Dear Reaching Critical Will friends and advisors:
As spring definitively arrives in New York City with warm weather and lots of rain, those of us working for the abolition of nuclear weapons are looking forward to the the 2010 Disarmament Commission and related side events, the nuclear weapon free zone conference and civil society forum, the international peace conference, and of course the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. We are also planning actions for Nuclear Abolition Day on 5 June, when activists will promote the call for the elimination of nuclear weapons around the world. We encourage all of you to join us in these efforts—see below for details!
In peace,
Ray Acheson, Project Director
1) Reminder: NPT accreditation deadline is 26 March
Information for participation of NGOs in the 2010 NPT Review Conference is available in an aide memoire published by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs. All of this information and much more is available on the Reaching Critical Will 2010 NPT Review Conference website.
Accreditation process
All NGO representatives with or without valid United Nations ground passes are requested to submit a written application for attendance that must include the following:
A letter written on organizational letterhead signed by the head of the organization requesting attendance at the Conference. This letter should include the composition of the delegation and an overview of past interactions, if any, between the organization and the United Nations, particularly in relation to disarmament and non-proliferation. Such interaction may also include affiliation with the Department of Public Information (DPI), or consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The letter should indicate whether it is the first time that the NGO requests accreditation to participate in a meeting at the United Nations.
A mission statement or summary of work that includes information on the organization's purpose, programmes, and activities related to the scope of the Review Conference. This information should not exceed two pages in length.
Send by mail, fax, or email to:
Secretariat of the Review Conference
Attn: Ms. Soo-Hyun Kim
Information and Outreach Branch, Office for Disarmament Affairs
405 East 42nd Street (DN-2511B)
United Nations, New York, NY 10017
USA
Fax: +1 917-367-4520
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Email applications must include an attached PDF format file containing all the relevant documentation, including the signed letter by the head of the organization.
Please bear in mind that, due to enhanced security procedures, the names submitted will not be eligible for later revision. Therefore, it is desirable that organizations submit the composition of their delegation only after careful review.
Please note: The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs is not in a position to provide letters of invitation or letters to consulates requesting that NGO representatives be provided visas for travelling to the United States in order to attend the meetings of the Review Conference. The procurement of visas, travel arrangements, and related costs are strictly the responsibility of the NGO representatives. It is important that NGO representatives make their visa and travel arrangement at the earliest possible time.
2) Disarmament Commission begins its work on 29 March
The UN Disarmament Commission begins its 2010 session on Monday, 29 March in New York. The UNDC’s is a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly, composed of all member states of the United Nations. It is a deliberative body, with the function of considering and making recommendations on various problems in the field of disarmament and of following up on the relevant decisions and recommendations of the special session.
The UNDC meets in three year cycles. 2010 is the second year of its current cycle. For information on the Commission’s 2009 session, please see the RCW website and reports.
Reaching Critical Will will be monitoring and reporting on the UNDC’s 2010 plenary meetings and will post all statements and documents from the Commission online. Please check back often for updates.
3) UNDC side event with Barry Blechman
Reaching Critical Will, along with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, is holding a side event during the Disarmament Commission entitled, Unblocking the road to zero nuclear weapons: a conversation with Dr. Barry Blechman.
Dr. Blechman is the co-founder of the Stimson Center, a non-partison think tank based in Washington, DC, which focuses on issues national and international security. His latest book, The Elements of a Nuclear Disarmament Treaty: Unblocking the Road to Zero (2010), provides a comprehensive analysis of measures required to achieve and sustain a world without nuclear weapons. You can read the introduction to the book online in addition to a recent op-ed
Dr. Blechman wrote for the New York Times.
Date: Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Time: 1:15–2:45 PM
Location: UN Headquarters, Room D, North Lawn Building
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 212.682.1265 (phone) or 212.286.8211 (fax)
You must have a UN grounds pass to attend this event.
4) Nuclear Abolition Day: 5 June 2010
On 5 June—the Saturday after the end of the NPT Review Conference— organizations across the world will hold local events to markNuclear Abolition Day. The purpose of the day is to make global call for negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention to get underway, regardless of the outcome of the Review Conference. Some groups are planning large demonstrations, while others are planning smaller vigils, media stunts and forums.
If you would like to hold an event to mark Nuclear Abolition Day, please contact Tim Wright from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). ICAN will be launching a website at the beginning of April and would like to have as many events listed from the outset as possible. If you don’t know the details yet, that’s fine—simply a commitment to hold an event, along with a contact email address, is all they need for now. Details about the day are in ICAN’s Global Action Agenda.
