Friends witness against space warfare

Friends supported Keep Space for Peace Week (5-12 October)

Quakers supported a week of witness against space warfare this month.

The Keep Space for Peace Week, from 5-12 October, included protests at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall; Menwith Hill; RAF Croughton; and other locations.

The group SpaceWatch UK, launched by Drone Wars UK, also pressed for a halt to the militarisation of space. The call follows a two-day information tribunal last month in which Drone Wars UK sought to overturn the Ministry of Defence (MoD)’s decision to end the release of statistical information on the use of reaper drones and other armed aircraft on military operations. 

The group said the information had been ‘a crucial way for the public and parliament to have oversight of UK military action and without the data, it will be much harder to hold the UK to account’.

The MoD stopped responding to the group’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for statistical information in January 2023. It said the information could not be provided due to exemptions provided under Section 23 (security bodies) or Section 24 (national security), and Section 26 (defence) of the Act.

The MoD said it had stopped the practice due ‘to the changing national and security context’. It cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.

BYM’s Faith in Action team said: ‘Sadly, we are rapidly entering the era of space warfare. Right now, the UK and other nations are deploying military systems to support and enable warfare in space.’

More details can be found on the Drone Wars website. 

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