Nuclear Ban Treaty Opens for Signature and 50 states sign!

In a week potentially overshadowed by Trump's threat of a nuclear war with North Korea, there are some reasons to be optimistic. The United Nations General Assembly has resumed and has held a signing ceremony for the new nuclear ban treaty.

On September 20, the treaty which was voted on in July, opened for signature. The treaty was a result of years of efforts from civil society and a conscious shift in focus from security and deterrence arguments to one's based on the humanitarian perspective. This humanitarian perspective argues that human beings will be the ones who suffer after a nuclear attack, and that no country would be able to adequately respond to a humanitarian catastrophe a nuclear attack would pose.

122 countries voted for the treaty to be passed back in July of this year, and so far 50 countries have signed the treaty. It will enter into force 90 days after 50 countries have ratified or acceded to it. See which countries have signed here.

Unsurprisingly, none of the 9 nuclear armed nations, including the UK have signed the treaty. In fact, the UK is amongst the states who staged a protest when the treaty was created and say they will never sign. 

Corbyn: 'Halt UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has renewed his call for a suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. He told BBC Radio 4’s World at One recently that Britain should stop supplying arms which were being used in the war in Yemen. ‘I fully appreciate the size and enormity of the arms industry, and the need for working with industry to protect those jobs, in some cases by arms-conversion work, but above all we have to look at the consequences of a vast amount of arms sales to Saudi Arabia,’ he said.

London Arms Fair Protests

Over 100 peace activists were arrested during protests against the DSEI arms fair, 4-11 September, including Angie Zelter a high-profile Trident Ploughshares campaigner.  Angie, who was part of the anti-nuclear themed protest on Wednesday, told journalists:  ‘I said with my action that selling components of illegal weapons of mass destruction is not done in my name, she told journalists. ‘I consider that nuclear arms deals are part of an ongoing conspiracy to commit a war crime.’

DSEI, the Defence and Security Equipment International is the world’s largest arms fair which is held biennially at the ExCel Centre in London’s Docklands. Stop the Arms Fair network, which includes many peace movement groups, organised a week of protest again this year, with CND contingents from Yorkshire, Manchester and elsewhere taking part, as well as many from London CND.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, chair of Parliamentary CND, called the arms fair a ‘gross spectacle.  Chris Cole, who runs Drone Wars UK website, took part in Tuesday’s No Faith in War protests, said: ‘It’s important sometimes to put your body on the line and to try to stop the normalcy of the arms trade.'

TUC Congress back Defence Diversification Agency

London CND welcomes the decision of the TUC Congress 2017 to lobby the Labour Party to set up a Shadow Defence Diversification Agency before the next general election, and work to develop a national industrial strategy which includes the possibility of arms conversion.

The Unite union’s support for the motion is particularly welcome, but the GMB opposed it. CND general secretary, Kate Hudson welcomed the news. ‘Jobs are often presented as an argument in favour of Trident replacement, so it's essential that there is a plan to secure alternative high-skilled jobs and to create many more jobs.’

Motion 17, Defence, jobs and diversification, from the Artists Union England, recalled the ground-breaking plan for alternative, socially useful work pioneered by the Lucas Aerospace workers in 1976. It highlighted ‘a convergence of crises – militarism and nuclear weapons, climate chaos, and the destruction of jobs by automation’, but acknowledged that defence workers ‘are rightly concerned about the potential loss of jobs, for example if Trident replacement is cancelled’.  Read the text in full 

London CND statement Korean Peninsula: War is not the answer

London CND statement Korean Peninsula

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER

London Region Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is alarmed by the threat of nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula and the wider Pacific region. North Korea continues to test nuclear weapons and missiles in defiance of the international community, while the US and its allies continue provocative actions, threats and exercises in or near North East Asia and the Pacific.

