ORGANISATIONS WORLDWIDE URGE UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO GO TO ZERO ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS

SEPT 24  HEADS OF STATE MEETING ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

In a letter sent to the United Nations Security Council concerning its 24 Sept meeting on nuclear disarmament, over 150 organisations worldwide have urged it to come up with a plan to 'go to zero' on nuclear weapons, and to take decisive steps to that goal.

The letter has been signed by major global disarmament organisations including IPPNW, the Global Security Institute, the World Security Institute, former UN under-secretary - General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, The Womens International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), national - based disarmament organisations and parliamentarians from Australia, NZ, the UK, Canada, the US, Japan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,  Thailand, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, El Salvador, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and Norway. These organisations and parliamentarians collectively represent tens of millions  of people.

According to organisers of the letter:
"This is truly the voice of people of the world, saying 'NO' to nuclear weapons. We have urged the  UN Security Council, when it sits for its historic session on 24 September:

--To conduct its deliberations in the light of the knowledge that the use of as little as 0.5% of global nuclear arsenals will have catastrophic global climatic effects, while the use of US and Russian nuclear arsenals, which remain in a configuration in which they can be launched in minutes, will terminate not only civilisation but most living things;

--To make its topmost priority the development of a plan to achieve global zero nuclear weapons as a matter of the utmost urgency and to take decisive steps to achieve that goal.

The Sept 24 sitting of the UNSC, chaired by President Obama, represents a historic opportunity. It is more than unfortunate that the text now before the UNSC does not offer a decisive route to zero nuclear weapons, and lopsidedly emphasises counterproliferation measures only.  The consequences of the actual use of nuclear weapons are such that we cannot afford to fail. The stakes - human survival - simply could not be higher."

ORGANISATIONS WORLDWIDE URGE UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO GO TO ZERO ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS

SEPT 24 HEADS OF STATE MEETING ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT


In a letter sent in the last week to the United Nations Security Council concerning its scheduled meeting of 24 Sept on nuclear disarmament, 145 organisations worldwide have urged it to come up with a plan to 'go to zero' on nuclear weapons.

The letter has been signed by major global disarmament organisations including IPPNW, the Global Security Institute, the World Security Institute, former UN under-secretary - General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, national - based disarmament organisations and parliamentarians from Australia, NZ, the UK, Canada, the US, Japan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, El Salvador, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and Norway. These organisations and parliamentarians collectively represent tens of millions of people.

According to organisers of the letter:

"This is truly the voice of people of the world, saying 'NO' to nuclear weapons. We have urged the UN Security Council, when it sits for its historic session on 24 September:

--  To conduct its deliberations in the light of the knowledge that the use of as little as 0.5% of global nuclear arsenals will have catastrophic global climatic effects, while the use of US and Russian nuclear arsenals, which remain in a configuration in which they can be launched in minutes, will terminate not only civilisation but most living things;

--  To make its topmost priority the development of a plan to achieve global zero nuclear weapons as a matter of the utmost urgency.

The Sept 24 sitting of the UNSC, chaired by President Obama, represents a historic opportunity. The consequences of the actual use of nuclear weapons are such that we cannot afford to fail."

LETTER TO HEADS OF STATE OF ALL SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, PRESIDENT OF SECURITY COUNCIL, UNITED NATIONS SECY - GENERAL BAN KI MOON,

Copied to:

PRESIDENTS OBAMA AND MEDVEDEV, FOREIGN MINISTER IVANOV, PRIME MINISTER PUTIN, SECRETARIES CLINTON AND TAUSCHER, MEMBERS OF THE US NUCLEAR POSTURE REVIEW, AND MEMBERS OF RELEVANT DUMA AND CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES


SEPTEMBER 24    UNSC HEADS OF STATE MEETING ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AND NONPROLIFERATION

Dear Head of State/Security Council Representative:

The world is approaching a nuclear tipping point.

Authoritative scientific studies now predict the detonation of as little as a half of one percent of the deployed and operational arsenals of the nuclear weapon states will produce catastrophic changes in the global climate and environment. Given this data, it is clear that a large nuclear war would destroy civilisation and threaten human survival. The Security Council and all governments must take decisions in the light of this knowledge.