5) NPT presentations: call for video submissions
The NGO peace and disarmament community will be showing a five minute video at the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference at the United Nations this May, comprised of video clips from people around the world speaking about their desire to live in a world without nuclear weapons. We want you to participate!
Video submissions should answer one of the following questions:
1. Why do you want a nuclear weapon-free world?
2. What worries you about continuing to live in a world that is threatened by the use of nuclear weapons?
You can address your answers to the diplomats who will be watching the video at the Conference, or to the world at large. Select responses will be edited together for the video, which will be shown during the NGO presentation to the Conference on Friday, 7 May 2010. After the Conference, the video will be posted on youtube.com to spread the message that citizens of the world no longer want to live under the threat of nuclear weapons.
To submit your video, please go to http://dropbox.yousendit.com/AliciaGodsberg717785
Videos should be 2GB or less in size, 90 seconds or less in length, and have no background music. Only MPEG-4, DV, or .mov video files can be accepted, so please only submit in these formats. If you do not speak English in your video, please provide a written text in your own language and in English as well in either a .doc (word) or .docx (text) file.
Submissions must be received by 9:00 AM Eastern on Monday, 29 March 2010.
Disclaimer: The designated site administrator reserves the non-exclusive right to publish or broadcast all or part of all submissions to the project.
6) UN Secretary-General sends a letter to parliamentarians on nuclear disarmament
On 24 February 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sent a letter to all parliaments noting the importance of the upcoming Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, highlighting his five-point plan for nuclear disarmament, commending the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament for their efforts in support, and reminding parliamentarians of their key role in helping achieve the objective of nuclear disarmament. (Ban Ki-moon’s letter is available in English, French, German,Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish).
7) So what’s happening in the Conference on Disarmament?
Last year, the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva adopted its first programme of work in ten years. Unfortunately, the CD didn’t manage to agree to logistical items related to the work programme’s implementation before the end of its 2009 session, and had to go back to square one in January. On Tuesday, 9 March, the CD President introduced a draft programme of work for consideration. Member states debated the draft on Thursday, 11 March in an open plenary meeting.
This year, like last year, the delegation of Pakistan is the most vocal opposition to moving forward in the CD on the basis of these programmes of work. In a comprehensive statement on 18 February 2010, the ambassador of Pakistan laid out his delegation’s problems with negotiating a fissile material cut-off treaty that does not include the reduction of existing stocks. Pakistan, and many other states and civil society groups, argue that a treaty that only prohibits future production of fissile material is not a disarmament treaty, because it does not affect the vast amounts of fissile material that already exist in the world today. However, Pakistan’s delegation to the CD has rejected even beginning negotiations on this treaty, arguing that if existing stocks are not listed specifically in the negotiating mandate, there’s no chance a resulting treaty will include them.
While Reaching Critical Will shares the view that a treaty on fissile materials should be both a disarmament and non-proliferation treaty and should include existing stocks, we also recognize that continued stalemate in the CD will not lead to any improvement in international security or progress for disarmament. The CD has not negotiated anything in the last decade. Continued blockage of the programme of work will not help move the world any closer to nuclear disarmament.
The current draft programme is not a perfect document. RCW would be delighted to see negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention take place—the issues of fissile materials in all their aspects would be better dealt with within the framework of a nuclear weapons convention. However, we believe that the creation of structured discussions on nuclear disarmament in a formal working group as described in the current draft, as well as discussions on negative security assurances, prevention of an arms race in outer space, and negotiations on a fissile material treaty, would be a significant improvement to the current stalemate in the CD. Once negotiations have started, there is no reason that delegations have to accept a treaty that does not address existing stocks. The course of negotiations will provide delegations with the opportunity to craft a strong disarmament treaty and will also provide civil society with much better opportunities to engage their governmental representatives to push on specific elements, such as stocks and verification.
To follow what’s going on at the CD, please subscribe to receive Reaching Critical Will’s CD Reports—published after each open plenary meeting of the Conference (about twice a week).
Also, check out Reaching Critical Will’s Guide to the CD 2010 for background information—it’s available in both PDF and HTML.
Consider contacting your government to let them know that you’re watching the activity at the CD and that you care about what’s (not) going on. During Thursday’s meeting, the German ambassador noted that the general public probably “assumes that the sheer fact of sessions taking place year-in-year-out at the Conference on Disarmament surely can only mean that serious disarmament work is going on here” and that “many would be flabbergasted to learn that since the negotiation of the CTBT the CD has basically only been discussing what it should do next and many would be surprised to really understand what complex sets of blockages, linkages and policies of pre-conditions and respective policies of denying requested clarifications were at the heart of this unsatisfactory situation.”