There is a real danger that these actions will lead to the use of nuclear weapons by intention or miscalculation. There are no safe hands for nuclear weapons and any detonation of a nuclear device would be a humanitarian catastrophe with global impacts. Threatening and isolating the North Korean regime risks escalating the conflict rather than encouraging solutions.

CND calls on the UK Government to use all appropriate diplomatic, international and legal means to end nuclear threats, to push for negotiations with North Korea and a return to the Six-Party Talks involving China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the US.

Both immediate and longer term solutions are needed including creating a zone free of nuclear weapons in North East Asia, a process to address the underlying causes of regional insecurity and conflict on the Korean Peninsula, and the promotion of peace, development and cooperative co-existence and security for all peoples in the region.

We call on the UK Government to reject a military solution to the conflict and urgently use its influence to press for all involved to avoid and refrain from further provocative rhetoric or military exercises and tests.

• Visit the London CND website at www.londoncnd.org for more information on what’s going on, including a report of a visit from a South Korean Peace Expedition.

• Visit the CND UK website at www.cnduk.org for actions we can all take:
• Ask your MP to sign Caroline Lucas’s Early Day Motion
• Sign our letter to Theresa May, and  
• Join CND’s protest:

No Nuclear War

5pm • Thursday 28 September

Downing Street

South Korean Peace Expedition’s UK visits

South Korean Peace Expedition at CND office

The People’s Democracy Party (PDP) of South Korea sent a Peace Expedition to the UK at the end of August, calling for a halt to the nuclear war exercises and US troops out of South Korea. They met CND representatives on 7 September and told us:

There is an urgent political situation on the Korean Peninsula. The Peace Expedition of PDP is in the UK again to oppose the joint military exercises called Ulchi-Freedom Guardian (UFG) against an invasion by North Korea.

As you know, the UFG is a large scale war exercise with 17,500 US armed forces and 50,000 South Korea troops, joined by additional troops from Australia, Canada, Columbia, Denmark, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Britain. The war crisis is escalating further as a result of US troops visiting South Korea, including the US Pacific Commander Admiral Harry B Harris.

It is an extremely dangerous situation. It is only one step from a verbal war to actual war. We must stop the outbreak of nuclear war unconditionally.

People's Democracy Party is organizing a nationwide tour of South Korea, for three weeks from 8 to 29 September, together with the Central Council for People's Independent Peaceful Reunification and the Peace Treaty Movement Headquarters. Many different organisations will be co-hosting the Peace Tour as it moves round the country.

The opening ceremony takes place in Seoul on 8 September. We plan to hold various actions, including demonstration, press conferences, vigils, marches, talks, concert, and meeting whilst going round the country. We will visit 16 cities and return to Seoul for a closing ceremony.

The Peace Tour is calling for:

• No war!
• US troops and THAAD missile system out of Korea!
• For a Peace Treaty between the US and North Korea!

We invite CND to join us. Our struggle is stronger together.

CND’s message of support to South Korean Peace Tour

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the UK sends greetings to the Peace Tour Demonstration which is being organised across the Republic of Korea. We join you in saying war is not the answer to tensions on the Korean Peninsula and calling for dialogue.

CND is alarmed by the threat of nuclear war in North East Asia and the wider Pacific region. North Korea continues to test nuclear weapons and missiles in defiance of the international community, while the US and its allies continue provocative actions, threats and exercises in or near North East Asia and the Pacific. There is a real danger that these actions will lead to the use of nuclear weapons by intention or miscalculation.

There are no safe hands for nuclear weapons and any detonation of a nuclear device would be a humanitarian catastrophe with global impacts. Threatening and isolating the North Korean regime risks escalating the conflict rather than encouraging solutions.

We urge the UK Government to use all appropriate diplomatic, international and legal means to end nuclear threats, to push for negotiations with North Korea and a return to the Six-Party Talks involving China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the US. Both immediate and longer term solutions are needed including creating a zone free of nuclear weapons in North East Asia, a process to address the underlying causes of regional insecurity and conflict on the Korean Peninsula, and the promotion of peace, development and cooperative co-existence and security for all peoples in the region.

