Obama nuclear abolition pledge not pie in the sky!

Obama's nuclear abolition pledge not pie in the sky!
For immediate release

Alyn Ware
Consultant, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms

“US President’s pledge yesterday to work for the global abolition of nuclear weapons is not pie in the sky”, says Alyn Ware a consultant with the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms. “The world is a dangerous place and nuclear disarmament negotiations would be full of difficulties – a fact underscored by the recent missile test of North Korea, one of the latest countries to acquire nuclear weapons”, he said. “However, the blueprint for achieving and verifying a nuclear-weapons-free world has been developed, and the international support is there for President Obama and other leaders to draw upon in reaching this goal.”

“The blue-print is a Model Nuclear Weapons Convention – a treaty to prohibit and elimination nuclear weapons under strict and effective international control. Our organisation drafted the Model Convention ten years ago – and it has recently been updated and circulated to all countries by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The Model Convention outlines a phased programme of nuclear disarmament steps accompanied by the development of key verification and confidence-building measures to bring the world close to zero nuclear weapons before making that final jump.”

“President Obama has not yet endorsed the nuclear weapons convention. Instead he has laid out a number of initial disarmament steps to achieve prior to considering what would be required for complete abolition. These include ratification and implementation of the already negotiated Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, negotiations to achieve a treaty to control fissile (bomb-making) materials, and further reductions in the US and Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles down to about 1500 deployed nuclear weapons each.”

“These are good steps, but will not be enough to prevent the possibility of terrorist acquisition of nuclear weapons, or to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons use in a crisis, or to rope in the countries outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea – who are holding onto nuclear weapons for their security so long as the Nuclear Weapon States (US, France, China, Russia and the UK) continue to do so.”

“Further leadership is required to move beyond the initial steps proposed by President Obama to get all countries to agree to the prohibition of nuclear weapons and a phased programme for their complete elimination under strict and effective international control. Ban Ki-moon, in an historic speech on United Nations Day (24 October) last year called on States to commence comprehensive nuclear disarmament negotiations using the Model Convention as a useful starting point for such negotiations. New Zealand should step out of the shadows and take leadership with other like-minded countries to kick-start such negotiations, just as was done with the recent treaty to prohibit Cluster Munitions.”

“In the 1980s New Zealand led the world by prohibiting nuclear weapons on our territory, despite the opposition of a pro-nuclear United States. Prime Minister David Lange said at the time that the world was not yet ready to follow-suit and thus our policy was ‘not for export’. This time has now come and New Zealand has the respect and credibility to take the lead, and should decide to do so.”

ENDS

Alyn Ware
Consultant, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms
Director, Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace
New Zealand Coordinator, World March for Peace and Nonviolence
Global Coordinator, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament

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