Show your ambassador that you know what’s going on and that you care! Use RCW’s Government Contacts to find contact information about your government’s UN missions in Geneva and in New York.
8) NGO accreditation for the BMS on small arms now open
The UN has invited NGOs to apply for accreditation for the Biennial Meeting of States on Small Arms (BMS), to be held at UN Headquarters in New York, 14–18 June 2010.
The deadline for applications is 5 April 2010.
Applying for accreditation has two purposes:
1) to demonstrate the level of international concern about the small arms problem
2) to request permission to attend the BMS in New York
You must send a letter to the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) applying for accreditation. The International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) has prepared a sample letter to make it easy to apply for accreditation. You can adapt this standard letter with details of your NGO: http://www.iansa.org/un/bms2010/sample-accreditation-request-BMS4.doc
1. The letter should:
Be on your organisation's letterhead
Be 2 pages or less in length.
Be signed by your organisation's director or legal representative
Outline the purpose of your organisation
Outline your programs or activities related to small arms
Include your website address (if applicable)
List the names of the individuals from your organisation seeking accreditation. You may list as many individuals as you like. You will not be able to change the list later.
If your organisation has consultative status with ECOSOC or association with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI), include this information.
State whether your organisation has been accredited to previous UN small arms meetings (the 2008 BMS, 2006 RevCon or PrepCom, the 2005 or 2003 BMS or the 2001 UN Small Arms Conference) OR State whether this is the first time your NGO has applied for accreditation to a UN small arms meeting
Reach the UNODA before 5 April 2008.
2. Once the letter is signed, send it to the UN, by one of these methods:
Attach the signed letter to an email and send to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., with a copy to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You may have to use a scanner to make an electronic copy of your letter which you can then attach to the email.
Fax your letter to +1 917 367 4520
If neither of these methods is possible:
Send the signed original of your letter through the post to Ms. Soo-Hyun Kim, Information & Outreach Branch, Office for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations – Office DN-2511 B, New York, NY 10017, USA. Note: Because time is short, we recommend sending your letter by email or fax instead of by post.
3. If you have any questions, please email Mark Marge, UN Liaison Officer for IANSA, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Note: Your letter MUST contain all the information listed above and must reach the UN by 5 April 2010. It is a good idea to send it earlier, so that we can look at your letter and notify you if any of the requirements have been missed.
4. Please note that receiving accreditation does not mean you will be funded to attend the Biennial Meeting of States. The UN cannot assist with funding or with visas. IANSA will have some funds available, but they will be extremely limited – so it is essential that you look for other funding sources if you want to attend.
For more information on NGO participation at the BMS, please see the UNODA’s Aide Memoire:
http://www.iansa.org/un/bms2010/aide-memoire-for-ngos-BMS4.doc
9) Featured News
Pentagon plans to build a new nuclear-armed cruise missile
The US Air Force plans to spend more than $800 million to build a new nuclear-armed cruise missile for its bomber aircraft, according to little-noticed details buried inside the Obama administration’s fiscal 2011 budget request delivered last month to Capitol Hill. A “Follow-on Long-Range Stand-off Vehicle,” or LRSO for short, would replace 375 aging AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missiles, expected to retire from the fleet by 2030. The Defense Department has estimated the new effort could cost a total $1.3 billion. “The current system is experiencing obsolescence of parts [and] components,” the Air Force stated in one budget document. “Missile components and support equipment are becoming non-supportable.” The service is closely monitoring “critical components”—such as the missile’s fuse, guidance, and electrical power systems—for age-related malfunctions, according to the text. It calls a service life extension of the Air Launched Cruise Missile “essential” to meeting war-plan requirements. Source: Elaine M. Grossman, “Pentagon Eyes More Than $800 Million for New Nuclear Cruise Missile,” Global Security Newswire, 9 March 2010.
US-Russia nuclear reduction treaty talks stall over US missile defence plans
Russian negotiators have reportedly demanded that the replacement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) include an option for immediate withdrawal if Russia determines that US missile defences would “threaten its intercontinental nuclear missile force”. This demand is a result of Obama’s decision to deploy US anti-missile interceptors in Romania as part of a plan to ostensibly “defend Europe against medium-range missile attacks from Iran.” Obama’s decision replaced a Bush administration plan to place a tracking radar in Poland and 20 interceptors in the Czech Republic to shield the US from an Iranian intercontinental ballistic missile strike—missiles that Iran does not possess. The Russians welcomed Obama’s cancellation of the Bush plan, but have raised the same objection to Obama’s plan, contending that the medium-range interceptors that would be deployed in Romania could threaten Russia's long-range nuclear missile force. “Russia has serious questions regarding the true purpose of the U.S. missile defense in Romania,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said in a statement Friday. “That is why we will consistently oppose any dubious unilateral actions in the missile defense field.” Source: Jonathan S. Landay, “U.S.-Russia treaty stalls over Obama missile defense plan,” KansasCity.com, 1 March 2010.
