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NGO Post-Analysis of the NPT PrepCom
April 19,
2002. "Low Key NPT Meeting masks deep disagreements over
Treaty implementation especially on Nuclear Disarmament", by
Rebecca Johnson, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy
Senator
Douglas Roche, O.C. Chairman, Middle Powers Initiative. The
NPT: Crisis and ChallengeReport and Assessment of Non-Proliferation
Treaty Preparatory Committee Meeting, New York, April 8-19, 2002
April
26, 2002. News In Review Final Issue, "A Week Later, Assessing
NPT PrepCom I", by Emily Schroeder, Reaching Critical Will
NGO Opinion, Hopes and Expectations for the 2002
NPT PrepCom, 8-19 April, 2002
In the weeks leading up to the NPT several NGOs have written reports,
statements and op-ed articles in various journals, email lists and
websites. Here is a selection of some of the opinions, hopes and
expectations of NGOs regarding the NPT, in addition to the NGO reports
which can be found at:
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/npt/npt2002report.html
Abolition
2000
Feed the Wolf 2001 Abolition
2000 Annual Report Card by Janet Bloomfield and Pamela Meidell
(pdf format)
Action of the Citizens for Nuclear Disarmament
(ACDN)
World Appeal to Set the Planet
Free From any Weapons of Mass Destruction
Back from the Brink:
iFriends Don’t Threaten
Friends: A Message Campaign to Presidents Bush and Putin
British American Security and Information Service (BASIC)
The 2002 NPT PrepCom: Issues
and Opportunities
Campaign for
Nuclear Disarmament (CND), UK:
Condemns latest test and prepares
for Easter demo
The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP), India:
iCNDP denounces USA's nuclear terror
Gensuikyo, Japan
i Statement on the U.S. Nuclear
Posture Review: letter to the White House
Greenpeace International
iGreenland can make a difference
for global security by saying no to Star Wars
The Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition
Hiroshima-Nagasaki Survivors’
Emergency Mission to the US
International Physicians for the
Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
iLetter to George W. Bush to
protest the policies set out in the Nuclear Posture Review
Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations
iLetter addressed to Mr. Kofi
Annan, Mr. Chairman and delegates of the PrepCom.
Middle
Powers Initiative, Senator Douglas Roche
Op-Ed in Globe and Mail, Tuesday,
March 12, 2002 - Print Edition, Page A19, "Rethink the iunthinkable"
Le Mouvement de la Paix
i"U.S nuclear posture review"
: a frightening nuclear proliferation again?
Moving
Beyond Missile Defense:
Petition for a Missile Freeze
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
iAppeal to End the Nuclear Weapons
Threat to Humanity with 100 prominent signers, ncluding
37 Nobel Laureates.
Revealed
Nuclear Policies Are a Sign of Bad Faith To Rest of the World
Peace Depot,
Japan
"Evaluating Implementation
of the NPT 13+2 steps: Japan's Report Card on Nuclear Disarmament."
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
US Section
Nuclear Posture Review Promotes
National Insecurity
**************************************
‹ BASIC:
PrepCom 2002: Avoiding More Missed Steps
By Christine Kucia
March 7, 2002
The upcoming meeting of States Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) will be another opportunity for the world to focus
on the strength of international security agreements in the wake
of heightened concern over the availability of weapons of mass destruction.
Why Are We Having A PrepCom?
The Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting, which will begin paving
the path toward the 2005 Review Conference (RevCon) of the NPT,
will meet April 8-19, 2002 in New York. PrepCom meetings convene
in the three years preceding the five-yearly NPT reviews to start
procedural and substantive discussions. According to Strengthening
the Review Process for the Treaty (Decision 1 of the 1995 Review
and Extension Conference), “The purpose of the Preparatory
Committee meetings would be to consider principles, objectives and
ways in order to promote the full implementation of the Treaty,
as well as its universality, and to make recommendations thereon
to the Review Conference.” Creating procedural recommendations
are also a task for PrepComs.
During the 2002 PrepCom, the 189 NPT States Parties will discuss
ways to move forward with the NPT’s objectives, especially
in light of the decisions made at the May 2000 RevCon.
What Are the Issues Being Carried Forward from the 2000 Review Conference?
The May 2000 RevCon broke new ground for global non-proliferation
efforts. In the final document, all states agreed to an historic
“13 steps” toward the goal of accomplishing the elimination
of the world’s nuclear arsenals.
