Steps toward abolishing nuclear weapons

Carol Urner, co-chair WILPF National Disarm/ End Wars Issue Committee

Jackie Cabasso and Alice Slater of our committee are attending two nuclear disarmament meetings this month in Vienna on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear War. This is a crucial time as we move toward nuclear disarmament and dismantling the profiteering nuclear industries. Some would consider these utopian goals, but we must keep moving toward them step by step or face extinction.

The first, on December 6-7, is the civil society NGO conference, facilitated by I-CAN.  International  Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons.   Hundreds of campaigners for nuclear abolition from all around the globe are registered to attend.

The second conference, December 8-9, is hosted by the government of Austria and is the third in a series on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear War.  I80 governments joined in endorsing these conferences during the November 2014 General Assembly sessions. The nine nuclear weapons states boycotted the initial session, but India and Pakistan joined in the second meeting.  The other seven (United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, North Korea and Israel) have all continued to boycott these and other attempts jumpstart negotiations. Instead all nine have continued to upgrade or expand their arsenals.

WILPF has joined in urging the United States to participate in these meetings. Your letters and petition signatures helped in this process. In November came the welcome announcement that our government will do so. This opens the way for other nuclear powers and their client states to do so as well.

WILPF Reaching Critical Will is a leader among the many organizations working for a nuclear weapons ban treaty as fruit of these conferences. At present there is no treaty that makes possession, production or use of nuclear weapons illegal, or that provides for inspection and verification of compliance. The hope is that such a treaty will help make nuclear weapons taboo, and move the nuclear weapons states into negotiation of a comprehensive abolition treaty more like the model treaty developed by IPPNW and other NGOs (including WILPF) and introduced into the United Nations in 2007 by Costa Rica and Malaysia.

WILPF will be monitoring and reporting on the Vienna meetings, and following up on progress toward nuclear weapons abolition and closing down the associated profiteering nuclear industries. Check here to access reports and statements as they are posted. Go to Resources for more information on nuclear weapons and nuclear industry profiteering

WHAT CAN WE DO?

• Inform ourselves. Read more on both I-Can and Reaching Critical Will about the Vienna conference and banning the bomb. We all have much to learn so that we can share with others
• Sign the pledge on I-Can noted in the right-hand column.
• Don’t Bank on the Bomb. Read the pamphlet co-authored by our own former WILPF secretary general, Susi Snyder. Close accounts with those banks that invest in nuclear weapons like Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
• Check out other organizations that endorse banning the bomb. Contact local affiliates. Are they aware of the national position and do they want to promote it? Organize together in your own community.
• Participate in the NPT Review Conference  (April 27 to May 22, 2015). A march, rally and one day conference will precede the NPT on April 25-26. You can also join in  Alliance for Nuclear Accountability D.C. Days, probably also for a week in April. (For questions or more information contact Carol Urner at  carol.disarm@gmail.com.)

Request from Ellen Thomas, Disarm/End Wars  co-chair:

If you are a member of our committee please send your current address and phone number as well as direct email and phone number to Ellen Thomas and/or Ariane Blondin whose email addresses are below. This will not be shared outside of our committee but is for better communication among ourselves.

If you are not a WILPF member but think you would like to join you can do so on line.  https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5372/donate_page/membership-page.

If, after becoming a member you would also like to participate in our Disarm/End Wars Issue committee contact Ellen Thomas:

Ellen Thomas, (Co-Chair, Disarm/End Wars Committee)
Ariane Blondin, (Boston Office)

PHOTO:  The US claims to provide a "security umbrella" to Europeans by stationing B-61 nuclear bombs in formerly occupied Germany and Italy and also in Belgium, Netherlands and Turkey. However the majority of Europeans believe the bombs make them less secure. Here a group of activists discard a mock bomb proclaiming "We don't want your US umbrella."

Photo courtesy of I-Can Flicker images for public use. International  Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons