23th January 2003
Human shields volunteers prepare for departure to Iraq
(Photo opportunity – Invitation to the press)

A dozen human shield volunteers are spending their last day in England painting and decorating the double-decker buses that will ferry them to Baghdad. Dozens more will join them TOMORROW 25 January, when the convoy leaves from outside City Hall, London at 2pm.

The convoy, comprising volunteers from Britain and around the world, will drive through Europe picking up more human shields en route. It will arrive in Baghdad on 8th February where the volunteers will stay until the imminent threat of war has passed.
The convoy, led by former US Marine and Gulf War veteran, Ken Nichols O’Keefe, has attracted volunteers of all ages and backgrounds.
- Sue Darling, 60, from Surrey is a former diplomat and represented Britain at the UN.
- Gordon Sloan, who was on the Australian version of Big Brother (nicknamed ‘Donkey Boy’ in the press), flew in from Australia this morning.
- Sophie McCambridge, 19, handed in her notice to the factory in Essex where she works, yesterday.
- Ube Evans, a fifty year old theatrical stage-hand says he will miss his friends and family and the peace and quiet of mid-Wales home.
- Others include Rick Trutwein, 30, a care-worker from Greenwich; Christiaan Briggs, 26, from New Zealand; Peter Van Dyke, 38, a former navy man from Portsmouth; Steven Allen, 31, from Edinburgh; Philip Vine, 20, a University student and many more.
O’Keefe sees the hundreds of volunteers who have already signed-up to join this action as indicative of the breath and depth of outrage felt about the prospect of war and the anger at the failure of our governments to listen. He believes that a massive civilian presence in Iraq has the potential to create the pressure needed to stop western governments from pursuing "a criminal war".
"Our so-called democracies have failed us. If we as people are going to stop wars we must act." said O’Keefe. "Our strategy is potentially dangerous but that is the risk we must take in standing beside our brothers and sisters in Iraq. We can and we must stop this war, and all we need to achieve this is a few thousand volunteers to migrate to Iraq."
This convoy will be just the first in a series of Human Shield Actions organised by TJP Human Shield Action to Iraq. There are further convoys planned. If funding is available, future actions might involve flying rather than driving overland.
"The response to this initial convoy shows that there is no shortage of people willing to act as shields" says Mr O’Keefe. "The people who are coming on this convoy are all very different but they all have two things in common. A remarkable courage and an absolute conviction that this war is wrong.
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Human Shield Volunteers will be available to meet the press at 3pm at the Euro Carparks, Tooley Street, SE1, London .
The convoy will departure from outside City Hall, Queens Walk, SE1 2AA. Speeches from 12.45pm, send-off at 2pm (Saturday 25th January).
Donations - sent to TJP, 90 Mercers Rd, London N19 4PR (Cheques made payable to Universal Kinship Society).
Volunteers who want to join the convoy or just help out can contact  admin@humanshields.org
Contact: Press Room – 07732 728859; Stefan Simanowitz - 07799 650 791, Carly – 07817 628282, Richard Scrace – 07787794250
For further information go to www.humanshields.org