Steps agreed by both nuclear-weapon states and their non-nuclear
allies and neighbors include:
- Achieve early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty (CTBT).
- Continue the moratorium on nuclear-weapon-test explosions until
CTBT enactment.
- Move forward on negotiations for a verifiable treaty banning fissile
material production.
- Establish a body within the U.N. Conference on Disarmament to
start discussions on nuclear disarmament.
- Apply the principle of irreversibility to arms control and disarmament
negotiations.
- Develop verification capabilities that will be required to provide
assurance of compliance with nuclear disarmament agreements.
- Implement START II and conclude START III negotiations as soon
as possible, while preserving and strengthening the ABM Treaty as
a cornerstone of strategic stability and as a basis for further
reductions of strategic offensive weapons.
- Nuclear-weapon States will take the following steps leading to
nuclear disarmament in a way that promotes international stability:
o Efforts to reduce their nuclear arsenals unilaterally;
o Increased transparency on nuclear weapons capabilities and implementing
agreements;
o Further reduction of non-strategic nuclear weapons, both unilaterally
and as a part of the arms reduction and disarmament process;
o Concrete measures to further reduce the operational status of
nuclear weapons;
o A diminishing role for nuclear weapons in security policies to
minimize the risk that these weapons ever be used and to facilitate
the process of their total elimination;
o Engagement of all the nuclear-weapon States in the process leading
to the total elimination of their nuclear weapons.
- Reaffirm that the ultimate objective of the efforts of States
in the disarmament process is general and complete disarmament under
effective international control.
- An unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear-weapon States to accomplish
the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear
disarmament.
What Are the Expected Outcomes or Anticipated Glitches?
When the countries convene in New York next month, evaluating the
level of progress on this list of commitments will be a critical
component guiding the discussions. However, several changes in the
international security climate since May 2000 have resulted in significant
setback in the implementation of these measures.
- U.S. Withdrawal From the ABM Treaty
Recent actions and statements by the Bush administration in the
United States are likely to have the greatest impact on the steps
listed above. The decision in December 2001 to withdraw from the
ABM Treaty, cited in May 2000 as “a cornerstone of strategic
stability and as a basis for further reductions of strategic offensive
weapons” represents the most high profile action by Washington.
With the cornerstone removed, and discussions on the START process
stalled due to impasses between the legislatures in the United States
and Russia, the stability of the non-proliferation regime has been
significantly weakened. The example set by Washington in withdrawing
from an international treaty also sets an unfortunate precedent
that may be exploited by other countries in the future.
- Lack of Progress in Transparency, Irreversibility, and Verification
The issues of transparency, irreversibility, and verification have
seen some setbacks since the May 2000 RevCon. The United States
announced proposed reductions in its arsenal from 6,000 to 1,700-2,200
deployed strategic nuclear warheads over the next ten years. While
those reductions are welcome, they were initially suggested by President
Bush outside of a treaty framework, which would hinder international
efforts to verify the reductions, and make sure that the warheads
would be destroyed. Upon closer inspection, the “cuts”
offered by Bush were redefined in his administration’s Nuclear
Posture Review in January 2002. The warheads would instead be moved
to active or inactive storage, and no announcements of warhead destruction
have been made yet by the administration. Finally, transparency
remains problematic among all of the nuclear weapon states. For
example, China’s nuclear arsenal modernization and buildup
remains a largely obscure process to other states and independent
experts seeking a clearer idea of China’s holdings, development,
and potential proliferation risk.
- Failure to Implement the CTBT
Another challenge confronting States Parties involves the not-yet-implemented
CTBT. While all countries still abide by the voluntary moratorium
pending the treaty’s entry into force, discussions on enacting
the CTBT last November were not conclusive. The United States, a
required ratifier to implement the CTBT, refused to attend the meeting;
while India, Israel, and Pakistan, also required ratifiers, have
yet to even sign the treaty. Progress has not been significant on
banning nuclear testing, a key action for furthering global nuclear
disarmament.
- Stalled Action on Fissban
Progress on banning fissile material production and establishing
a nuclear disarmament sub-body in the U.N. Conference on Disarmament
has been stalled as well. The consensus negotiating body has failed
to establish a program for its work for six years, without which
negotiations may not proceed.
