UN Working Group Urged to Assist in Banning Nukes

Analysis by Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – The powerful message of a joint statement by diverse faith groups, calling for abolition of nuclear weapons, has been strongly backed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s reaction to President Barack Obama’s decision to visit Hiroshima on May 27.

Obama would be the first sitting U.S. President to visit the Japanese city during the G-7 economic summit that was annihilated by the first ever atomic bomb, dropped by the United States on August 6, 1945. It was followed by the second bomb that devastated Nagasaki three days later, killing a total of more than 200,000 people.

Ban “very much welcomes” Obama’s decision to visit Hiroshima, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “For the secretary-general, one of the enduring lessons of Hiroshima is the need to abolish nuclear weapons once and for all,” he added. [P05]  JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | NORWEGIAN

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Obama Should Meet A-Bomb Survivors, and Ban the Bomb

Viewpoint by Kevin Martin*

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – President Barack Obama plans to be the first sitting U.S. President to visit Hiroshima during the G-7 economic summit May 26-27 in Japan. Hiroshima is an impressively rebuilt, thriving city of a million people. The city was obliterated by the first atomic bomb, dropped by the United States on August 6, 1945, followed by the second bomb that devastated Nagasaki three days later, killing a total of more than 200,000 people.

Obama Should Meet A-Bomb Survivors, and Ban the BombRead More »

Obama Must Say a Profound Sorry for Hiroshima

 Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – We were standing in Hiroshima looking at a stone wall. All there was to see was a shadow of a man. It had been etched into the wall at the moment of his obliteration by the blinding light of the first atomic bomb.

Olof Palme, prime minister of Sweden, stared hard at it. An hour later he gave a speech as head of the Independent Commission on Disarmament of which I was a member. “My fear”, he remarked, “is that mankind itself will end up as nothing more than a shadow on a wall.”

Obama Must Say a Profound Sorry for HiroshimaRead More »

Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World Intensifies

Analysis by Ravi Kanth Devarakonda

GENEVA (IDN) – As the global community grapples with the increasing threat of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, the nuclear weapon states – the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain, Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea – have turned a deaf ear to the ongoing multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations in Geneva for preparing recommendations to ensure a world without the dreadful nuclear warheads.

In order to intensify efforts to achieve a treaty banning nuclear weapons, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) brought together in Geneva some 130 campaigners, including faith organizations. The meeting was held ahead of the second session of the United Nations Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) for nuclear disarmament from May 2-13. The first session was held in Geneva from February 22-26. [P04] JAPANESE TEXT PDF | NORWEGIAN |

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UN Chief Calls CTBTO 20 Anniversary ‘a Call to Action’

Addressing a CTBTO Panel in Vienna, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on April 27: “When I was serving as the representative of the Republic of Korea I had the honour of presiding as Chairman of CTBTO. While assuming my chairmanship, I made small talk, saying: “My name is Ban Ki-moon; it is pronounced Ban, it is spelled B-a-n. While I will encourage constructive dialogue, I will ban using my name [for] nuclear tests”. Since then, my nickname has been “Mr. Nuclear-Test-Ban”. So, I will still carry that name, so I will try to ban any nuclear test. So, we ask [for] your strong commitment on this.”

UN Chief Calls CTBTO 20 Anniversary ‘a Call to Action’Read More »

Monthly Newsletter – Archive

Beyond Nuclear Non-Proliferation
A Monthly Newsletter for Strengthening
Awareness of Nuclear Abolition

April 2015-March 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
Juni 2015
May 2015
April 2015

April 2014-March 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014

April 2013-March 2014
March 2014
January-February 2014
November + December 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013

April 2012-March 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012

April 2011-March 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011

April 2010-March 2011
Number 12
Number 11
Number 10
Number 09
Number 08
Number 07
Number 06
Number 05
Number 04
Number 03
Number 02
Number 01

April 2009-March 2010
Number 01 | Number 02
Number 03 | Number 04
Number 05 | Number 06
Number 07 | Number 08
Number 09 | Number 10
Number 11 | Number 12

Kazakhstan’s Passionate Bid for UN Security Council Seat

Analysis by J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the UN Security Council inches closer to the election of five non-permanent members on June 28, participants of the Istanbul Summit have urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries to support Kazakhstan’s bid for 2017-2018 membership.

Five new non-permanent members are scheduled to be elected for a two-year term, beginning January 2017: one for Africa; one for the Asia-Pacific Group; one for Latin America and the Caribbean; and two for the ‘Western European and Others Group’ (WEOG).

Kazakhstan’s Passionate Bid for UN Security Council SeatRead More »

Hiroshima Declaration Avoids Firm Commitment to Nuclear-Free World

Analysis by Rodney Reynolds

HIROSHIMA (IDN) – When the Foreign Ministers of G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and the United States – adopted the ‘Hiroshima Declaration’ at the end of a two-day meeting on April 11, they failed to make any concrete commitments for the total elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide. [P03] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

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UN and Hiroshima Citizens Insist on a World without Nuclear Weapons

Analysis by Ramesh Jaura

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Before the UN Disarmament Commission started the second week of its session at the United Nations headquarters in New York, a joint statement issued in Hiroshima by the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition and the Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA) declared: “The prospect for a nuclear-free world is not bright.” [P02] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN TEXT VERSION PDF

UN and Hiroshima Citizens Insist on a World without Nuclear WeaponsRead More »

Fresh Impetus for Banning the Bomb and Nuke Tests

Analysis by Ramesh Jaura

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Concerted efforts for entry into force of the treaty banning all nuclear tests and ushering in a world free of nuclear weapons are gathering momentum at the United Nations and other international fora.

Within days of Japan and Kazakhstan issuing a joint statement on “achieving the early entry into force” of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban-Treaty (CTBT), the Las Vergas Review-Journal reported that the U.S. is “inching closer to the day when full-scale nuclear weapons tests are banned forever”.

Fresh Impetus for Banning the Bomb and Nuke TestsRead More »

More Articles...

• 1. The Challenge of Nuclear Submarine Proliferation
• 2. Mayors for Peace Say the Danger of Nuclear War Is Real and Growing
• 3. Middle East Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone, Long Elusive, is Making Progress, say Experts
• 4. Die Eliminierung von Interkontinentalraketen würde die Chancen eines globalen nuklearen Holocaust erheblich verringern
• 5. Elimination of ICBMs Would Greatly Reduce the Chances of a Global Nuclear Holocaust