brief in Support of a Citizens’ Petition to State and Federal Authorities entitled, “In re: Request for Investigation/Prosecution of Officers and Directors of Williams International Corporation and Commanders of Wurtsmith Air Force Base (Headquarters of the Strategic Air Command 40^th Air Division, 379^th Bombardment Wing) in Oscoda, Michigan.”^[2] A fuller resume follows below.

Questions

I. The U.S., Germany and NATO know that each and every B61-3 and B61-4 nuclear bomb is designed and intended to unleash uncontrollable and indiscriminate heat, blast and radiation. The B61-3 is a 170-kiloton nuclear weapon. The B61-4 is a 50 kiloton weapon.^[3] Therefore, any planning, preparation, possession, deployment, threat or use of any variant of the B61 nuclear bomb, as a matter fact, violates peremptory rules of law including the laws of war, the rules and principles of humanitarian law or the Nuremberg Principles. [Read more…]