Current Events Sept 2010
By Steven Leeper
Chairman, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
Last May at UN Headquarters in New York, the international community held a conference to review the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. The final document that emerged from that conference expresses the unanimous intent of the states parties to seek the abolition of nuclear weapons. It highlighted the need for a nuclear weapons convention or new legal framework. It also noted that a majority of states favor the establishment of timelines for the nuclear weapons abolition process. All of these are steps articulated in the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. Of course, abolitionists are not satisfied with what happened in May. They are disappointed that the nuclear weapon states are still so stubbornly resistant to starting or even saying when they will start substantive negotiations for a nuclear-weapon-free world, but they are greatly encouraged by what appears to be a widespread change in consciousness.
That change in consciousness was powerfully present during the Hiroshima Conference held July 27 to 29. The purpose of the Hiroshima Conference was to discuss the NPT Review and explore courses of action for the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign during the next three years. Personally, I was quite worried about this conference. I was afraid it would be filled with acrimonious debate over alternative recommendations that would leave us paralyzed by deep divisions and unproductive conflict. Given this anxiety, I was amazed by what actually transpired.
The first indication came in the keynote address by Senator Douglas Roche. Senator Roche has been a Canadian senator, a Canadian disarmament ambassador, and president of a leading, high-level NGO called Middle Powers Initiative or MPI. Because he is in direct communication with diplomats and governments, he tends to be quite cautious. He is not given to rash or radical calls to arms. That is why his talk electrified us.
He said, in effect, “The time has come. What we need now is a full-fledged global campaign for a nuclear weapons convention. This campaign might emerge within the framework of the NPT or the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva or the UN General Assembly, but the chances of progress in those traditional venues are poor. We will probably need to start a track-2 campaign like the one that led to the treaties banning landmines and cluster munitions. In other words, we need to start the process, with or without the nuclear weapon states.”
This was exciting. Here was Senior Statesman Roche calling on all abolitionists to unite and promote a worldwide, track-2 campaign for a nuclear weapons convention, and the conference participants responded in kind. One after the next, they came to the stage and supported his call. Some slight differences in approach or emphasis emerged, but there was no anger, no harsh criticism, no jockeying for position. I was astounded by the depth and breadth of our unity. It was simply clear to everyone that the time has truly come.
In 1972 it was the biological weapons convention. In 1993 it was the chemical weapons convention. In 1997 it was the landmines convention. In 2008, it was the cluster munitions convention. In 2015, it could be nuclear weapons.
The international community has long attempted to limit the destructiveness of war. Honorable warriors throughout history have refrained from killing women and children. The Hague Conventions prohibiting the killing of civilians were adopted in 1899. None of these conventions regarding civilians or specific weapons have been obeyed or enforced satisfactorily, but they have established standard global ethics regarding some terrible weapons and have probably saved millions of lives. Now, the time has come to outlaw, stigmatize and start abolishing the worst weapons of all. The top priority on the international agenda today is a nuclear weapons convention (NWC).
The question now is, who will host the process? For the landmine ban, Canada stepped forward to host the Ottawa Process. For cluster munitions, Norway stepped forward to host the Oslo Process. Who is going to host the NWC process?
How can you help?
The NWC campaign will not take off until a host nation is found and a group of supporting nations begins the process. You can play an important role even now in facilitating the process. The best ways to help are:
- Spread the word. Tell everyone you know that the campaign is on. The world is going for a NWC, and we want it soon, at least by 2015.
- If you get a chance to sign a petition or collect petitions or attend an event or hold an event, do so, even if it is not convenient. We will not get our NWC by doing what’s convenient. We have to get out of our comfort zone or we will blow this chance.
- Ask your mayor to join Mayors for Peace. The rapid growth of Mayors for Peace remains one of the most powerful forces for disarmament.
- Ask your national government officials to work urgently to support the NWC process. If they give some sort of ambiguous answer, ask them to say clearly which side they are on. All officials, like all nations, are either working for the NWC or for the spread of nuclear weapons.
- Donate to the 2020 Vision Campaign. For more information on the campaign and how to donate:
If in Europe, go to: www.2020visioncampaign.org.
Elsewhere please go to: www.mayorsforpeace.org.