JABILUKA PLOWSHARES: In the early hours of August 9, 1998, the 53^rd anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Ciaron O’Reilly an Australian Catholic Worker and member of the Anzuz Plowshares, and Treena Lenthall, an advocate for people with disabilities and activist for a free East Timor from Australia, used house-hold hammers and bolt-cutters to disable uranium equipment at the Jabiluka uranium mine in Australia’s Northern territory. Using baby bottles decorated with pictures of dying children from Nagasaki and Chernobyl, they poured blood onto excavation equipment. They wrote the names of nuclear radiation victims on the equipment—from Nagasaki to Three Mile Island to Iraq—exposing the lethal consequences caused by uranium. They then unfurled a banner: “Nuclear War and Poison Begin Here! Let’s End It Here! Swords Into Ploughshares.” In their action statement they declared: “The nuclear weapons assembly line begins here at the Jabiluka uranium mine. Today we end it here with this nonviolent act of disarmament—the prophecy of Isaiah. The road from Jabiluka leads to Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Chernobyl, Muroroa, Missan…With this act of disarmament we begin to prepare the way of the Lord—a path of nonviolent resistance towards justice and peace.” After one hour they were arrested by police, and held 5-7 weeks in Darwin Prison.

           During a four day court case, they were permitted to testify about experiences and knowledge that compelled them to act. Treena was able to present to the court a video about Jabiluka. She was then acquitted of the fence-cutting charge. At a subsequent hearing on December 14, the Magistrate convicted her of trespass and one count of damage to the excavator. Cairon was convicted of trespass and two counts of damage. They were sentenced to time served and ordered to pay $6673 restitution. Instead of paying restitution the two returned to the Jabiluka mine for a nonviolent witness on January 17, 2000. They were arrested and ordered to serve 66 days in prison.