A handful of states possess more than 20,000 nuclear weapons and several of these states including the United States and Russia still cling to nuclear doctrines that assert the right to use these mass terror weapons first, possibly even against non-nuclear attacks and against non-nuclear weapon states. Entry-into-force of the CTBT is within reach, but is being held up by a few hold-out states. The nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea could, if not checked, promote further proliferation.

Concrete actions that reduce the salience, number, and threat of nuclear weapons are urgently needed in order to strengthen the international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime and to secure weapons-useable nuclear material against possible terrorist acquisition.

UN Secretary - General  Ban Ki Moon has developed a five point plan toward the elimination of nuclear weapons.

The upcoming special session of the UN Security Council on September 24 provides an opportunity to focus attention and promote tangible steps that would reduce the nuclear weapons danger, and move decisively toward a nuclear-weapon-free-world, based on the five-point plan.

All states with or without nuclear weapons have a duty to formulate and state clearly, with specificity, their plans to achieve the non- discriminatory, legally binding, verifiable, elimination of nuclear weapons.

We urge you and other Security Council members to utilise this opportunity to adopt a decision that would:

-   Invoke Article 26 of the UN Charter and task the Military Staff Committee to develop within 12 months a plan for getting to zero, and securing a nuclear-weapon-free world; and instruct the committee to report to the Security Council on progress in implementation once the plan is approved;

-   Call on all nuclear-armed states, including those outside the NPT, to immediately halt the production of fissile material for weapons purposes, sign and/or ratify the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

(CTBT) without further delay; and otherwise halt qualitative improvements that enhance the military capabilities of their nuclear weapons arsenals;

-   Call upon nuclear armed states to undertake immediate steps that reduce the risks of unauthorised or accidental nuclear attack, including eliminating requirements and plans for rapid launch in response to a nuclear attack (see attached General Assembly resolution);

-   Provide assurances that states that do not possess nuclear weapons will not be subjected to nuclear weapons threats or nuclear attack;

- Call upon relevant states to sign and ratify nuclear weapons free zone treaties without further delay and without conditions, and task the SG with appointing a special envoy to advance discussions relating to the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East;

-   Call upon all states possessing nuclear weapons, as well as states that are not parties to the NPT to provide a detailed accounting of their nuclear weapons holdings, including all warheads of all types, associated delivery systems, and un-safeguarded fissile materials. Such an accounting should be updated annually and submitted to the United Nations Secretariat;

-   Call upon all remaining states that have not yet done so to conclude comprehensive full-scope safeguards agreements and additional protocol agreements with the IAEA;

-   Recall UN Security Council Resolutions relating to non-proliferation and disarmament, including UNSC Resolution 1540, recent resolutions relating to the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs, as well as the 1998 Security Council Resolution on the Indian and Pakistani nuclear and missile programs;

-   Pursue negotiations in good faith -- as required by the treaty -- on nuclear disarmament, either through a new convention or through a series of mutually reinforcing instruments backed by a credible system of verification;

-   Call upon NPT States Parties to work towards a consensus action plan for strengthening the Treaty in all of its aspects at the May 2010 NPT Review Conference; and

-   Convene by 2010 a global summit on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and call upon all states possessing nuclear weapons or availing themselves of extended nuclear deterrence to start transforming their security policy to that free of nuclear weapons.

This special session of the Security Council represents an important opportunity that should not be squandered. We urge you to act in a serious and purposeful manner.

Sincerely,

Signed:

International NGOs:

Arielle Denis, Vice-President, International Peace Bureau, Geneva.

