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PRESS RELEASE
NOBEL PRIZEWINNERS, PARLIAMENTARIANS, & NGOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
SAY 'TAKE NUCLEAR WEAPONS OFF ALERT' AS NPT REVIEW CONFERENCE APPROACHES
5 April 2005: For immediate release
Press invitation to UK launch, Room W1 in the House of Commons at 12 noon
In a statement released today, 32 Nobel prizewinners, and 237 non-governmental
organisations and parliamentarians from around the world have urged that
strategic nuclear weapons systems be 'stood down' from Launch on Warning
status, in order to lessen the risk of accidental nuclear war. The statement
is being launched across the globe. The main guest speaker at the UK launch
is longstanding anti-nuclear campaigner and CND Vice-President Bruce Kent.
Kate Hudson, Chair of CND, will also speak alongside other appeal signatories
and MPs. The speeches will be followed by a Question and Answer session.
Jeremy Corbyn MP will be hosting the event.
The Statement is being released in the lead-up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty Review Conference in New York May 2-29 and is aimed at raising
the profile of the issue of nuclear weapons operating status at that Conference.
The taking of nuclear weapons systems off alert has been called for repeatedly
by the European Parliament, the UN General Assembly, and was a key recommendation
of the Canberra Commission in 1996, and of the Atlanta Consultation, chaired
by President Carter in January of 2005.
Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said,
"This year is the 60th anniversary of the devastating and immoral
nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We need no keener reminder
of the horror of nuclear weapons. A number of terrifying 'near misses'
have taken place, and it is absurd that the nuclear powers continue to
play Russian roulette with our lives. Taking nuclear weapons systems off
alert is an important first step toward the elimination of nuclear arsenals
worldwide, as required by article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
We must move towards the abolition of these immoral and illegal weapons
now."
Those who have signed the statement include the Dalai Lama, Jose Ramos
Horta, physicist Joseph Rotblat, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Oscar Arrias
Sanchez, and Betty Williams. A number of Nobel prizewinning organisations
including the International Peace Bureau and IPPNW have also signed. A
total of 53 parliamentarians have signed the appeal, from the UK, Australia,
New Zealand, Canada, Russia, Belgium, Germany, Brazil, and Italy.
end
Notes to Editor:
1. For further information interviews and copies of the statement, please
contact Ruth Tanner on 020 7700 2350 or email pressoffice@cnduk.org <mailto:pressoffice@cnduk.org>
2. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is one of Europe's biggest
single-issue peace campaigns, with over 32,000 members in the UK. CND
campaigns for the abolition of all nuclear weapons everywhere. www.cnduk.org
<http://www.cnduk.org/>
3. UK Organisations and individuals who have supported the appeal
Dr Kate Hudson, Chair, Sam Akaki, Parliamentary Officer, the Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), UK
Jenny Maxwell, West Midlands Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Birmingham,
UK,
Reuben Ralph Say, Woking Action for Peace/CND, Woking, Surrey, UK,
Caroline Gilbert, Patricia Pulham, Michael Pulham, Christian Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament (CCND)
Jill Stallard National Secy, CND Cymru, Nantagredig, Cynghordy, Llanymddyfri,
Wales, UK,
George Farebrother, World Court Project, Lond, UK,
Dr David Lowry, Fmr Director, European Proliferation Information Centre
(EPIC), London,
Di Mc Donald, Nuclear Information Service, (NIS) Southampton, UK,
Ken Coates, Chair, Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation,
Angie Zelter, Trident Ploughshares UK,
Richard Bramhall, Low-Level Radiation Campaign, Llandridod, Powys, UK,
Lindis Percy/Anni Rainbow, CAAB, Yorks, UK,
David Bowe, MEP,
Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, Green Member of the European Parliament for S.E.
England
Alan Simpson MP,
David Chaytor MP, Member for Bury North,
Frank Cook MP, Westminster,
Llew Smith MP, Blaenau, Gwent, Wales,
John Mc Donnel MP, Labour, Hayes and Harlington, Middlesex,
Harry Cohen MP, House of Commons, UK,
John Austin MP, Labour, Erith and Thamesmead, UK,
Baroness Susan Miller, House of Lords, Lond,
4. Both the European Parliament and the Australian Senate endorsed the
appeal in motions concerning the Nuclear Nonproliferation Review Conference
on March 10th.
5. The appeal has been coordinated by the Association of World Citizens
in San Francisco USA and by Friends of the Earth Australia in Sydney,
with assistance from many other groups worldwide including CND, Abolition-2000,
the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA),
and Mayors for Peace.
6. The appeal is to be released in Melbourne, Geneva, Hiroshima, San
Francisco, New York (at the UN), and London on April 5th. (For contact
details times and places see below).
London - 12 noon on Tuesday 5th April in Room W1 in
the House of Commons, by CND.
Contact Ruth Tanner CND Press and Communications Officer direct line 020
7700 2350 switch 020 7700 2393 mobile 07968 420859
Melbourne - 10.30am April 5th, Executive Lounge, Allan
Gilbert Building, 161 Barry St Carlton (Cnr Barry St and Grattan St).
Contact: John Hallam 61-2-9567-7533 h61-2-9810-2598 Dimity Hawkins 61-3-8344-1637
0431-475-465 Katrina (Democrats) 0408-056-167
San Francisco - Doug Mattern, Association of World Citizens,
1- 415 541 9610.
New York - Selma Brackman, 1-212-228-5836
Hiroshima - Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, City Hall Hiroshima,
5 April,
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