PNND Update #12
April-May 2006

Contents:

1.      Parliamentary Sign-on Letter to the US Congress on the nuclear deal with India
2.      Parliamentarians and Civil Society Appeal on Iran
3.      Encourage your colleagues to join PNND (using the Dear Colleague Letter)
4.      Invitation to the PNND Annual Forum – Vancouver, Canada June 27
5.      10th Anniversary of the World Court Advisory Opinion on nuclear weapons
6.      NY Times: Nuclear Abolition Proposal from Former Reagan Arms Control Negotiator
7.      PNND Notes – now online
8.      PNND Briefing Book – background information for parliamentarians

In early March 2006, during his visit to India, US President Bush signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.  The agreement, which had been agreed in principle in July 2005, allows India to engage in international trade in nuclear materials to support the Indian civil nuclear power program.

The agreement requires the United States to amend its own laws and policies on nuclear technology transfer and to work for changes in international controls (imposed by the Nuclear Suppliers Group) on the supply of nuclear fuel and technology so as to allow “full civil nuclear energy cooperation and trade with India.” In exchange, India’s government would identify and separate civilian nuclear facilities and programs from its nuclear weapons complex and volunteer these civilian facilities for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection and safeguarding.

The US claims that the deal is a positive move towards assisting India develop its energy requirements, as well as supporting non-proliferation by requiring India to extend its moratorium on nuclear testing and work for an international fissile material cut-off treaty.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in presenting the deal to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 5, said that “The initiative that we are putting before you and asking for legislation to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 will advance international security, enhance energy security, further environmental protection, and increase business opportunities for both our countries.”

Critics argue that the deal could assist India’s nuclear weapons program by freeing up fissile materials currently required for their civilian program. In addition, opening up nuclear technology assistance to a States that has refused to join the NPT sends the wrong signal to other States that are not party to the NPT (Israel, Pakistan and North Korea) and NPT States of proliferation concern such as Iran, Syria and Egypt. Nuclear technology assistance was a key ‘carrot’ enticing States to join the NPT. If they, like India, can get technology outside the NPT then there is little incentive left for states not members to join the NPT or for those that are members to stay in it.

Opposition to the deal has been led in the US Congress by Ed Markey, who in December 2005 introduced H Con Res 318 expressing concern about the deal, and in April 2006 released a nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) analysis which also expressed concern about the deal.

In early April, Uta Zapf, Chair of the Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Nonproliferation in the German parliament, released a sign-on letter for parliamentarians world-wide to endorse. The letter urges the US Congress to exercise caution in opening up nuclear technology trade to India, and in particular “to prevent damage to the nuclear nonproliferation regime by applying the strictest standards before creating an exception for India and thus creating a loophole to nuclear nonproliferation rules that have been crafted so carefully over the past three decades.” The letter will be presented to the US Congress in May, prior to the next meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (May 29).

 * To endorse the Parliamentary Letter to the US Congress on the nuclear deal with India please send your signature to alyn@pnnd.org

For further information see: Wrong Ends, Means, and Needs: Behind the U.S. Nuclear Deal With India, Zia Mian and M. V. Ramana, Arms Control Today, Jan/Feb 2006

Parliamentarians and Civil Society Appeal on Iran

The tensions regarding Iran’s nuclear energy program continue to build this month as Iran stepped up its uranium enrichment program in defiance of the IAEA and the US expressed increasing alarm hinting at a diplomatic push for sanctions and possibly even the use of force.

On March 29 the UN Security Council considered the situation regarding Iran’s uranium enrichment-related activities and its suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Security Council expressed concern at questions about Iran’s nuclear energy program to which the IAEA was unable to obtain complete and satisfactory answers. The Security Council requested the Director General of the IAEA to continue inquiries and report back at the end of April. (See Security Council Meeting on Iran Press Release)

On April 10, Seymour Hersch reported in the New Yorker (THE IRAN PLANS, Would President Bush go to war to stop Tehran from getting the bomb?) that the US had developed contingency pans for the use of force and the possible use of nuclear weapons for a preventive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

In February, a coalition of non-governmental organizations released a Parliamentarians and Civil Society Appeal on Iran, addressed to the leaders of the United States, the other Nuclear Weapon States, Iran and the members of the IAEA Board of Governors and Security Council, urging a peaceful resolution to the conflict, the application of non-discriminatory controls on fissile materials, and progress on comprehensive nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

To endorse the appeal please contact Friends of the Earth or PNND

Encourage your colleagues to join PNND

The Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament now has nearly 400 members in 70 countries and cross-party National Sections in five parliaments (Belgium, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea). In order to increase membership and be able to create additional cross-party National Sections, we ask you to encourage your parliamentary colleagues to join the network. Just send them a PNND brochure (available from PNND in 15 languages) and/or a copy of the recently released Dear Colleague letter from seventeen PNND members from around the world.

The Dear Colleague letter, signed by a mix of government and opposition, conservative and liberal members, notes that “The increasing risks of proliferation of nuclear weapons to new States, the potential for proliferation to non-State actors, and the lack of progress in multilateral nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament efforts have indicated to us the necessity for legislators to work collaboratively and internationally to prevent a nuclear disaster,” that “PNND provides up-to-date and relevant information to legislators on nuclear weapons issues, events such as major intergovernmental meetings, and parliamentary actions including resolutions, debates and legislation,” and that “PNND also provides a variety of forums – including conferences, newsletters, seminars, briefings and contacts with parliamentary colleagues – in which legislators can learn from each other and collaborate on national, regional and international measures.”

