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PNND
Update is a regular e-news service featuring nuclear
weapons proliferation and policies, and how parliamentarians
globally are engaging in these issues.
•
Vancouver Conference , Nov
7-9, 2003
•
Nagasaki Forum , Nov 23, 2003
•
Delhi Roundtable , December 18,
2003
•
NPT Roundtable in New York ,
April 28, 2004
We also take
this opportunity to announce the launch of our new website
at archive.pnnd.org ,
and invite you to visit it to keep abreast of parliamentary
actions for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament
and related information.
Yours truly,
Alyn Ware
PNND
Global Coordinator
On May 31,
2003 President Bush announced the establishment of
the Proliferation
Security Initiative which aimed to create international
agreements and partnerships allowing the US and its
allies to stop and search (interdict) planes and ships
carrying suspect cargo and seize materials or technology
related to nuclear, biological or chemical weapons
or missile technologies.
On September
4, 2003 eleven countries which had joined the PSI
(Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United
States) released a statement from their meeting in
Paris outlining the initiative and indicating the
guidelines ( 'interdiction
principles' ) under which the PSI would operate.
There are
serious concerns about whether the States participating
in the initiative, are envisaging interdiction actions
which would in fact be prohibited under international
law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the
Sea which guarantees the right of navigation on the
high seas and innocent passage through territorial
waters.
Many of
the States participating in the Proliferation Security
Initiative, and which have already begun PSI interdiction
exercises, themselves transit materials or technology
related to nuclear, biological or chemical weapons
including deployed nuclear weapons and reprocessed
plutonium.
Global
Security Institute (GSI) has released a paper, The
Proliferation Security Initiative: The Legal Challenge
, which explores some of these issues, and has
also developed some alternative principles for PSI
which, if adopted, would enable action to address
proliferation concerns within international law and
in a non-discriminatory manner.
Parliamentary scrutiny
in States which participate in the PSI would
assist in ensuring that any PSI action does indeed
adhere to such principles. On March 31, for example,
the German P
arliamentary
Sub-Committee on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
held a hearing on PSI and the draft Security Council
Resolution on Non-Proliferation, with input from NGO
experts.
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2.
Non-Proliferation Treaty Meeting – New York April
26 – May 7
From April
26 until May 7, States parties to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) will be meeting
at the United Nations in New York to consider proposals
and initiatives to strengthen the NPT and achieve
full implementation of the its non-proliferation and
disarmament obligations. The meeting aims to produce
recommendations for the full NPT Review Conference
in 2005.
PNND is encouraging
parliamentarians to attend the meeting
in order to encourage governments to support positive
proposals. Initiatives and proposals from the 2003
NPT Prep Com, which will likely be further developed
in 2004 include:
For the first
time at an NPT meeting, there will be a delegation
of Mayors from major cities around the world. The
delegation of about 20 Mayors and a number of Deputy
Mayors, is being brought to New York by Mayors
for Peace , an international network of over 500
cities, in order to exhort their message that nuclear
weapons threaten the survival of cities and their
inhabitants and that governments need to act with
more determination to eliminate that threat.
The Parliamentary
Network for Nuclear Disarmament and Mayors
for Peace will be hosting a roundtable at
the United Nations on April 28 on the topic of Parliamentarians,
Mayors and Nuclear Non-Proliferation . This will
include a discussion between mayors and parliamentarians
attending the NPT on how they can support each other
to enhance their work for nuclear non-proliferation
and disarmament.
Parliamentarians
can also support the NPT Prep Com and Review Conferences
by highlighting key NPT proposals and issues in their
parliaments and supporting relation parliamentary
resolutions. In the UK a parliamentary
debate on the NPT Review was held on Mar 24.
In addition, Angus Robertson has introduced Early
Day Motion 811 calling on the UK to implement its
NPT disarmament obligations.
On February
26 the European Parliament adopted
a resolution
on the NPT Third Prep Com
calling, among other things, for " the declared
and undeclared nuclear weapon states to engage actively
with this issue and to make further progress towards
reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons" , and
supporting the Mayors for Peace campaign for the elimination
of nuclear weapons.
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On November
4, 2003, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
established a High
Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change in
order to address global security threats and possibilities
for reform of the international system. The 16-member
panel, chaired by Anand Panyarachun, former Prime
Minister of Thailand, is "tasked with examining the
major threats and challenges the world faces in the
broad field of peace and security, including economic
and social issues insofar as they relate to peace
and security, and making recommendations for the elements
of a collective response".
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On January
29, 2004, the Swedish government announced the establishment
of a Weapons
of Mass Destruction Commission chaired by former
chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix and including
another 15 experts in nuclear, biological and chemical
weapons. The Commission is to make specific
proposals on a range of issues relating to weapons
of mass destruction, including terrorism and missiles
and other delivery vehicles, and is expected to publish
its recommendations by the end of 2005.
The commission
will also be advising the Panel on Threats, Challenges
and Change that Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed
last year to make recommendations on how the United
Nations can address evolving security threats.
Gareth Evans, president of the International
Crisis Group , former foreign minister of Australia
and a member of both the panel and the new commission,
said, "Obviously any panel devoted to threats
to international peace and security has to wrestle
with the problem of weapons of mass destruction."
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On March
24, the United States presented a draft
resolution on non-proliferation to the United
Nations Security Council. The draft requires all states
to enact criminal and other laws and measures to prevent
terrorists and other non-state actors from trafficking
in and acquiring nuclear, biological, and chemical
(NBC) weapons, related materials, and missiles and
other unmanned systems of delivery.
On March
27, PNND circulated an email notice about the draft
resolution with links to the U.S.