- Non-Compliance, Universality, and Other Concerns
Other issues beyond the “13 steps” will also challenge
countries at the upcoming PrepCom. The alleged nuclear activities
of Iraq and North Korea, States Parties to the NPT, bring up concerns
about compliance with their international obligations to the nuclear
non-proliferation regime. The heightened conflict in the Middle
East will also drive a wedge between states during the discussions,
as some countries aim to address Israel as a nuclear-weapon state,
while Israel remains outside of the treaty. And increased tension
between India and Pakistan, also outside of the NPT regime, will
bring forth more deliberations about how to make the NPT a universal
treaty.
Avoiding More Missed ‘Steps’
The forthcoming PrepCom in New York will be an opportunity for States
Parties to begin discussing these concerns in the context of their
commitment to and compliance with non-proliferation and disarmament
measures outlined in the NPT process. While the PrepCom is tasked
only to make recommendations for future negotiations, and will not
produce a binding document out of its own discussions, countries
should start toward the 2005 RevCon with measures to build upon
the May 2000 steps. Changes in international priorities, and particularly
in U.S. government policy, will force some of the commitments made
in 2000 to be extensively reevaluated. The challenge will be to
ensure that the remaining steps listed above stay intact and are
strengthened and implemented as much as possible.
The current international climate, while still troubling and unsettled
in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, increased tension in South
Asia, and heightened violence in the Middle East, must not override
States Parties’ existing commitment to ensuring “nuclear
disarmament in a way that promotes international stability, based
on the principle of undiminished security for all.”
‹ Japan Council
against A & H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo)
On March 12, Japan Gensuikyo issued a statement on the U.S. Nuclear
Posture Review and sent it to the White House.
The text of the statement follows:
March 12, 2002
Mr. George W. Bush
President of the United States of AmericaWe demand from the US Government
immediate cancellation of all plans on the use of nuclear weapons
and fundamental shift of the nuclear policy to the abolition of
such weapons
Dangerous contents of the U.S. Department of Defense’s “Nuclear
Posture Review” are now coming into the light. Press reports
confirmed that in addition to Iraq, Iran and North Korea, whom President
Bush in his State of the Union address this year labeled as an “axis
of evil”, Libya, Syria and even China and Russia were also
included in the targets of the US plan for
the use of nuclear weapons.
In addition to the ongoing war on Afghanistan being waged on the
ground of a response to September 11 terrorist attacks, the Review
is said to underline that nuclear weapons may be required in some
future “Arab-Israeli crisis”, to “retaliate against
chemical or biological attacks” as well as “surprising
military developments” of an unspecified nature. It even calls
for swift
development of new types of nuclear weapons.
As regards the eradication of terrorism, it is by nature a problem
to be addressed as a matter of international crime, and the U.S.
acts of war, which are causing untold numbers of casualties of innocent
Afghans, must immediately be halted. It is totally insane to develop
a plan to use of
nuclear weapons on the grounds of preparing for international conflicts,
and still more for such absurdity of “future uncertainty.”
At the same time, the present development reveals the dangerous
nature of the policy of the Japanese Government that has unquestionably
accepted every bit of pressure from the U.S. government since the
inauguration of President George W. Bush, and especially after the
September 11 terrorist attacks.
The successive LDP-led Japanese governments have defended and accepted
U.S.
nuclear arsenals on the grounds that it provided “deterrence”
or “nuclear umbrella.” The US nuclear plan, however, is
not confined merely to “deter” anything, but is aimed
to use nuclear weapons in actual international conflicts. It must
further be noted that the Bush administration is
promoting the policy nowhere other than in Asia.
We demand that the U.S. government should make public the entire
Nuclear Posture Review and immediately scrap the whole plan on the
use of nuclear weapons. Also we strongly demand that the Japanese
government should stop supporting the U.S. nuclear and war plans
once and for all, to strictly abide by the Three Non-Nuclear Principles
and give up legislation of “laws
on contingencies”, which would precipitate Japan into U.S.-initiated
war, involving even a danger of nuclear weapons being used.
‹ DANIEL
DURAND
National Secretary - Le Mouvement de la Paix
March 12, 2002 by the national daily "l'Humanite" :
********************************
"U.S nuclear posture review" : a frightening nuclear proliferation
again?
The changes in the US nuclear armament policy , revealed in several
US newspapers are threatening the peace and the security of our
planet.
