German Greens say "yes" to ICAN; Australian voters say "no" to pro-nuclear government

The global momentum for a Nuclear Weapons Convention continued to build throughout November, with the adoption of a dynamic nuclear abolition resolution by the German Greens party, the ouster of a virulently pro-nuclear government in Australia, the passage of a broad plank of disarmament resolutions by the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, and the endorsement of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) by growing numbers of NGOs, grassroots activists, and prominent individuals.

At their federal delegate conference in Nürnberg, the German Greens, urged on by IPPNW-Germany, called for a revival of abolition initiatives, including a UN-sponsored World Summit on nuclear disarmament and the denuclearization of Germany and the European Union. In endorsing both ICAN and the abolition campaigns of Mayors For Peace, the Greens urged civil society groups to undertake "a broad social and international mobilization…for nuclear disarmament." Said IPPNW-Germany nuclear campaigner Xanthe Hall, "They do listen to us."

In national elections held at the end of November, Australian voters fired a government whose nuclear policies rivaled those of the Bush administration in obstructing progress toward global disarmament and non-proliferation. IPPNW's Australian affiliate, MAPW, distributed more than 300,000 "vote nuclear free" postcards during the run-up to the election. MAPW president Sue Wareham said she hopes the new Labour government, led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, will make good on its promise to support a Nuclear Weapons Convention. "The commitment to an NWC will need strong actions that our ally the US will not like, and Mr. Rudd will be reluctant to upset the US," Dr. Wareham noted after the election. But she added "We have a promise of action from the governing party that we can work on."

On the international stage, the First Committee of the UNGA passed more than a dozen resolutions on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in October and November. By overwhelming majorities, the FC called for entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT); demanded that the nuclear-weapon states fulfill their disarmament obligations as spelled out by the NPT and the World Court; supported the global expansion of nuclear weapon free zones; and urged specific measures to reduce the nuclear danger, including dealerting, detargeting, and the prevention of an arms race in outer space. Notably, the United States voted against every draft resolution. A summary of the resolutions and voting records is available here.

[LINK TO UNGAFCVotesOctNov07.pdf]

In other ICAN news:

· a coalition of Norwegian groups including IPPNW-Norway presented the signatures of 20,000 supporters of a nuclear weapons convention to Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on November 1;

· Physicians for Peace and Social Responsibility (IPPNW-Malaysia) and Soka Gakkai Malaysia launched an exhibition of posters on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in September, in conjunction with a public forum, "From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace." PPSR is collecting 50,000 signatures on a petition urging the Malaysian government to "actively support the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons through a Nuclear Weapons Convention";

· About 50 people attended the Canadian launch of ICAN on October 25, where Physicians for Global Survival president Nancy Covington spoke alongside Alexa McDonough, MP, the chair of the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament (PNND). Guests were given copies of Securing Our Survival and a kit of materials about the Nuclear Weapons Convention;

· Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba visited Copenhagen and Stockholm in mid November, where he participated in ICAN launches at the invitation of IPPNW's affiliates SLMK and DLMK. SLMK students served "Nuclear Free—My cup of tea" in a public square, while informing people about ICAN and the need for nuclear abolition.

For more information about ICAN, please visit www.icanw.org and www.ippnw.org. SUPPORT THIS PROJECT