Jayantha Dhanapala - former UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs

Jonathan Granoff, President, Global Security Institute, NY, Philadelphia

Dr James D. Head, Chair, World Security Institute, Washington DC

Bjorn Hildt, Chair, Board of Directors, IPPNW, Trondhiem Norway

Sergey Kolesnikov, Professor and Co-President of IPPNW

Alfred L. Marder, President, International Association of Peace Messenger Cities

Ronald Mc Coy, Past Co-President, IPPNW

Herman Spanjaard, Chair of the International Council, International of Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)

Susi Snyder, Secretary-General, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Geneva

Kathleen Sullivan, Education Consultant, Office for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations, New York

Aaron Tovish, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign

Rene Wadlow, Representative to the UN, Geneva, Association of World Citizens Doug Mattern, President, Association of World Citizens, San Francisco

Alyn Ware, Vice-President, International Peace Bureau, Geneva

Gunnar Westberg, Past Co-President & Board member IPPNW

Australian NGOs:

Judy Blyth, PND- W.A., Perth, Western Australia

Guillaume 'Willem' Brugman, director, Culture Lab International Inc.

Judy Blyth, PND- W.A., Perth, Western Australia

Brian D. Byrne SVD. Catholic Priest Divine Word Missionaries. Sydney

Bruce Childs. Co Convenor, Sydney Peace and Justice Coalition, (former Australian Senator)

Ian Cohen MLC, Greens, NSW Columban Mission Institute Centre for Peace Ecology and Justice Sydney

Nick Deane, Marrickville Peace Group, Marrickville, NSW

Leonie Ebert, Graham F. Smith Peace Trust, Adelaide

Irene Gale, Australian Peace Committee, Adelaide, SA

Dr Andrew Glikson, Climate Change Institute, ANU, Camberra

Jill Hall, Member of Parliament, Canberra

Frazer Kirkman, United Visions, Australia

Prof. John Langmore, United Nations Association of Australia Mark Coffey, President, United Nations Association of Australia (Victorian Division) Australia

Pauline Mitchell, Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament (CICD), Melbourne

Father Claude Mostowik, Director, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Justice and Peace Centre, Erskineville NSW

Peter Murphy, SEARCH Foundation, Sydney NSW

David Purnell and Brian Turner and, Co-Convenors, Australian Quaker Peace & Legislation Committee, Canberra

Doreen Shenman and Carol McLean, Tasmanian Peace Network, Moonah

Adrian Van Der Borch, Secy, MAPW South Australia

Ruth Watson, Anti-Nuclear Alliance, Western Australia

Tim Wright, Peace Organisation of Australia

 

Canadian NGOs

Judith Deutsch, Sini Maury Coordinator, Science for Peace, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

Mrs Eryl Court, Member of the Council of Advisors, Unitarian-Universalist United Nations Office, Vice-President, Canadian Peace Research Association

Gordon Edwards, President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Montreal

Susan Grace Draper Regional Representative KAIROS BC/Yukon network

Brian Hopkins, Halton Peace Network, Oakville

Bruce Hyer, Member of Parliament, Ottawa

Pierre Jasmin, Les Artistes Pour La Paix, Montreal, Quebec

Gladys Kennedy, Victoria, B.C. Canada branch VANA

Tamara Lorincz, Halifax Peace Coalition Nova Scotia

Tamara Lorincz, Voice of Women for Peace, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Tamara Lorincz, Executive Director, Nova Scotia Environmental Network (NSEN)

Hon. Douglas Roche OC, Former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament, Former Senator

Jennifer Allen Simons, President, The Simons Foundation Vancouver, BC

Erika Simpson, professor, University of Western Ontario, vice-chair of Pugwash Canada

Audrey Tobias, Coordinator Veterans Against Nuclear Arms, (VANA) ON-QUE Region Canada

Abraham Weizfeld, Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians, Montreal, Quebec

Patricia Willis, Denman Island Peace Group

Belgian NGOs

Juliette Boulet MP, Federal Deputy Ecolo (Greens,) Brussels

Prof. Henri Firket, President, IPPNW Belgium (AMPGN)

Zoe Genot MP, Federal Deputy Ecolo, Brussels

Senator Benoit Hellings, Ecolo (Belgian Green Party), Brussels

Hans Lammerant, Vredesactie, Antwerp

Michel Vanhoorne, LEF (Links Ecologisch Forum), Flanders

Egyptian NGOs

Nouri Abdul Razzak Hussain, Secretary-General of Afro-Asian Peoples'Solidarity Organization (AAPSO), Cairo