They come after President Bush boosted the "Star War II"
or "National Missile defence" program, they come after
the dramatic
increase of the US defence budget : an increase by more than $48
billion ( the total French defence budget is less than $40 billion).
Some already published scenarios envisaged direct intervention of
the armed forces in countries suspected of being in the "axis
of evil".
Could not it be in fact a way to a "full spectrum dominance
" to protect US strategic,economic or political interests ?
Nukes are considered to be inefficient as shown in the 1995 call
to disarmament by some US generals such Lee Butler and Carol. By
considering "mini nukes" strategists aim at making them
commonplace,as any conventional armament. This is the underlying
logic of all "modernisation" programs (by 2020to 2050)and
of the current nuclear research, including the future Laser Megajoule
in France.
The door to a frightening nuclear proliferation would be opened.
To protect their own territories many countries would decide to
have
nuclear armament or chemical or biological weapons. The ABM and
TNP treaties are at stake with this US policy , the Pandora's box
is opened.
We must act now. The French Peace Movement ("Le Mouvement de
la Paix") has decided to launch a nationwide campaign to petition
for
re-boosting nuclear disarmament .
The NGOs on disarmament in France and in the whole world with the
Abolition 2000 network will be in New York from April 8 to 19 when
the
treaty of non proliferation is examined. Together , we will put
pressure on the nuclear powers delegates to dismantle nuclear armament
.
For the Peace Movement the only way to the security of the world
is the total and controled abolition of all the nuclear weapons
: tolerance zero.
More than 180 US organizations (peace, christian, non-violent, anti-globalization,
etc.. ) are preparing a march on Washington DC for Saturday April
20, to "Stop the War, at Home and Abroad !". We will be
there and support them.
This debate on the world security and the fight against militarization
was an important issue in Porto Alegre II. Encouraging .
I think these questions must be raised in our presidential campaign.
We must know what France will do to build a world of Peace
and Justice. It is a vital question for our generation and for the
generations to come , our planet must be the " Peace Planet".
‹ Nuclear
Posture Review Promotes National Insecurity
Statement of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
1213 Race Street Philadelphia, PA 19107
March 17, 2002
We, in the United State Section of the Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), are outraged by the recent secret
report prepared by the Pentagon, at the administration's request,
regarding possible use of nuclear weapon against seven targeted
countries including China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Libya
and Syria, and the proposal to bring a new generation of weapons
of mass destruction to battlefield situations.
First of all, it is appalling to note that the leaders of this country
have not learned the lesson of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Did more
than 210 thousand people die in vain a half a century ago?
Regardless of the nature of international conflicts, use of nuclear
weapon is not acceptable not by a rogue state, or by the United
States. The United Nations has worked and many treaties have been
signed to discourage research, testing, production, and further
proliferation of nuclear weapons. Disregarding these treaties is
affront to basic human decency.
There is a general understanding that efforts should be made to
work with other countries including some of the targeted nations,
to eliminate terrorism. Threatening these countries with possible
use of "tactical nuclear weapons" will destroy any credibility
and any chance of developing normal diplomatic relations based on
the mutual trust.
This hostile posture of George Bush will adversely affect potential
trade relationships that the US tax payers have supported over years
and nullify much of the work that has been done by the US diplomats
since President Nixon reopened the trade relationship with China
and other countries. Instead, we would see even greater arms race,
in this post cold war era.
Increased production of radioactive weapons would increase risk
of contracting cancer and other diseases connected to radioactive
contamination in US soil, water and air posing immediate dangers
to the residents of this country.
There will be a grave danger that nations bearing unfriendly notions
against our country will be even more emboldened to go forward with
their hostile actions, and the US people will be exposed to escalating
NATIONAL INSECURITY, and the added danger of presumed retaliation,
possibly even greater than the attacks perpetrated on September
11.
Therefore, as the oldest peace activist organization of women we
are committed to take a leadership role in protesting the preposterous
war making activities conducted by the current administration.
We were compelled to issue this statement because we deeply love
our country and the people in it.
Originally drafted by WILPF Disarmament Campaign Cochairs
Gillian Gilhool Legislative Organizer WILPF in Washington
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section
110 Maryland Avenue NE, Suite 112
Washington, DC 20002
202-546-6727 phone
202-544-9613 fax
www.wilpf.org
777 UN Plaza - 6th Floor - New York, NY - 10017 - Ph: 212.682.1265 - Fax: 212.286.8211 - info@reachingcriticalwill.org
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