Germany begins weekend of peace marches

BERLIN, April 10 (UPI) -- Good Friday marks the start of four days of traditional Easter peace marches throughout Germany.

Peace activists said this year's marches will take place near military bases in more than 70 towns, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported Friday.

The protests will focus on NATO and nuclear weapons, peace activists say. They are also intended to draw attention to social issues such as poverty and the dismantling of the welfare state, Deutsche Welle said.

Demonstrators are demanding more democracy and the implementation of human rights.

Critics complain the Easter marches offer no workable solutions to resolving the problems they highlight, Deutsche Welle said.

British philosopher Bertrand Russell spearheaded the Easter March movement in London in the late 1950s. The first march in Germany was organized in 1960, Deutsche Welle reported.