WAIHOPAI SPYBASE PROTEST
JANUARY 24-26
KEY TIMES &
EVENTS
SATURDAY 25. 11
A.M., SEYMOUR SQUARE, BLENHEIM & 2.30 P.M. AT THE BASE (WAIHOPAI VALLEY
ROAD)
THEME: ANTI-WAR
The world has changed since the last
Waihopai protest (2001). Reflecting that, this year’s one will have an
explicitly anti-war theme. It will be serious, not lighthearted like some of
the more recent ones. The timing is coincidental, but this protest is taking
place just before key decisions are made in the US-led drive to invade Iraq.
Waihopai is NZ’s key contribution to all American wars, whether in Afghanistan,
Iraq or anywhere else. It is basically a US spybase operating on NZ soil, a
vital outpost of the American Empire. ABC will bring a limited number of
placards and banners. Please bring your own, relevant to the anti-war
theme, linking Waihopai to the US war on Iraq, and elsewhere.
Why
Waihopai should be closed
* Waihopai is New Zealand’s
biggest contribution to America’s wars, most notably in Afghanistan and the
coming war on Iraq.
* Waihopai does not operate
in the interests of NZ or our neighbours.
* It is not effectively
accountable to Parliament or the people. It is exempt from key provisions of
the Privacy Act and Crimes Act.
* To all intents and
purposes, it is a foreign spybase, working for, and providing raw intelligence
directly to, the US.
* Waihopai intercepts and
records your international phone calls and e-mail.
* Waihopai is a waste and
blatant misuse of taxpayers’ money.
What does Waihopai
actually do?
The electronic intelligence gathering base
is located in the Waihopai Valley, near Blenheim. First announced in 1987, it
is operated by New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB),
in the interests of the foreign powers grouped together in the super-secret
UKUSA Agreement (which shares global electronic and signals intelligence among
the Intelligence agencies of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and NZ). Its two
satellite interception dishes (shielded by giant domes) intercept a huge volume
of satellite phone calls, including New Zealanders’ international calls, plus
telexes, faxes, e-mail and computer data communications. It gathers this data
from our Asia/Pacific neighbours, and forwards it on to the major partners in
the UKUSA Agreement, specifically the US National Security Agency. Its targets
include international communications involving New Zealanders. The codename for
this – Echelon – has become notorious worldwide. New Zealand is an integral,
albeit junior, part of a global spying network, one that is ultimately
accountable only to its own constituent agencies, not governments, and
certainly not to citizens.
How does Waihopai
involve us in America’s wars?
Waihopai’s "Big Ears" cover a vast
area of the Pacific. Although Iraq is on the other side of the world, the US
military/intelligence network that is planning that war is global and depends
on global facilities. Waihopai is strategically situated in the Pacific for
spying on several countries, such as Indonesia, that do not support US war
plans or the so-called "war on terror". If New Zealanders disagree with
US policies and warmongering, then Waihopai is located right here to monitor
our own international e-mails and phone calls and report directly to Big
Brother at our expense - because we pay for Waihopai with millions of our tax
dollars every year. The Bush Administration has pronounced Intelligence to be
the key component of all the wars that it is fighting, or planning to fight,
throughout the world. Thus, much more so than any token commitment of the SAS
or a frigate, the Waihopai spybase is New Zealand’s key contribution to all
these American wars.
Waihopai does not operate in the
national interests of New Zealand or our neighbours. Basically it is a foreign
spybase on NZ soil and directly involves us in America’s wars. Waihopai must be
closed.
Join us
for the weekend of protest!
*We invite people from around the country to
join us for the weekend of anti-war protest at this spybase. Come prepared for
roughing it and camping out. We’ve hired portaloos and a marquee. We provide
the food. Bring sleeping bag, groundsheet, a tent, torch, water bottle, eating
utensils, clothing for all weather, and $30 ($15 unwaged) to cover costs.
Absolutely no open fires or smoking in the camp.
*How to find our camp. Take Highway 6 out of
Blenheim (the Nelson road); just before Renwick, turn left onto to Highway 63
(the Nelson Lakes road). A few kms down that, turn left down the Waihopai
Valley road (winery on corner). The spybase is about 10 kms up the valley (you
can’t miss it - 2 huge white domes). Our camp is about 1.5 kms past the base on
the left. Look for the Pleiades Vineyard sign.
We need people, money, and publicity.
I want to take part in the weekend of
protest
Name
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phone/Fax/E-mail
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I enclose $30 ($15 unwaged) per person
registration to cover costs -------
I want to make a donation to the Waihopai
campaign ---------------------------
I can help with publicity in my area or
network Yes/No ------------------------
I want to join the Anti-Bases Campaign.
Annual membership is $20 -------
CLOSE THE WAIHOPAI SPYBASE NOW!
Organised by the Anti-Bases Campaign, Box
2258, Christchurch.
E-mail cafca@chch.planet.org.nz Make all
cheques to ABC.