On Wednesday morning Greenpeace staged a demonstration in front of the office of the Czech government in Prague, calling on the Czech government not to support an American-led attack against Iraq without a mandate from the United Nations. As government ministers arrived for a cabinet meeting, they were greeted by Greenpeace activists lying in body bags and holding tattered flags of the United Nations. I was on the scene and spoke to Jan Haverkamp, the director of Greenpeace's campaigns in the Czech Republic.
Greenpeace, photo: CTK
"We've raised the American flag in front of the Czech government's office, because in the last few days it has appeared that the Czech government has aligned itself with the allies of the United States. At least, the government has not denied that. The Czech Republic appears on Colin Powell's list, and the Czech foreign minister confirmed that he considers the Czech Republic to be an ally. We want to show here that the Czech Republic has with that given away the only chance for peace in the region, and has given a severe blow to the United Nations. Therefore, we also raised a tattered United Nations flag and draped body bags on the floor to show that this war is going to cause a lot of problems for the people of Iraq, and a lot of problems for the international community. And the only way to reach peace, to solve this problem in a peaceful manner, through the United Nations, has been wasted. There is still a chance that the United Nations might take over the lead in this, that is by calling a "united for peace" resolution into action. That would mean an extraordinary meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations. We strongly call on the Czech government to call for this possibility."
Greenpeace, photo: CTK
This is probably one of the last demonstrations of this kind that will take place in Prague before the war actually starts. How supportive do you think the Czech public has been of such protests?
"The Czech public is not a public that goes onto the streets in masses. The polls have shown that seventy per cent of the population is against a war, even with UN backing. So that shows that the Czech public does not agree with what the government is at the moment doing, but it's not a people of demonstrators, it's a people that likes to sit out and wait and survive. On the other hand, we've had a lot of support over the last few days, through e-mails, a lot of visits to the web site, people supporting us that we've taken a stand. And people that have passed by here today - we've seen a lot of "V" signs and several cars honking, which for the Czech Republic is completely extraordinary."
