We Can Abolish Nuclear Weapons

A strategy session for NGOs working on nuclear disarmament

On June 10, more than 20 people from a wide range of NGOs gathered in New York City
at the Church Center for the United Nations to strategize ways to raise awareness of the
humanitarian and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons.

There was lively engagement on issues that ranged from the nuclear weapon-climate
change connection (see lead story) to how to bring a nuclear disarmament modality to
the UNs post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Bruce Knotts, president of the
NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, moderated the strategy session
for NGO representatives who hailed from a wide variety of peace, disarmament, and
environmental groups.

Alyn Ware, director of the Basel Peace Office, participated via Skype from London,
updating the room on the UNFOLD ZERO initiative, a platform that supports UN nuclear
disarmament efforts. His remarks touched on the Nuclear Weapons Convention, the ban
treaty, a prohibition on nuclear weapons use proposed by India, and educational
campaigns that emphasize the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.

John Burroughs, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Nuclear Policy,
reported on a seminal case filed in the International Court of Justice by the Marshall
Islands in April against the nine nuclear powers. It charges the P5 with failure to honor
their obligations under the Nonproliferation Treaty to negotiate disarmament and
accuses the other four nuclear states with violating general international law. Read his
LCNP newsletter article on the case here.

Aaron Tovish of Mayors for Peace, who skyped in from Stockholm, informed the group
that U.S. Mayors are circulating a petition calling for the U.S. government to accept ICJ
jurisdiction in the Marshall Islands case and to participate in it actively.

Other topics discussed included a UN resolution, introduced by the Non-Aligned
Movement that calls for a High Level (attended by heads of government and foreign
ministers) Conference at the UN by 2018. Rather than a one-day meeting, it was said,
this should be a substantive conference intended to produce concrete results.

The future of the Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) was discussed, with a
suggestion that the OEWG could play a role in preparing for the High Level Conference.

Various ideas were discussed for highlighting the Day for the Total Elimination of
Nuclear Weapons, September 26. Parliamentarians for Nonproliferation and Nuclear
Disarmament (PNND) are urging members to introduce, in their national legislatures,
measures for its observance. It was also suggested that faith-based organizations
consider observances of the day in their various traditions.

The group discussed a proposal by Reaching Critical Will and Article 36 that calls for an
international conference to draft a legal prohibition of nuclear weapons. Peter Weiss of
International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) reminded all that
international humanitarian law already prohibits use of weapons that indiscriminately
destroy civilians and damage the environment.

Someone raised the issue of the Peoples Climate March planned for New York on
September 20 and asked how a link could be established to nuclear disarmament, since
these are the two existential threats to human survival. Possible connections include the
fact that the nuclear arms race is consuming resources that could be used to address
the climate crisis, plus recent scientific findings regarding the catastrophic impact of
nuclear weapons deployment on climate.

Groups represented at the meeting included Peace Boat, Pax Christi, Peace Action New
York State, Soka Gakkai International, Gray Panthers, Congregation of Notre Dame,
Lawyers Committee for Nuclear Policy, Loretto Community, Maryknoll Sisters, NY State
Peace Action, United Universalist Association, and Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.