By John LaForge
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected the complaints of three nuclear weapons resisters who unsuccessfully appealed criminal trespass convictions in German courts. The cases stemmed from political trespass and/or property damage convictions that followed nonviolent “go-in” protests against the stationing and threatened use of U.S. nuclear bombs at Germany’s Büchel Air Force Base.
In decisions handed down October 21, the Strasbourg-based ECHR ruled that the defendants’ complaints failed to show “a violation of rights and freedoms set out in the Constitution” of the Court. The ECHR considers appeals from individuals, NGOs, or states within the 46-member Council of Europe, but only after applicants have exhausted all the paths of recourse in their own country.
The Court rejected complaints by Germans Marion Küpker of Hamburg, Stephanie Augustin of Dortmund, and yours truly John LaForge of Luck, Wisconsin. All three of us were convicted of trespass and/or damage to perimeter fencing at Büchel AFB, the German NATO base 80 miles southeast of Cologne. The base has been the object of decades of protests because of its maintenance and readiness to use the U.S. thermonuclear bombs (known as B61s) stationed there. German Tornado fighter jet pilots at the base plan, prepare, and train to use the U.S. Air Force H-bombs in attacks against Russia, most recently in the “Steadfast Noon” rehearsal that ended October 25. The transfer of the U.S. nuclear bombs to Germany and four other NATO states is part of a practice quaintly known as “nuclear sharing.”
Küpker, the nuclear weapons spokesperson with Fellowship of Reconciliation Germany, peace activist Augustin, and I appealed our convictions all the way to the Constitutional Court, Germany’s highest. This high court has routinely rejected similar appeals a total of 20 times in separate cases of nuclear weapons protests at Büchel. In January of 2023, I was the first U.S. citizen ordered to prison in Germany in the long-running campaign of civil resistance against the U.S. H-bombs kept at Büchel and was incarcerated for 50 days.
Two other U.S. citizens have been jailed after Büchel trespass convictions. Dennis DuVall with Veterans for Peace, formerly of Prescott, Arizona, now living in Germany, served 60 days in prison in 2023. Susan Crane of Redwood City, California, is currently serving a 229-day prison sentence in JVA Koblenz, Germany, the longest sentence ever imposed in the 28-year-long campaign.
I argued in my complaint to the ECHR that its mandatory requirements were violated by German courts when they prevented me from presenting a complete defense. The complaint argued that the trial courts erred by refusing to consider expert witness testimony, which would have corroborated my defense of “crime prevention.” I had offered the testimony of the eminent international law scholar Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois who has said that international treaties prohibit any and all planning or preparation for nuclear weapons attacks, and also forbid nuclear weapons “sharing” by any state which is party to the 1970 Nonproliferation Treaty. But the ECHR ruled that Germany’s trial court’s decisions were not “unfair” and did “not appear arbitrary or manifestly unreasonable.” The ruling is final and is not subject to appeal.
We gave the human rights court a chance to examine the legality of transferring U.S. nuclear weapons to Germany. At a time when threats and risks of nuclear attacks over Ukraine are reported almost daily, the ECHR ducked the opportunity to shame the “sharing” of U.S. nuclear weapons and to condemn the U.S./German violation of the Nonproliferation Treaty.
Three other nuclear resisters have filed similar complaints with the ECHR including Germans Ariane Dettloff of Cologne and Johanna Adickes of Emden. Susan Crane of California had her application dismissed on a technicality.
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