We call on the UK Government to reject a military solution to the conflict and urgently use its influence to press for all involved to avoid and refrain from further provocative rhetoric or military exercises and tests.

Take Action for Peace in Korea

NUCLEAR CRISIS UPDATE

CND is alarmed by the threat of nuclear war in North East Asia and the wider Pacific region. North Korea continues to test nuclear weapons and missiles in defiance of the international community, while the US and its allies continue provocative actions, threats and exercises in or near North East Asia and the Pacific. There is a real danger that these actions will lead to the use of nuclear weapons by intention or miscalculation. There are no safe hands for nuclear weapons and any detonation of a nuclear device would be a humanitarian catastrophe with global impacts. Threatening and isolating the North Korean regime risks escalating the conflict rather than encouraging solutions.

We urge the UK Government to use all appropriate diplomatic, international and legal means to end nuclear threats, to push for negotiations with North Korea and a return to the Six-Party Talks involving China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the US. Both immediate and longer term solutions are needed including creating a zone free of nuclear weapons in North East Asia, a process to address the underlying causes of regional insecurity and conflict on the Korean Peninsula, and the promotion of peace, development and cooperative co-existence and security for all peoples in the region.

We call on the UK Government to reject a military solution to the conflict and urgently use its influence to press for all involved to avoid and refrain from further provocative rhetoric or military exercises and tests.

Three actions everyone can take:

1. Ask your MP to sign Caroline Lucas’s Early Day Motion
2. Sign our letter to Tell Theresa May how to prevent a nuclear war
3. Joint the protest: No Nuclear War • 5pm Thursday 28 September • Downing Street

Details 

WHAT THEY SAY

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader and Vice President of CND, has called on US and North Korea to ‘calm down’ and get round the table. He urged Theresa May to press for a measured response and help bring the temperature down. Writing in the Sunday Mirror (13 August) he said: ‘The risks of an unintended escalation into full-blown conflict are too great… There can be no question of blind loyalty to the erratic and belligerent Trump administration.’

In a parliamentary debate on Korea on 5 September, Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry ‘unreservedly’ condemned North Korea for flagrant breaches of international law but said ‘for the US to turn its back on diplomacy at this stage is simply irresponsible and, as its closest ally, we must be prepared to say so’.

Caroline Lucas MP and co-leader Green Party has tabled an Early Day Motion, EDM 243:

‘That this House expresses concern about the nuclear and missile testing by North Korea and the potential risk that provocative actions, threats and exercises in or near North East Asia and the Pacific which could lead to the use of nuclear weapons by intention or miscalculation; recognises that there are no safe hands for nuclear weapons and that any detonation of a nuclear device would be a humanitarian catastrophe with global impacts; acknowledges that further threatening and isolating the North Korean regime risks increasing the causes of conflict rather than encouraging solutions; urges the Government to use all appropriate diplomatic and international legal means to end nuclear threats, including active support for the UN Secretary-General and the EU in their offer to assist with negotiations with North Korea, and encouraging a return to the Six Party Talks involving China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the US; believes the objective of such talks should be to find immediate and longer term diplomatic solutions, including creating a zone free of nuclear weapons in North East Asia, a process to address the underlying causes of regional insecurity and conflict on the Korean Peninsula, and the promotion of peace, development and cooperative co-existence and security for all peoples in the region; and calls on the Government to reject a military solution to the conflict and urgently use its influence to press for all involved to avoid and refrain from further provocative rhetoric or military exercises and tests.’

Lindsey German, STW Coalition convenor, said North Korea’s missile tests demonstrated a readiness to threaten the US and its allies in the region. But attempt to present the conflict as one sided are hypocritical.

Christian CND has joined no war call saying the only solution is through dialogue. The international community has already shown what dialogue can achieve when the UN adopted a nuclear ban treaty.

