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WHAT'S NEW IN INES? |
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No. 29/2002 |
Dateline: October 27, 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. 29/2002
THE US POLICY ON IRAQ
(SPECIAL SECTION)
Nobel laureates say "No" to war with Iraq (Source: International Peace Bureau, including AFP clipping of 21 Oct 02)
At the 3rd World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates which was held at Rome October 19-20, 2002, a resounding "No" to war with Iraq delivered, according to AFP. They also gave their full backing to the need for UN-brokered diplomacy to avoid a conflict.
In a joint statement, participants including former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev (a winner in 1990) and former Polish president Lech Walesa (1983) said recourse to arms as a way of settling problems between states was unacceptable. "I believe that now we can be more optimistic regarding Iraq," Gorbachev told reporters before leaving for Moscow. "The United States has in fact accepted a plan for a double resolution, which will allow UN inspectors to verify the destruction of weapons of mass destruction and therefore to present their report to the Security Council."
Other prize winners attending included Britain's Joseph Rotblat (1995), Betty Williams (1976) of Northern Ireland, Adolfo Perez Esquivel (1980) of Argentina and Guatemala's Rigoberta Menchu (1992).
"The real problem today is not that Iraq possesses nuclear weapons, but that Bush's America does not exclude the possibility of using them first -- even as a response to a conventional weapons attack," said Rotblat, a scientist who was awarded the Nobel for his anti- nuclear work.
Other main points of the conference's declaration covered the importance of disarmament work; the war on terrorism and its potential risk of curtailing civil rights; and the search for peace in the Middle East.
The document will be sent to world leaders including US President George W. Bush, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Thanks to Colin Archer, Secretary-General of the International Peace Bureau (Nobel Peace Laureate of 1910), the Summit Report "Battle for the Planet" by Senator Douglas Roche, O.C. is available from the WNII Editor as an rtf-formatted email attachment.
SPECIAL SECTION ON US MISSILE DEFENCE POLICY
Report "Beyond Missile Defense"
The Abolition 2000 Missile Ban Working Group has released this report which was written by Andrew Lichterman, Western States Legal Foundation, Oakland, USA, Zia Mian, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University, USA, M.V. Ramana, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University, USA, and Jürgen Scheffran, INESAP, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany.
Jayantha Dhanapala, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament, contributed the preface to the paper, in which he says, “…the study presents strong arguments for moving beyond existing policy and research paradigms towards an alternative approach that seeks to advance the global missile agenda into the new, fertile ground of disarmament.” He adds that the study “…break[s] new ground and will succeed in stimulating what is arguably most needed in the early stages of building new global norms sustained thought and informed discourse.”
The Beyond Missile Defense report can be viewed online at: http://www.abolition2000.org/missileban
Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/
"The Majority Opinion: Toward a Nuclear-Free World, An Annual Assessment"
This is the title of a report released by the Atomic Mirror. It is part of the continuing series of annual assessments that began in 1996 with the Abolition 2000 Report Cards. The report is available from the WNII Editor as an PDF-formatted email attachment.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Eighth Conference of the Parties (COP-8) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
>From 23 October to 1 November, COP-8 and the Seventeenth Sessions of the COP's Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) are taking place in New Delhi, India. Around 3,000 participants are expected to attend. This is the first COP since November 2001, when delegates completed three years of negotiations on the operational details of the Kyoto Protocol and agreed the Marrakesh Accords.
A daily updated conference coverage can be found at: http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/climate/cop8/
NOTE that from the members of the INES Executive Committee, at least Prof. Ogunlade Davidson is participating in the conference (but I can't tell in which capacity; TD).
News from the UN First Committee (Source: Alyn Ware, New Agenda Coalition)
Many States saw this as directed against the US for withdrawing from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, deciding not to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and blocking progress on the Biological Weapons Convention verification protocol, and also for threatening to employ force in the current situation regarding Iraq. However, it could equally apply to other states which have not signed the CTBT, NPT, Landmines Convention or other treaties. You can find the text of the resolution at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/1com/1com02/res/AC157L10.html
"Trust & Verify" No. 104/September-October 2002
The latest issue of "Trust & Verify," published by the London-based "Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC)," carries the following:
CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS
Fifth International Conference on Peace and Nonviolent Action
Main theme: Seeking the True Meaning of a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World; For more details, visit: http://www.anuvibha.org
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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