Statement to the Security Council introducing
the resolution, a
letter to Security Council Members by Abolition
2000 expressing concerns and Parliamentary
questions in Netherlands Parliament about
the resolution. Since then there has been a call for
an open session of the Security Council to discuss
the issue, and it has been raised in other parliaments.
On April 1, for example, Senator Allison gave Notice for
a motion in the Australian Senate, expressing
similar concerns to A2000 (Australian
Senate Notices for motion – search for
Motion 849)
PNND invites
members and supporters to inform us of other actions
on this issue in parliaments.
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a.
Vancouver Conference, Nov 7-9, 2003
On November
7-9, 2003, parliamentarians from around the world
gathered in Vancouver for the first international
conference of the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear
Disarmament. The goal of this event was to consider
ways that parliamentarians can work collaboratively
in order to address dangers arising from nuclear proliferation,
as well as the increasingly-threatening policies and
practices of the nuclear-weapon States.
The conference
opened with the unnerving news that one of its would-be
participants, Israeli Member of Parliament Issam Makhoul,
had been the target of an assassination attempt only
two days earlier. It was suspected that the
assassination attempt arose in reaction to Mr Makhoul's
criticism of government policies on security issues,
including Israel's secrecy over their nuclear weapons
program. Fortunately, Mr. Makhoul, along with his
family, survived when the bomb planted under their
car was detonated.
The assassination
attempt did not deter a very positive dialogue amongst
parliamentarians from around the globe, including
from some of the other proliferation 'hot-spots' such
as South Asia and Korea, from the nuclear-weapon States
and their allies, and from key countries working for
nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament such as
the members of the New Agenda Coalition.
A key focus
of the event was on the comprehensive nuclear non-proliferation
and disarmament program proposed at the United Nations
General Assembly and the Non-Proliferation Treaty
meetings by the New Agenda Coalition, an international
coalition of governments including Brazil, Egypt,
Ireland, Mexico, Aotearoa-New Zealand, South Africa
and Sweden.
Participants
at the conference also considered proposals to:
. create
a nuclear weapon free zone in North East Asia
. link
existing nuclear weapon free zones into a Southern
Hemisphere and Adjacent Areas Nuclear Weapon Free
Zone
. begin
preparatory work on an international treaty to eliminate
nuclear weapons
. collaborate
with a new coalition of Mayors for Peace
. criminalize
the threat or use of nuclear weapons through domestic
legislation
. implement
the World Court's decision on the illegality of nuclear
weapons through direct action at nuclear weapons facilities
Report
on conference discussions
Presentations
to the conference
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b.
Nagasaki Forum, November 23, 2003
On Nov 23,
2003, PNND organized a Forum
for Parliamentarians on Disarmament as part of
the Nagasaki Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear
Weapons hosted by Nagasaki Mayor Iccho Itoh. Speakers
included Senator Douglas Roche (Canada), Chair of
the Middle Powers Initiative; Keith Locke MP (Green,
New Zealand), Secretary of PNND New Zealand Section;
Suzuki Tsunei MP (LDP, Japan), President of PNND Japan
Section; and Masaharu Nakagawa MP (DPJ, Japan).
Key items
of discussion were parliamentary support for the nuclear
disarmament agenda promoted by the New Agenda Coalition,
and parliamentary action for nuclear non-proliferation
and disarmament in North East Asia including the possibility
of a North East Asia NWFZ.
Report
on Forum
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c.
Delhi Roundtable, December 18, 2003
On December
18 the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation hosted a roundtable
in New Delhi for parliamentarians to introduce
them to the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament
(PNND) and encourage discussion between parliamentarians
across party lines on nuclear weapons issues.
The meeting,
organized by Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar (Congress Party),
attracted parliamentarians from a range of parties
including the government coalition and opposition
parties. It provided a unique opportunity for parliamentarians
to discuss nuclear weapons issues across parties in
a non-partisan, informal environment where there was
no need to score political points or remain wedded
to party positions.
Guest presenter
Alyn Ware (PNND Global Coordinator) briefed the parliamentarians
on current developments in nuclear doctrine and international
nuclear disarmament initiatives. Achin Vanaik (Coalition
for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace) gave a presentation
on possible nuclear risk reduction measures between
India and Pakistan.
Opinions
expressed by parliamentarians ranged from support
for India's current nuclear doctrine to support for
changes in doctrine which would allow for greater
progress on nuclear risk reduction measures and towards
nuclear disarmament.
Report
on roundtable including participants list
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d.
NPT Roundtable in New York, April 28, 2004
The Parliamentary
Network for Nuclear Disarmament and Mayors for Peace
will be hosting a roundtable at the United Nations
on April 28 on the topic of Parliamentarians,
Mayors and Nuclear Non-Proliferation . This will
include a discussion between mayors and parliamentarians
attending the NPT on how they can support each other
to enhance their work for nuclear non-proliferation
and disarmament.
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17 March 2004
1. Are you
aware of the great concerns that exist regarding the
content of the resolution on non-proliferation presently
being prepared amongst the members of the Security Council?
(1)
2. Have you
seen the draft resolution and are you involved in the
drafting of the resolution.(2) Do you support the contents
of the resolution? If so, why? If not, why not?
3. Do you
share the concerns of the non-permanent members of the
Security Council, the concerns of the experts in international
law and others regarding the content of the resolution?
4. How is
this resolution related to the realisation of international
law in this area? Do you agree that a resolution such
as is now being considered would undermine other international
law? If not, why not?
5. Do you
consider it important that decision-making and commitments
in the framework of the Non-Proliferation treaty are
also emphasised? If not, why not?
6. Are you
prepared to strive within the EU framework for a balanced
resolution that also emphasises the obligations in accordance
with the Non-Proliferation Treaty?
7.
Are you prepared to urge the members of the Security
Council, among them the US, to meet the concerns mentioned
above?
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PNND
Update 8