Dear friends,
Your assistance in distributing the information below to women in your
networks and organisations will be greatly appreciated.
many thanks and all the best,
Cathy Picone
for Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Australia)
Australian Women and Nuclear Disarmament
In Beijing in 1995, at the UN Women's Conference, governments gave
undertakings for peace and the continued pursuit of nuclear disarmament.
At the current session of CSW in NY, where the world's women, five years
on, are reassessing progress made on the Beijing Platform for Action, it is
opportune that we scrutinise the record of our own government in this
important area.
Beginning next month, the 2000 NPT Review Conference will be held in New
York: 24 April to 19 May. As these review conferences are held only once
every five years, Australian women will be presented with a relatively rare
opportunity to act on behalf of our children's children to ensure our
species' survival.
The Current Situation: Nuclear Weapons Still Threaten Us All
Despite the end of the Cold War when people all around the world expected
advances in nuclear disarmament, we are still threatened by 30,000 nuclear
weapons.
As former US President, Jimmy Carter has recently observed:
"Instead of moving away from reliance on nuclear arsenals since the end of
the Cold War, both the United States and NATO have sent disturbing signals
to other nations by declaring that these weapons are still the cornerstone
of Western security policy, and both have re-emphasized that they will not
comply with a "no first use" policy. Russia has reacted to this U.S. and
NATO policy by rejecting its previous "no first use" commitment; strapped
for funds and unable to maintain its conventional forces of submarines,
tanks, artillery, and troops, it is now much more likely to rely on its
nuclear arsenal.
* =8A American and Russian nuclear missiles are still maintained in a
"hair-trigger alert" status, susceptible to being launched in a
spur-of-the-moment crisis or even by accident.
* After years of intense negotiation, recent rejection by the U.S. Senate
of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is a serious blow to global nuclear
control efforts and to confidence in American leadership."
The NPT: a Bargain Broken
The NPT is now thirty years old. It has 187 states parties. The Treaty is
the cornerstone of the world's attempts to control the spread of nuclear
weapons. The Treaty aims to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons
through a bargain. Under the terms of the Treaty, the world's non-nuclear
weapons states have agreed not to develop nuclear arsenals so long as the
nuclear weapons states proceed "in good faith" towards nuclear disarmament.
Thus, the dual goals on the one hand of nuclear disarmament by the NWS and
on the other no further spread (by the non-NWS) are a unified whole, a
see-saw of sorts. In the words of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, "the
goals of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation are inherently linked".
The nuclear weapons states (US, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France)
have broken their part of the bargain. They have not proceeded towards
nuclear disarmament. They have broken faith; broken their side of the
bargain. They are sitting firmly, leadenly and doggedly on their end of the
nuclear disarmament see-saw. Thus, the nuclear disarmament process is
stalled.
The result has been plain for us to witness. The Treaty has not been able
to do what it was designed to do. Nuclear weapons have not been contained;
they have spread. Last year, India and Pakistan openly demonstrated their
nuclear capabilities joining Israel and the Permanent 5 as nuclear weapons
states.
Unless we can bring the nuclear weapons states to recognise and act upon
their responsibilities under the Treaty to get their end of the see-saw
moving, nuclear weapons will continue to spread. The new century and the
new millennium promise to be not new at all but rehashes of the old Cold
War mindset - military blocs held at bay by mutually assured destruction
(MAD).
The bilateral nuclear arms reduction talks between the US and Russia (the
START talks) are stalled. The Russian Duma has not seriously debated the
START II reductions because of the clear belligerence of the US which is
even now moving to destabilise the ABM Treaty, implementing a "Son of Star
Wars" missile defence system.
Just as the START talks are stalled so are negotiations in the CD on the
=46issile Material Cut-Off Convention.
Unless one of the see saw's ends can make concessions, stalemate will
continue. With the recent refusal of the US Senate to ratify the CTBT, the
whole nuclear disarmament process threatens to unravel.
The weapons-rich kids at the leaden end of the see-saw claim that some of
the other kids need to make various concessions before they can let their
feet off the ground. But the end of the see-saw which is best placed to
make a constructive concession is the rich world's end, the NWS. They need
to agree to a timetabled reduction in their nuclear arsenals. After all,
this was the expectation when the non-NWS agreed five years ago to prolong
the NPT indefinitely.
What Has the Australian Government Done in this Stalemate Situation?
The Australian Government has:
* supported the claims of the government of the United States who
incidentally are acting against the expressed wish of the people of the
United States in this matter;
* failed on more than one occasion to vote for the New Agenda Coalition's
resolution in the UN General Assembly calling for a timetabled reduction in
the nuclear arsenals of the NWS.
Despite a good record in some areas of disarmament, the Australian
Government has been a laggard of late in the field of nuclear disarmament
defending the claims of the US that they should be left to negotiate the
reductions to their nuclear arsenals through bilateral agreements with
Russia (the START talks). Yet it is apparent that the same stasis which
predominates the talks in the CD also infects the bilateral talks which are
also stalled.
How Can the Australian Government Act More Constructively for Nuclear
Disarmament?
The Australian Government can:
* Encourage the heavy end of the see-saw to off-load some of the leaden
weights in their pockets by agreeing to a timetabled reduction in their
nuclear arsenals;
* Support and lobby constructively in the lead-up to the NPT Review
Conference for the calls for a timetabled reduction of nuclear weapons;
* Vote in support of the NAC's resolution when next it is introduced into
the GA;
* Work to progress the recommendations of the Canberra Commission set up by
the Australian Government during the term of the Keating government.
Women's Voices are Needed for Nuclear Disarmament
What You Can Do:
* let your political representatives know that you want the nuclear
disarmament process to move out of the present stalemate and that you
expect them to be creative and constructive in such progress;
* ensure that all the members of organisations to which you belong know of
the current situation;
* organise a meeting to inform them;
* inform your family and friends;
* let your members of parliament (state and federal) know what you think
about the current stalemate;
* contact WILPF and let us know of your support for this campaign.
Write to Prime Minister John Howard and to Foreign Affairs Minister,
Alexander Downer. Let them know that we women expect them to be more
constructive and creative both in the lead-up to the NPT Review Conference
and during the Conference itself. Ask them to stop backing the claims of
the US Government. Ask them to remind the US Government of their end of the
NPT bargain.
Addresses:
Rt Hon John Howard
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Hon Alexander Downer MHR
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Alexander Downer's fax: (02) 6273 4112 Email: A.Downer. [EMAIL PROTECTED]=
au
For further information, contact:
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Australia)
GPO Box 2094, ADELAIDE 5001
Ph: 08 8296 4357 Fax: 08 8377 0706
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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