| WHAT'S NEW IN INES? | ||
| No. 14/1999 | Dateline: 4 April 1999 |
WNII is an electronic information service of INES,
the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail: < >
INES homepage: http://www.mindspring.com/~us016262/ines.html
INES International Office < >
INES Chair Prof. Armin Tenner < >
INES CONGRESS 2000
''Challenges for Science and Engineering in the 21st Century''
Stockholm, 14-18 June 2000
Congress-related queries: mailto < >
CONTENTS
INES MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
Do not forget to inform us about changes of your email address or your homepage!
Letter from INES member Branka Jovanovic (Belgrade) to Armin Tenner, INES Chair^
Dear Armin, I would ask you to send my plea to all the members of INES, the Honorary Committee of the Hague Appeal for Peace 1999 and its International Organizing Committee, the Coordinating Committee, the Participating organizations and the International Advisory Committee. I do not have to explain to you the urgency of this message. My regards to you and Bertje, Branka (30 March 1999)
Dear friends, This is the first time that I am not addressing you just as a member of INES, but also as an anti-nuclear movements activist and a signatory of all the significant appeals of these movements, as a co-establisher of the Greens branch in Nurnberg, as a president of the Committee of NZS in Belgrade and the honorary president of the Ecological Party in Tirana, as a member of The Movement for Peace of the Muslims and Serbs, the participant of the "German-Serbian-Muslim-Croat Dialogue in Munich", the co-organizer of the first Caravan of Peace of the Greens in Kosovo and in the end, as a mother of a child born in a mixed marriage. I am doing this only because I want to point out the depth of my wish and need for co-operation, agreement among peoples of different nations and faiths and the mutual planning of their future.
There is no time to begin this appeal with a discussion on the causes and mechanisms of the outbreak of this crisis, about the unknowing diplomatic interventions, about the lack of will for peace both in my country and your countries, which brought about the destruction of a significant multi-ethnic country in Europe, the former Yugoslavia. I will only shortly note that the clash in Kosovo and Metohija is just a phase of this dishonouring work, in which no one wishes to begin responsible talks; only that would show transparency in the mechanism of the clashes aggravation and make the conditions for its de-aggravation and responsible dialogue.
I directly urge you to do everything to stop the NATO intervention against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, because it will not bring peace and because now it has already brought about the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo - not only aimed at Albanians, but at Serbs as well. At the end of all aggressions, there is peace. I am afraid that NATO diplomacy is making prerequisite for long-lasting hatred and lack of confidence which will disable all future discussion between the Serbs, Albanians and other national communities about the political solutions in the limits of existing European documents.
I wish to point out a special side-effect of the bombing of which little has been said: the actions of NATO Pact are so wide, that in the first phase they can already be characterised as absolute war which means the destruction preconceptions - cultural, spiritual and natural lives of millions of people of all nations in our country.
The toxic nature of the 19,200 tons of explosives (equal to the amount used in the Nagasaki bombing) used is well known to you - we warn you that Serbia is one of the greatest sources of underground waters in Europe and that the contamination will be felt in the whole surrounding area all the way to the Black Sea. NATO Pact is bombing factories, the workers in the greater part of our great industrial complexes have decided to make a "living wall" around their working places, they are not doing this because they are only defending their country, but also because they have become so impoverished by the years of sanctions, that the destruction of factories would mean the condemnation to the unequalled poverty equal to execution. Such poverty will soon cause the long lasting crisis in this area, and will become the center of potential terrorism.
NATO chooses the targets in the vicinity of the extremely dangerous machinery. On the very first day, the municipality of Grocka has been hit - on the territory of which the nuclear reactor Vinca is situated, containing a great storage of nuclear waste; the municipality of Pancevo has been hit, on which the petrol-chemical factory and the factory for the artificial fertilizers are situated; the municipality of Baric has also been hit with the great complex for the production of chloride, which is using Bopal technology. It is not necessary for me to explain what the blowing up of one of such factories would represent. Not only Belgrade which is situated at a 10 km distance, would be endangered, but the rest of Europe too. On the second day, in the Belgrade suburb of Sremcica a factory for the chemical production and a rocket fuel storage was hit causing a milder intoxication of the surrounding area.
I am pointing out that four national parks were hit - all members of the International association of the national reservations - you have to realise that FR Yugoslavia is among 13 of the worlds richest bio-diversity countries. On the third day, the Avala area was aimed at, where the psychiatric division of the neuro-psychiatric clinic of Belgrade is situated. The Yugoslav Cinematheque was also put in danger - one of the richest film archives in the world, listed among the world cultural heritage . The village of Gracanica was also shelled: there is situated one of the most important monasteries of the medieval orthodox culture and the candidate for the UNESCO heritage list. Numerous civil targets in other cities were hit - schools, hospitals, the sites considered as the cultural monuments&
Especially worrying are the latest news saying that, in the next phases of their bombing, NATO will use the airplanes B1 and A10 which are carrying missiles with depleted uranium previously used in Iraq and Bosnia Herzegovina. The use of these will bring about the vast dangerous consequences to the health not only of the soldiers, but also of the whole population, and you know that the toxins and the radioactivity know no nationality or borders.
Of course it is not necessary for me to point out the shocks that children and old people unable to hide in shelters are experiencing, the worsening of the situation in the hospitals& If the aim of this intervention was the prevention of the humanitarian catastrophe, its result will be a far greater humanitarian catastrophe with far more severe consequences to the generations of people living in this country.
I am deeply convinced that I am speaking in the name of all the citizens of Yugoslavia when I say that we have the capabilities and the political will to find a solution for the Kosovo and Metohija problem, if we are allowed to seek this solution together with the Albanians, and if we take into consideration the fact that all of us have the right to participate in this solution. All one-sidedness and media manipulation are a part of the mechanism bringing suffering, destruction and death.
Branka Jovanovic
Letter from JoAnn M. Valenti, Ph.D., Harder McClellan Professor (USA) Re: Last WNII issue
Thank you for sharing views from around the world. In the U.S. we are being bombarded with the usual jargon-filled propaganda: protect from genocide, save people from ethnic cleansing, Serb leaders demonized, support our brave young men and women who volunteer to protect democracy, etc. etc. It's always interesting that references to weapons of mass destruction omit the fact that the U.S. is the very one using such weapons. The cynical view is that the boys (military) just want to use their toys...their very very expensive toys. It's all very discouraging and indeed, outrageous.
JoAnn M. Valenti, Ph.D.,mailto:
Russia: Statement of the Socio-Ecological Union International on the Balkan Conflict
Dear ALL! Today the world is on the edge of the most terrible and destructive World War Three. There shall not be exception and safe hideouts, no winners - we shall all equally loose, suffer and die. Nor we, nor our children and grandchildren need this war - this war is not ours. So please, don't wait - act today! For many of you the Easter holidays are coming, but THE WAR knows no holidays or weekends, it shall not wait. We may have not days, but hours left to prevent the disaster.
Send letters of protest to every decision-maker you are capable to reach and be firm expressing your protest against the war. Only together, reaching over the borders and nations, we may meet this last challenge of the millenium and SAVE THE WORLD!
Statement of the Socio - ecological Union International on the Balkan Conflict
The Socio - ecological Union states its firm protest to the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia. The Socio-ecological Union states that solution of political problems of any kind by military means is totally unacceptable and calls on ALL COUNTRIES involved to stop the warfare.
The Socio - ecological Union grieves deeply for ALL victims of the war in Yugoslavia. Giving no excuses for Yugoslavian Government policy, the Socio - ecological Union states that there are no goals for which lives of innocent civilian people and international justice principles are to be sacrificed.
Breaking the basic settings of the United Nations Charter the NATO countries' heads thus violated rights of all people on Earth. Warfare in Yugoslavia poses threat of global socio - economical and environmental disaster and must be stopped immediately and unconditionally, and ALL its initiators to be held liable in International Court for international law violation.
On January 5, 1995, more than four years back, Socio - ecological Union came up with protest on Russian Government military action in Chechnya. We stated then that "military affair of Russian Government in Chechnya leads to social and environmental disaster coming beyond the Russian State borders," but our voice and many other voices remained unheard. Hundred thousand of victims and bankruptcy of Russian State are only few of horrible Chechen war outcomes. The war in Yugoslavia may have much more tragic results for EVERYONE in the world.
Today we address ALL people on Earth repeating what we have already said to Russian citizens: "DO NOT REMAIN SILENT! FIND WAY AND TIME TO SAY "NO" TO THE WAR". Use the sorrowful lessons of Russia to prevent the global disaster. This is our last chance.
On behalf of Socio-Ecological Union, co-chairmen of Council: Ilya Belov, Alexandre Fedorov, Vadim Kalinin, Askhat Kayumov, Alexey Yablokov, Sviatoslav Zabelin, Andrey Zatoka
Letters to the German government coalition by INES member Dr. F. Greulich
Dr. Friedemann Greulich, a German scientist living and working in Japan, has written Open Letters to the German government, and the leadership of the coalition parties. The letters are available only in German. His particular aim is to " to put pressure on the German Green Party, the junior partner in the ruling government coalition. They are really interested in peace, since the party is on the brink of breaking up due to a large pacifist basis. They should rather push very creatively for a honest peace-solution or even throw Germany into a government crisis than loosing their face completely and risking the peril of the party at all."
Included in his letters are a number of (English) articles worth reading.
Dr. Friedemann Greulich mailto:
homepage: http://www.agr.hokudai.ac.jp/bioorg/friede/friede.htm
private: http://www.voicenet.co.jp/~friede/fg.htm
Statement by the German Scientists' Initiative Responsibility for Peace and Sustainability
This German INES member organisation has put its statement (in German language) on the following website:
http://fuj.physik.uni-dortmund.de/NaWi/Presse_Kosovo.html
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org
For the latest nuclear weapons abolition grassroots news, visit: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
Re: Middle Powers Initiative
The 10 March 1999 testimony of Thomas Graham, Ambassador and President of Lawyers Alliance for World Security; Robert McNamara, Former U.S. Defence Secretary; Gen Lee Butler, Former Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Strategic Command; Dr. Thomas Graham, Director of International Security Programs, Rockefeller Foundation; Doug Roche, Q.C., Senator and Chairman of the Middle Powers Initiative to a joint session of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs is now on-line.
English version: http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfoComDoc/36/1/FAIT/Meetings/Evidence/faitev97-e.htm
French version: http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfoComDoc/36/1/FAIT/Meetings/Evidence/faitev97-f.htm
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- South Africa became the 31st signatory of the nuclear test ban treaty Tuesday, six years after officially disbanding its nuclear weapons program. (...)
In 1993, then-President F.W. de Klerk confirmed that South Africa's military-industrial complex had found a way to circumvent anti-apartheid sanctions and develop a nuclear capability. But de Klerk said all the weapons had been destroyed as the Cold War ended. South Africa has since become a leading proponent of the test ban treaty.
NATO No First Use Package
http://www.gn.apc.org/wcp
Dear Abolitionists,
"NATO and the First Use of Nuclear Weapons" is a new package from Abolition 2000 UK for NATO's Washington Summit. Please let Francis Connelly ( mailto: ) know if your would like to be sent a hard copy. You can access the package on our web site. (see above.)
George Farebrother, Secretary, World Court Project UK
U.K. Defense Secretary Describes Role of Nuclear Weapons
http://www.nautilus.org/nnnnet/news/032699nicola.txt
March 16, 1999 - Some of the nuclear warheads on Britain's strategic submarines serve non-strategic roles, British Defense Secretary George Robertson stated in Parliament. Robertson said, "This is necessary to allow for a more limited use of nuclear weapons to signal to an aggressor that he has miscalculated our resolve, without using the full destructive power that a Trident submarine offers."
[For the story in full, see website indicated above]
Russia To Conduct Subcritical Nuclear Tests This Year
Russia is planning to conduct multiple subcritical nuclear tests again this year, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Nuclear Energy Ministry official as saying. Deputy Nuclear Energy Minister Viktor Mikhailov said the main purpose of the tests is to check the safety and reliability of Russia's nuclear weapons, the agency reported.
The tests will be carried out at a site on the Novaya Zemlya islands in the Arctic Ocean. But the report did not give a specific date for the tests or say how many would be conducted. Russia maintains such tests do not violate the Comprehensive (nuclear) Test Ban Treaty as they do not involve nuclear explosions. The country conducted five subcritical nuclear tests between Sept. 14 and Dec. 13 of last year. The U.S. has conducted six tests since July 1997.
A Russian government publication reported that the ministry is planning five tests this year.
New email list about y2k problems and nuclear safety: Y2K-Nukes
You can join by filling out a subscription form at http://www.enviroweb.org/nukenet or you can send a message to mailto: with this phrase in the body of the message: subscribe y2k-nukes Your Name [Please put your real name where it says "Your Name"]
Mike Ewall NukeNet list administrator
India 'may have to test again' (Web reference)
See the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) website at: http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/inforesource/pressreview/dpr99053.htm
Please find below an update on what has been posted since March.
THE 2000 DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
The guide and reporting format for the 2000 Dubai International Awards for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment are now available in Arabic, English, French and Spanish.
WHAT'S NEW
New Associate Partner: DelNet Programme of the ILO Job Posting for Conference & Project Manager - ICLEI WorldWater Day: Press release (UNCHS) Call for nominations: World Habitat Awards 1999 (UNCHS) No Eviction for Shanty Dwellers: Press release (ENDA)
Welcome to http://www.urbanobservatory.org (GUO) Joint Approaches - Right to Housing: Press release (UNCHS)
CASEBOOKS & CASE STUDIES http://www.sustainabledevelopment.org/blp/casebooks/intro.html - Casebook 3: Building the City with the People (HIC) [*]
CALENDAR-SCHEDULE
LEARNING TOOLS
Redefining progress in the USA: Community Indicators Projects
REFERENCE
Monitoring Report: Hit Analysis of the Best Practices Database
[*] Note: First time users of PDF files (Portable Document Format) need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader before opening this file at: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html
Nicholas You, Coordinator, Best Practices & Local Leadership Programme, UNCHS (Habitat) mailto:
The name of the mailinglist is yugoslavia-discuss
If you would like to join the list, do one of the following things:
-- EITHER: email to Ed Genochio (St John's College, Cambridge, UK): <> asking to be subscribed to the yugoslavia-discuss list.
** OR: go to http://www.coollist.com/ and at the bottom of that page, where it says
Subscribe to a Coollist mailing list: enter < yugoslavia-discuss > in the "List Name" box and enter your email address in the "Your Email" box then click on "subscribe".
A confirmation email will be sent out immediately to you. Once the list becomes operational, mail sent to will be directed to all list members.
Archive: http://members.tripod.co.uk/STOPNATO/earch.htm
BASIC's updated website
Dear colleagues, BASIC (the British American Security Information Council) has just improved its new website on the upcoming NATO summit and NPT PrepCom. It includes news and analysis on a variety of issues in nuclear policy, non-proliferation, and disarmament. The site will be continuous updated up to and though both events.
Please visit it at: http://www.basicint.org Comments, questions, and criticisms are welcome.
Yours,
Stephen Young, Senior Analyst, BASIC
!!! NOTE: Events listed here are being published only once due to limited space. Changes, however, will be taken into account (marked with ''UPDATE'')
World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen BombsFor more details, mailto:
International Conference on Sustainable Management of Coastal Ecosystems
The objectives of the conference are to:
For more details, mailto:
or register at: http://www.ufp.pt/units/geonucleo/coastal-ecosystems/
end of No. 14/1999 what's new in ines