Japan confirms secret nuclear pact with the United States
Japan’s Foreign Ministry released a report on a three-month investigation into secret pacts on nuclear weapons between Japan and the United States. The investigation concluded that three secret pacts existed, including one that allowed US warships carrying nuclear weapons to make port calls in Japan or pass through Japanese territorial waters. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said there was no possibility of the administration led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reconsidering Japan’s three non-nuclear principles of not possessing, manufacturing, or allowing nuclear weapons to be brought into the country. Source: “Okada: Nuclear weapons ban unchanged,” The Asahi Shimbun, 11 March 2010.
European Parliament adopts strong resolution on the NPT
Thanks to Laurens Hogebrink for this information
On 10 March, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that, among other things:calls for "all parties concerned" to advance the goal of nuclear disarmament at the 2010 NPT Review Conference by pursuing "an international Treaty for the progressive elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide;"calls on all parties to "review their military doctrines with a view to renouncing the first-strike option;"calls for the European Council and its member states to propose "an ambitious timetable for a nuclear-free world and concrete initiatives for revitalising the UN Conference on Disarmament and by promoting disarmament initiatives based on the 'Statement of Principles and Objectives' agreed at the end of the 1995 NPT Review Conference and on the '13 Practical Steps' unanimously agreed at the 2000 Review Conference;"points out that the withdrawal of all tactical warheads in Europe could set a precedent for further nuclear disarmament; anddraws attention to the "strategic anachronism of tactical nuclear weapons and the need for Europe to contribute to their reduction and to eliminate them from European soil in the context of a broader dialogue with Russia."
The resolution notes the hypocrisy of nuclear weapons states for endorsing nuclear disarmament verbally but not committing to concrete actions, pointing as an example to when “in 2008 the French and British Governments announced reductions in their operational warheads but decided at the same time to modernise their nuclear arsenals.”The European Parliament also adopted a reporton the Implementation of the European Security Strategy and the Common Security and Defence Policy. In the report, the European Parliament:
52. Welcomes the declarations and stated objectives of the new American administration and its commitment to take nuclear disarmament forward and calls for close EU-US cooperation in promoting nuclear non-proliferation; calls on the two European nuclear powers to express their explicit support for this commitment and to come forward with new measures to achieve it; welcomes, at the same time, the commitment of the Russian Federation and the United States to continue negotiations to conclude a new comprehensive legally binding agreement to replace the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START I), which expired in December 2009; looks forward to tangible results in this regard, at the earliest possible date [emphasis added].
And
53. Takes note of the German coalition agreement of 24 October 2009 on the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Germany in the context of its support for President Obama’s policy for a world free of nuclear weapons, the desirability of intermediate steps in reaching this goal and the necessity of introducing new dynamics in arms control and disarmament at the 2010 NPT Review Conference; encourages other Member States with US nuclear weapons on their soil to make a similar clear commitment; welcomes, in this respect, the letter sent on 26 February 2010 by the Foreign Ministers of Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Norway to the Secretary General of NATO calling for a comprehensive discussion in the Alliance on how it can get closer to the overall political objective of a world without nuclear weapons [emphasis added].
10) Recommended Reading
Hans Kristensen, “Testing the No-New-Nuclear-Weapons Pledge,” FAS Strategic Security Blog, 9 March 2010.
Alice Slater, “NATO Goes Anti-Nuclear? Support for nuclear disarmament has spread to the heart of the Atlantic alliance and beyond,”Foreign Policy in Focus, 9 March 2009.
Pavel Podvig, “What to do about tactical nuclear weapons,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 25 February 2010.
Michael Wallace and Steven Staples, Ridding the Arctic of Nuclear Weapons: A Task Long Overdue, Ottawa: Canadian Pugwash Group and Rideau Institute, March 2010.
Russ Wellen, “What’s It Feel Like to Be Well and Promptly Globally-Struck?,” The Faster Times, 8 March 2010.
Steven Starr, “The climatic consequences of nuclear war,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 12 March 2010.