What’s best is that membership in PNND is free and requires no commitments to endorse any particular policy or platform.

Invitation to the PNND Annual Forum – Vancouver, Canada June 27

From June 23-28 thousands of individuals, groups and civic governments from cities and communities worldwide will gather at the World Peace Forum in Vancouver Canada, supported by the City of Vancouver, to share visions, strategies and actions for the development of a culture of peace.

We invite all PNND members to our annual parliamentary forum to be held in Vancouver on June 27 as part of the World Peace Forum. The parliamentary forum will provide an opportunity to meet other members of PNND, learn about the latest developments in nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament, share ideas and information on parliamentary actions and discuss the development of the network. It will include a roundtable dialogue with Mayors for Peace and key NGO representatives on collaborative efforts between mayors and parliamentarians.

* Please contact PNND if you would like to attend the PNND Annual Forum

The World Peace Forum will also include other events relating to nuclear disarmament, including Taking the bomb back to Court, Nuclear Weapon Free Zones, Human Development Demands Nuclear Disarmament, Health and Environmental Aspects of Nuclear Arms Programs and more…

For more information see: World Peace Forum Program, World Peace Forum Flyer

10th Anniversary of the World Court Advisory Opinion on nuclear weapons

On 8 July 1996 the International Court of Justice (ICJ), otherwise known as the World Court, delivered an historic opinion in which it affirmed that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be illegal and that there exists an obligation to achieve complete nuclear disarmament. The 10th anniversary of the ICJ case is prompting a number of initiatives to encourage the implementation of the Court’s decision.

The States Parties to the Treaty of Tlatelolco (Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in Latin America and the Caribbean) agreed in November to:

 “Call upon the United Nations General Assembly, on the occasion of the Xth anniversary of the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, to consider the actions that States should undertake to fulfill nuclear disarmament obligations emanating from the treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the 1996 Advisory Opinion.”

(See Santiago Declaration, paragraph 6, adopted 8 November 2005)

The International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms is proposing that the United Nations General Assembly request a follow-up opinion from the International Court of Justice on the issue of non-compliance with nuclear disarmament and non-use obligations (See Time to return to the World Court?)

Mayors for Peace is calling on their 1200+ member cities to take action during a Month of Compliance from 8 July 2006 (ICJ Day) to 9 August 2006 (Nagasaki Day). In addition, the Mayor of the Hague, Netherlands (the seat of the ICJ) is hosting a commemorative event for mayors, parliamentarians, diplomats and others in the Hague on 5 July. For more information contact Mayors for Peace.

A major international conference commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 1996 ICJ Opinion on Nuclear Weapons will be held in the European Parliament 6-7 July 2006. The Conference will explore the relevance of the 1996 opinion, how it was achieved and how to ensure its implementation, including consideration of a follow-up ICJ opinion on compliance with nuclear disarmament and non-use obligations.

For more information contact the World Court Project.

NY Times: Nuclear Abolition Proposal from Former Reagan Arms Control Negotiator

Max Kampelman, in Bombs Away, an Op Ed published by the New York Times on 24 April 2006, urges the US President to initiate action at the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council to abolish nuclear weapons.

Kampelman, an arms control negotiator for US President Ronald Reagan, notes that “at the age of 85, I have never been more worried about the future for my children and grandchildren than I am today. The number of countries possessing nuclear arms is increasing, and terrorists are poised to master nuclear technology with the objective of using those deadly arms against us.”

He argues that the only way to prevent a nuclear catastrophe was for the United States to take a lead in eliminating nuclear weapons with the assistance of the United Nations. “President Bush should consult with our allies, appear before the United Nations General Assembly and call for a resolution embracing the objective of eliminating all weapons of mass destruction. He should make clear that we are prepared to eliminate our nuclear weapons if the Security Council develops an effective regime to guarantee total conformity with a universal commitment to eliminate all nuclear arms and reaffirm the existing conventions covering chemical and biological weapons.”

Kampelman says that the task would not be easy, but that “the United States would bring to this endeavor decades of relevant experience, new technologies and the urgency of self-preservation. The necessary technical solutions can be devised,” and that “you can be an idealist and a realist at the same time. What is missing today from American foreign policy is a willingness to hold these two thoughts simultaneously, to find a way to move from what "is" — a world with a risk of increasing global disaster — to what "ought" to be, a peaceful, civilized world free of weapons of mass destruction.

PNND Notes online

The second edition of PNND Notes, the hard copy newsletter for the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, was recently sent to all members and supporters (in either English, French or Spanish). It contains up-to-date information about key nuclear weapons issues and actions that parliamentarians are taking to address these.

Please contact PNND if you would like more copies to send to parliamentarians who might not yet have joined PNND. PNND Notes is also available online (English, French, Spanish).

Briefing Book – background information for parliamentarians

PNND provides a Briefing Book (English or Spanish) free to all new members. The briefing book provides background information for parliamentarians on nuclear weapons, how they work, their effects, who has them, nuclear policies, relevant treaties, nuclear disarmament proposals and how parliamentarians can become engaged. The book is designed with short chapters on specific issues (2-4 pages per issue) which can be copied to give to parliamentarians who don’t have time to read long articles or books.  It also includes sources for those wanting additional information 

The English version is now available online at PNND Briefing Book.