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No justice results from violent revenge
Canadian Peace Alliance statement on the September 11 2001 attacks in New York City and Washington, DC
September 14, 2001
We mourn the tragic loss of life resulting from the attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the crash of the aircraft in Pennsylvania. We grieve with the families who have suffered losses and laud the brave men and women undertaking the grim tasks of rescue and recovery.
The Canadian Peace Alliance commends the efforts of people and governments in Canada to send humanitarian aid and other forms of assistance to the recovery and rebuilding efforts.
The perpetrators of these crimes must be brought to justice. No justice, however, results from violent revenge.
September 11, 2001 was not the first time that civilians have been targeted on a mass scale. During the second half of the twentieth century, many states were guilty of overt and covert support for dozens of civil wars and repressive regimes. The United States was not the only instigator of such violence against civilians but it was one of the worst, resulting in widespread hatred and resentment. Unfortunately, on September 11, its citizens paid a terrible price.
We implore the Government of Canada not to condone or participate in a retaliatory attack. We call on the Government to use its good offices to urge the Government of the United States not to seek military retribution, but to use the means provided by national and international law to achieve justice.
We hope that the Government of Canada will recognize the futility of looking to new technologies or curtailing basic civil liberties to protect civilians. Militarism provides no answers. Justice and reconciliation offer the only way forward. The governments and people of Canada, the United States and the entire industrialized world must make a genuine commitment to ameliorating poverty, upholding individual and collective rights and seeking negotiated solutions to human conflict. These are the only means of ensuring security for all and enabling the rebuilding process.