French NGOs

Arielle Denis, co-pr=C3=A9sident of Le Mouvement de la Paix (France)

Jean-Marie Matagne, President, Action des Citoyens pour le Désarmement  Nucléaire (ACDN), France

Pierre Villard, President of Le Mouvement de la Paix (France), coordinateur ICAN-France,

 

Finnish NGOs

Laura Lodenius, Peace Union of Finland, Helsinki

Vappu Taipale, professor, co-president IPPNW International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Finland

German NGOs

 

Hans-Josef Fell MP, Member of the German Bundestag, Green Parliamentary Group

Angelika Beer MEP, Greens,

Angelika Graf MP, Bundestag, Berlin, Germany,

Xanthe Hall, Disarmament Expert, IPPNW Germany, PNND Germany,

Kerstin Möller, MP Alliance 90/The Greens, Foreign Policy Spokeswoman,

Ingrid Schittich, director, Association of World Citizens - German branch, Ueberlingen

Uta Zapf, MP, Bundestag, Berlin, Germany,

 

Ghanaian NGO

John Kwadwo Kaabi, Ghana Cities Mission, Kumasi

Greek NGOs

Thanasis Anapolitanos, Mediterranean Anti-Nuclear Watch, Rhodes, Greece

Maria Arvaniti Sotiropoulou, President of the Greek Affiliate of IPPNW  (Panhellenic Medical Association against Nuclear and Biochemical Threat)

Alice Yotopoulos-Marangopoulos (Professor Emeritus, Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights, Athens

Indian NGOs

Wilfred D'Costa, President, Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), New Delhi

J Gurumurthi, Joint Secretary, All India Insurance Employees' Association, Chennai

Arun Mitra, General Secretary, Indian Doctors for peace and Development, India

Admiral Ramdas, Lalitha Ramdas, Mumbai

Sukla Sen EKTA, Mumbai

Iraqi NGO

Ahmed Ali Mohsine Al-Marashi, Iraqi Women Charitable Association, Basra

Israeli NGO

Dr. Yehuda Atai and Gideon Spiro members of the Israeli Committee for a Middle East Free from Atomic Biological and Chemical Weapons

Japanese NGOS

Shingo Fukuyama, Secretary General, Japan Congress Against A- and H-Bombs (GENSUIKIN)

Hideyuki Ban Citizens Nuclear Information Centre, (CNIC) Tokyo

Akira Kawasaki, Peace - Boat

Klaus Schlichtmann, lecturer in Peace Studies, Japan Women's University, Tokyo

Hiromichi Umebayashi, Special Advisor, Peace Depot

Kenyan NGO

Paul Saoke, Executive Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Nairobi

Malaysian NGO

Dr Syed Husin Ali, Deputy President, People's Justice Party

Mexican NGO

Luis Gutierrez Esparza, President, Latin American Circle for International Studies (LACIS) Mexico, DF, Mexico.

Netherlands NGOs

Jan Gruiters, Director, IKV Pax Christi, Utrecht, Netherlands


Ak Malten, Pro Peaceful Energy Use, Netherlands

New Zealand NGOs

Dr Kate Dewes and Commander Robert Green, Royal Navy (Ret'd), Co- Coordinators, Disarmament & Security Centre, Christchurch

Gerald O'Brien, Former Member of Parliament New Zealand and former Senior Vice President, New Zealand Labour Party

Barney Richards, President, Gerald O' Brien President of Honour, Peace Council Aotearoa

Bob Rigg, former chair, NZ National Consultative Committee on Disarmament

Dr Robert White, former Director of the University of Auckland Centre for Peace Studies, Auckland

Norwegian NGOs

Hallgeir H. Langeland, Member of Parliament

John G. Maeland Chair Norske leger mot atomvaepen (IPPNW Norway)

Kirsten Osen, Professor emeritus, Dr.med., Council member IPPNW Norway,Oslo

Bitte Vatvedt, journalist, Board of 'Norwegian NO to Nuclear Weapons'

Palestinian NGO

Dr. Haidar Eid Al-Aqsa University, Gaza

Pakistani NGO

Zubeida Mustapha, Journalist, Karachi

Paraguayan  NGO

Martin Almada, Paraguay

Russian NGOs

Sergey Kolesnikov, prof. M.P.-Member of Russian State Duma (Russian Parliament)