The UK Scientists for Global Responsibility has produced a handy ‘beginners guide’ to nuclear threats, which explains the basic science.

In the United States, the Answer Coalition has reported anti-war demonstrations during August, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC. Answer sent a Peace Delegation to South Korea on 30 August.

Medea Benjamin of Code Pink, another US anti-war organisation visited South Korea recently to oppose the deployment of THAAD, the US missile system. She told a press conference: ‘The North Korean nuclear program is certainly alarming, as are the myriad human rights violations of that repressive regime. But the question is how best to de-escalate the conflict so that it doesn’t explode into an all-out nuclear war.’

Lewisham and Greenwich CND protesting against the arms fair

On Thursday September 7th 2017, Lewisham and Greenwich CND protested at the DSEI arms fair. The theme of the day's blockade was 'Free Movement for People, not Weapons!'

DSEI is one of the world’s biggest arms fairs. For one week every two years, in East London, arms companies display their weapons to buyers from around the world, including countries in conflict, authoritarian regimes and countries with serious human rights problems.

The UK government helps to organise this arms fair, invites these military buyers from around the world, and helps arms companies to make deals, at taxpayer expense.

Bromley and Beckenham CND at the Arms Fair

On Wednesday 6th September, Bromley and Beckenham CND participated with the #StopDSEI action at the London arms fair Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI).

Wednesday was the day of action against nuclear weapons systems and in support of renewables as a replacement.

"Several lorries were delayed during'lock downs' at the East and West entrances to Excel, and there were some arrests.

This was renewables invest day with several large wind turbines displayed as part of the demo." Ann Garrett of Bromley and Beckenham CND reports.

Korean Peninsula nuclear crisis: WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER

The news that North Korea has tested a hydrogen bomb has thrown the situation on the Korean Peninsula deeper into crisis. London CND condemns this escalation by the DPRK. War is not the answer.

During August, as tensions on the Korean Peninsula mounted, EU leaders continued to call for diplomacy.

A statement, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini in mid-August said ‘the European Union supports diplomatic work with our partners aimed at the de-escalation of the situation and achieving the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula through peaceful, not military, means.’

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also made a strong call for diplomacy. Germany would not ‘automatically’ join the United States in a potential war on North Korea, she said. ‘I do not agree that diplomacy won’t work. I do not agree that all diplomatic means have been exhausted.’

Peace organisations called for de-escalation during August. Peace Action USA and Abolition 2000 each launched a call for talks, as did the Japan Council Against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo). On 3 September, they condemned the DPKR’s hydrogen bomb test with the following statement:

We Condemn North Korea for Its Nuclear Test

September 3, 2017

Yasui Masakazu, Secretary General

Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo)

Today, North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) conducted its 6th nuclear test.  This is a serious challenge to the international community, threatening peace and security of the world and the region.  We firmly condemn this outrageous act, which blatantly tramples upon the aspiration of the people of the A-bombed Japan for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

The cycle of reciprocal provocations and threats by the U.S. and North Korea is heightening the real possibility of military conflict, creating a very dangerous situation.   

We urge North Korean government to immediately end all nuclear tests and missile launches.  At the same time, all parties concerned must stop any provocative acts, including military exercises, and clarify their stances to achieve a peaceful settlement of the problem.

Japanese government’s response as a neighbor of demanding that North Korea should stop nuclear tests and missile launches is not enough.  Japan must support the efforts of resolving the issue through negotiations based on the Constitution of Japan, the U.N. Charter and the resolutions of the Security Council and urge the U.S. and North Korea to hold a dialogue.

Coming September 20, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will be open for signatures, demonstrating that the major trend of the world is moving towards a total ban on nuclear weapons.  The effort to press for this direction is more necessary in this East Asian region than anywhere else.  We reiterate our call on North Korea, Japan and all other parties concerned to clearly shift their directions from the dependence on nuclear deterrence to the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons.