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 < >

NIGERIA: Centre for Conflict Resolution and Peace Advocacy (CCRPA) ^

 Concerning the Russian journalist Grigory Pasko, the CCRPA, on 12 October, has sent a Letter of Protest to the Military Court of Vladivostok criticizing the FSB's (the successor of the KGB) continued detention of Grigory Pasko and demanding his immediate release.  Pasko, an environmental journalist and naval officer who publicly accused the Russian navy of spilling nuclear waste into the Sea of Japan, has been accused of spying for Japan. He was arrested last year on return from a trip to Japan and charged with selling state secrets abroad. Previously, the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, in a letter to President Boris Yeltsin said it was "greatly troubled" by the case. "The case launched against Pasko, who gathered unclassified documents for use in his journalistic investigations for Russian and foreign news media, clearly violates his right 'to seek and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers', as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," the letter said.

 For details, !!! mailto < >

!!! Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/

Two UN First Committee decisions in favour of nuclear disarmament

http://www.gn.apc.org/acronym 

On 10 and 13 November, the UN First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), with overwhelming majorities, adopted two major resolutions concerning future steps towards nuclear disarmament. The decisions taken mean that both resolutions are now being tabled for voting by the Plenary of this year's UN General Assembly in December. 

• Resolution A/C.1/53/L.45 "Follow-up to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons" 

Passed by 100 YES, 25 NO, 23 ABSTAINING, while 37 nations did not participate, a clear majority of the NATO countries voted against with only the Czech Republic and the Netherlands voting in favour. Also, three nuclear weapon states (China, India, Pakistan) were in favour of this resolution while the other five voted against. Most of the Yes-votes came from non-aligned countries.

• Resolution A/C.1/53/L.48 "Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: the need for a new agenda" 

Based on the 8-Nations Initiative from June this year, this resolution passed by 97 YES, 19 NO, and 32 ABSTAINING. Notably, 12 NATO countries abstained after negotiations by the Germans and the Canadians - which is in fact a very unique split in NATO diplomacy. However, the US was successful in pressing the Slovenians to withdraw their co-sponsorship from the 8-Nations Initiative. Also, all the new East European NATO members plus the NATO wannabes voted against the resolution. Only one nuclear weapon state - China - did not vote against, but abstained. 

For more, see the reports and assessments by Rebecca Johnson from the UK-based Acronym Institute on the homepage indicated above.

Nuclear Subs Provide Electricity in Siberia

http://www.russiatoday.com/rtoday/news/98111219.html

According to Agence France Presse (12 Nov 98), three Russian nuclear submarines stationed in Siberia's extreme east, on Wednesday, 11 Nov, began providing electricity to a nearby town, an expert said. The electricity arrives via cable in the town of Viliuchinsk, specialist in the field Elena Nazarova told AFP. 

The idea of the war machines providing peacetime electricity has been discussed for many years, but this is the first example of the idea in action.

New publications

• Future role of NATO nuclear weapons in Europe

http://www.basicint.org 

Member organisations of the ''Project on European Nuclear Non-Proliferation'' (PENN) are about to publish a major research report entitled ''Nuclear Futures: Western European Options for Risk Reductions." The report is a compendium of the most recent and detailed facts on what is known about British, French and US nuclear weapons and postures in Europe. It contains information on current nuclear doctrines and reflects the ongoing debate about whether nuclear doctrine and strategy should be revised. Finally, the report looks into a wide range of nuclear arms control and disarmament initiatives that could be taken by both the nuclear and non-nuclear members of NATO. [The report should be accessible through the homepage indicated above.]

• Research report on South-Asian nuclear tests and arms control 

The ''Berlin Information Centre on Transatlantic Security'' ((BITS) has recently published the draft of a research report discussing the consequences of India and Pakistan nuclear testing for nuclear arms control and nonproliferation. The study is based on more than 30 interviews with national delegations to the UN Conference on Disarmament. 

The final version of the report is said to be published before the end of 1998. The draft is available from BITS Geneva office at: < >

Interested in problems of water management? ^

Interested in learning about or working on problems of water management? The Greek-based ''European Union Environment and Quality Life Journalists'' (EUEJ) would like to cooperate with your organization in promoting your activities (e.g. plans, work, conferences, seminars, programs, implementation, environmental protection, telematics, improving quality of life, publications, legislation, events, policies, calls and tenders, etc.) This promotion includes inviting local governments, industries, and organizations to comment and participate in selected activities.

For more, !!! mailto < >

NGOs and the United Nations ^

You may be interested in the following document: 

"Relationships between international non-governmental organizations and the United Nations: A Research and Policy Paper" (by Andrew Rice & Cyril Ritchie)

 This paper first appeared in ''Transnational Associations'', 47, 5, 1995, pp. 254-265. It is available at: http://www.uia.org/uiadocs/unngos.htm 

More related information (documents, FAQs, links etc) on international organization issues are available from the website of the Union of International Associations (UAI): http://www.uia.org/

!!! NOTE: Events listed here are being published only once due to limited space. Changes, however, will be taken into account (marked with ''UPDATE'')

Course on Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means

http://www.ceu.hu

• Date: 26 July - 6 August 1999
• Venue: Budapest, Hungary
• Organized by the Central European University

 For more details, !!! mailto < >

A full list of all INES e-mail addresses and homepages is available upon request.
!!! mailto < >

No new or changed email or web addresses.

================ end of No. 23/1998 what's new in ines ================ ^