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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No. 14/2002 |
Dateline: May 10, 2002 |
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This is the weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail:
WNII is archived at: http://inesglobal.org/archive.htm
INES homepages: http://inesglobal.org http://www.inesglobal.com/
INES International Office
INES Chair: Prof. Armin Tenner [Please note that the first "1" in q18 is the number one, while the last "l" is an "L"]
CONTENTS of WNII No. 14/2002
INES Seminar in Cooperation with Scientists for Global Responsibility (UK): New Security - Global and Regional Priorities, 23-24 May 2002
The events of September 11th and their aftermath have undoubtedly forced further review of questions of the international security priorities and architectures for the 21st century to the top of the international agenda.
Central to this seminar are considerations of, and calls for, strengthening a civilian security politics. The seminar is less concerned with an analysis of the militarization which was strengthened by the events of September 11th than with a comprehensive discussion about civilian alternatives and prospects of security politics which should orientate itself at the following criteria: de-militarization; de-escalation of conflicts; prevention of conflicts; civilisation of politics; disarmament; peace in a sustainable society (sustainable development).
For further information and registration details please contact the INES Office: < >
INES and the new European Anti-Nuclear Platform
INES is one of the 190 organisations from 34 European countries which so far have joined the European Anti-Nuclear Platform. The new network was introduced to the public in Helsinki, Finland, on 2 May. According to a network's press release, the Platform aims co-operate and to make common campaigns
Russia: Anti-Nuclear Walk and Action Camp 2002 http://www.ecoline.ru/antinuclear
Organised by Ecodefense, the Krasnoyarsk branch of the Russian INES member organisation Socio-Ecological Union (SEU), the Anti-nuclear campaign of the Socio-Ecological Union and Greenpeace-Russia, a series of protest actions, including an anti-nuclear walk and an action camp will be carried out, starting June 29, 2002. These activities are specifically in response to the Russian government's decision to import 20,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste (or spent nuclear fuel). It will take place near Krasnoyarsk, a Siberian city with over a million people and home of Russia's largest spent fuel storage site and a plutonium-producing reactor. According to the plans by Russia's Ministry of atomic power (Minatom), Krasnoyarsk is where the imported radioactive waste will be temporarily stored, and likely permanently dumped.
At the beginning of 2002, local citizens and environmental groups attempted to hold a referendum in Krasnoyarsk aimed at banning nuclear waste import on a regional level. They collected nearly 100,000 signatures of Krasnoyarsk residents that called for a region-wide vote on the issue, while only 40,000 are needed according to referendum law. Local authorities refused to accept these signatures. Environmental groups are in the process of taking the local authorities to court in hope of restoring justice. Organizers of the action in Krasnoyarsk support the citizens' struggle for a local referendum, which is the only way the public can make a decision that can not be overruled by any authority, according to the Russian constitution.
For additional information, please contact:
USA: Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), The Sunflower 5th Year Anniversary Edition (No. 60, May 2002) Back issues: http://www.wagingpeace.org/sf/backissues.html Events are listed at: http://www.wagingpeace.org/calendar/events_current.html
The May 2002 issue of The Sunflower is its 5th Year Anniversary Edition and covers the following:
To read "The Sunflower", please send an email to Carah Lynn Ong, Director of Research and Publications: < >
or goto: http://www.wagingpeace.org/sf/index.html (The newsletter is also available in pdf format online)
David Krieger: The President Has Gone Too Far
This most recent article by Dr David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and vice-chair of INES, is available either directly from the author: < > or from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
SPECIAL SECTION ON THE US MISSILE DEFENSE POLICY
"Missile Defence, Deterrence and Arms Control: Contradictory Aims or Compatible Goals?" [UNIDIR/2002/4]
This is the title of a brochure with the proceedings of a meeting of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and Wilton Park, UK, held at the end of February last year, in which 46 governmental and non-governmental experts from 17 countries, participated, including officials from international organizations.
The meeting was structured into eight sessions looking at political, technical, national and regional perspectives on missile defences. Specific attention was paid to the implications of the latter for arms control and international security.
The brochure published now contains the following main sections:
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
India Gives Thumbs Up To Nuclear Strategic Force (Source: Agence France Press, 2 May 2002)
The Indian government has given the military the green light to put in place a strategic force to take command of the country's nuclear arsenal. "The command-and-control will encompass the core element of aerospace power, items of strategic missiles, ballistic systems and space-based communication and reconnaissance systems," defence ministry spokesman P.K. Bandhopadhaya said. According to the official, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's cabinet had endorsed the setting up of an unified strategic force a year ago and a special ministerial group in March endorsed the decision.
NPT Report by Senator Douglas Roche
"The NPT: Crisis and Challenge" is the title of a review and analysis of the recently held NPT PrepCom Meeting by Canadian Senator Douglas Roche. It is available on the Global Security Institute's web-base News Archive in 4 parts: http://www.gsinstitute.org/archives/index.shtml
2002 WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT NEWS
EU on the Johannesburg Programme of Action
On behalf of the European Union, the Spanish Presidency of the EU has presented a position paper on "Elements for the Johannesburg Programme of Action". The paper is available from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
Disarmament Education (from Women's International League for Peace and Freedom)
In 2000 the United Nations General Assembly established a 10 member Governmental Expert Panel on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education. This GA resolution requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session on this question.
This panel has met three times so far: April 2001 in New York, August 2001 in Monterey, and March 11-15 2002 in Geneva. In addition to the governmental experts, several non-governmental organizations and individuals have contributed to these meetings.
For a selection of documents from these three meetings, and for further reading suggestions, please see the updated section of the Reaching Critical Will website on Disarmament Education: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/dised/disedindex.html
"Disarmament as Humanitarian Action" http://www.unog.ch/unidir
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), UNIDIR, jointly with the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, has published this brochure [UNIDIR/2001/23]. It carries the following articles:
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS
World Civil Society Forum http://www.worldcivilsociety.org
The World Civil Society Forum aims at strengthening international cooperation among civil society organizations (NGOs, indigenous peoples, research centres), as well as with the whole United Nations system, including specialized agencies and other international organizations. Objectives:
For registration and more details, mailto:
Summer Course on Sustainable Development http://www.fd.uc.pt/hrc/des_sus/index.htm
For more details, contact Anabela Moreira: < >
No new or changed email or web addresses in this issue. All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:
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