Update and Upcoming Events.

1. UN Secretary-General calls for a Nuclear Weapons Convention

On Oct 24, United Nations Day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave a landmark speech entitled Contagious doctrine of deterrence has made non-proliferation more difficult, in which he called on governments to fulfil their nuclear disarmament obligations through negotiating a package of instruments or a comprehensive nuclear weapons convention.

Ban Ki-Moon, speaking at a conference organised by the East-West Institute, announced that “Upon the request of Costa Rica and Malaysia, I have circulated to all United Nations Member States a draft of such a convention, which offers a good point of departure.”

Ban Ki-moon also:
- called on the UN Security Council to initiate discussions on ‘issues in the nuclear disarmament process’
- encouraged the negotiation and implementation of a number of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament treaties;
- proposed that the Nuclear Weapon States become more transparent about the size of their arsenals, stocks of fissile material and specific disarmament achievements.
- supported complementary measures for the elimination of other types of WMD; new efforts against WMD terrorism; limits on the production and trade in conventional arms; and new weapons bans, including of missiles and space weapons.

The conference included speeches supporting disarmament by other influential leaders including Mohammed ElBaradei (Secretary-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency), Henry Kissinger (former US Secretary of State) and leaders from the E.U., China, India, Japan and Pakistan.

2. PNND participates in NWC strategy session following UN Secretary-General’s announcement

PNND Global Council member Jonathan Granoff and PNND Global Coordinator Alyn Ware helped organise and lead a high-level strategy session on the Nuclear Weapons Convention which was held at the East-West Institute conference on Oct 24 following the UN Secretary-General’s speech supporting the NWC.

Other participants in the session included Jayantha Dhanapala (President of Pugwash Conferences on Science & World Affairs and former UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs), Richard Butler (former Executive Chairman of the UN Special Commission to Disarm Iraq), Robert Grey ( Director of the US Bipartisan Security Group and former US Ambassador to NATO) and Henrik Salander (Executive Director of the Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction.

The session was significant in that it signalled a turning point in the international diplomatic framework for considering a NWC. Prior to the UN Secretary-General’s speech most discussion was on whether a NWC was a good idea. Following the SG’s endorsement, most of the discussion was not on whether an NWC would be a good idea, but on how to achieve one.

For a more detailed report see: Strategizing for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, EWI Strategy Session, 24 October 2008.

3. PNND Co-Presidents Marian Hobbs and Alexa McDonoughon a NWC

According to PNND Co-Presidents Marian Hobbs and Alexa McDonough, the commencement of negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons Convention is vital to strengthen the norm against nuclear weapons, to prevent further proliferation and to make real progress towards nuclear disarmament.

In a groundbreaking article in PNND Notes, Hobbs and McDonough note that “there is an escalating interest in, and cross-party support for, the abolition of nuclear weapons through a Nuclear Weapons Convention. Draft resolutions, calling for nuclear abolition and/or the achi evement of a Nuclear Weapons Convention, have been introduced by PNND members and adopted in the Australian Senate, New Zealand parliament and European Parliament, along with Early Day Motions in the UK House of Commons and resolutions introduced into the US Congress.”

Hobbs and McDonough believe that a NWC would not just be an agreement between countries, but would be “the codification of an international norm – an indication of what is and what is not acceptable international behaviour, and the development of mechanisms to implement that norm.” They believe that the norm of illegality of nuclear weapons has already been affirmed by the International Court of Justice in its historic 1996 opinion, but that this norm is currently being eroded by the lack of disarmament action by the nuclear weapons States.

Hobbs and McDonough argue that the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention submitted to the United Nations by Costa Rica and Malaysia demonstrates the feasibility of nuclear abolition, and as such has received the support of key figures including conservative former Prime Ministers Malcolm Fraser (Australia) and Jim Bolger (New Zealand), Nobel Peace Laureates such as Mairead Macguire; the United Nations High Representative on Disarmament Sergio Duarte; military leaders including Romeo Dallaire former Commander of UN Forces in Rwanda; parliamentarians and civil society leaders such as Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima.

For the full article: http://www.gsinstitute.org/pnnd/updates/NWC.html