Salvadoran NGO

Mauricio Lozano, M.D, El-Salvador ICAN Liason, Vice-President and Research Coordinator for Salvadoran Physicians for Social Responsibility

Spanish NGO

Rafa de la Rubia , World without Wars, Spain

 

Sri-Lankan NGO

Dr.Ranjith. S.Jayasekera, Vice President, Sri-Lankan Doctors for Peace and Development, Kandy

Swedish NGOs

Gertrud Holm, SSAMK, (Nurses,Physicians and Analytics against Nuclear Weapon)

Kirsti Kolthoff Ordförande/President Internationella Kvinnoförbundet för Fred och Frihet, svenska sektionen (Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the Swedish Section), Stockholm

Jan Larsson, President, SLMK, Swedish Physicians against Nuclear Arms
(Swedish affiliate of IPPNW)

Turkish NGOs

Ahmet Atžl Asžcž  International Relations Secretary of Green Party of Turkey

Tanay Sdk Uyar,President, EUROSOLAR Turkiye, Istanbul

 

United Kingdom NGOs

Diana Basterfield, Co-Founder, Ministry for Peace


Colin Bex, Founder, Global Justice, Wessex

David Chaytor MP, Bury North, Westminister

Frank Cook MP, Westminster

Jill Evans Member of European Parliament Plaid Cymru, Wales, CND-Wales

Eirwen Harbottle, Founder/Co-Director, Hilde Rapp, Co-Director, Centre for International Peacebuilding

Kate Hudson, Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, London

Jean Lambert, Member of European Parliament

Mildred Masheder, Positive Childhood, author, educationalist, London

Jenny Maxwell, West Midlands Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Birmingham

Peter Nicholls, Abolition - 2000

George Paxton, The Gandhi Way

Dave Webb, Yorkshire CND, Yorks,

Angie Zelter, Founder, Trident Ploughshares

 

United States NGOs

Joann Blatchley, Convener, Minneapolis St. Paul Hiroshima Nagasaki Commemoration Committee


Jay Coghlan, Executive Director, Nukes Watch New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM

Lynn DeFilippo, No Nukes North, Fairbanks, Alaska.

Michael Intigrilator, Professor of Economics, Political Science and Public Policy, University of California, LA

Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CARES, Livermore, California

David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Santa Barbara, California

Madeline Labriola, Hudson Valley Pax Christi

Robin Lloyd and Margaret Harrington Tamulonis, Nuclear Free Future Vermont

Jill Mackie, Ashland, Oregon, USA, Ashland Branch of WILPF

Bruce Martin, Executive Director, Promoting Enduring Peace, Hartford, CT

Doug Mattern, Association of World Citizens, San Francisco, California

Nancy Munger and Laura Roskos, Co-Presidents, WILPF US Section

Rosemarie Pace, Director Pax Christi Metro New York, New York, NY

Dorothy Prunhuber, The Ribbon International

Linda Richards, WILPF Disarm Committee, Corvallis, Oregon State University

Alice Slater, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation NY

Steve Starr, Senior Scientist, PSR, Missouri, Dr Helen Caldicott Founding President Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR)

Patricia Topitzer, City of New Haven Peace Commission, New Haven, CT

Suzi Wizowaty, Vermont Legislature, Montpelier, VT

Susan Zipp, Consultant, Communications Coordination Committee for the United Nations New York, NY

Susan Zipp, President, United Nations Association, San Francisco chapter

Thailand NGO

Alfredo Ferrariz Lubang, Nonviolence International Southeast Asia, Bankok, Thailand,

 

The letter was coordinated by John Hallam of People for Nuclear Disarmament Sydney's Nuclear Flashpoints project, with help from many major disarmament organizations, including the able assistance of: Jonathan Granoff, Kate Hudson, Akira Kawasaki, Daryl Kimball, Dave Krieger, Peter Nicholls, Erika Simpson, Steven Starr, Aaron Tovish, Hiro Umebayashi, and Alyn Ware.