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Read
the strongly-worded resolution from European
leaders in 1998, a letter of protest from
The Conference of Mayors for Peace in
2006 condemning these subcritical tests, and
more links below:
****************************************************
European
Parliament Resolution
on sub-critical nuclear testing
February 19, 1998
B-0185, 0195, 0237 and 0245/98
The
European Parliament,
-
having regard to its previous resolutions on
nuclear non-proliferation,
A.
whereas sub-critical nuclear tests were
carried out by the United States on 2 July
1997 and on 18 September 1997 at the Nevada
Test Site, and whereas the US plans to carry
out four more such tests before September
1998,
B.
noting that the US Government has presented
the tests as necessary to ensure the safety
and reliability of its existing nuclear
arsenal, but also noting that critics of the
programme claim that the tests also can be
used to create new types of warheads as well
as to upgrade existing ones,
C.
whereas no international verification exists
on whether the tests are in fact sub-critical
and therefore in compliance with the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT),
D.
whereas the tests may not be against the
letter of the CTBT, but still violate the
spirit of the treaty and place in jeopardy its
entry into force by creating a "crisis of
confidence",
E.
whereas sub-critical tests and new weapons
development risk reinforcing India and
Pakistan in their refusal to sign the CTBT,
thus blocking its entry into force, and also
reinforcing opposition to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), especially in
these two nations,
F.
noting that at least 15 countries, including
Norway, Indonesia, Mexico, Malaysia and Iran,
as well as the mayors of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki and 46 members of the US Congress,
have publicly expressed their concern about or
opposition to these tests,
G.
whereas all EU Member States signed the CTBT
after it was opened for signature in September
1996,
H.
whereas states who have signed the CTBT are
bound to "refrain from any action that
could defeat its object and purpose", by
definition of the Vienna Convention on
Treaties,
1.
Reaffirms its support for the CTBT and its
request for early ratification of the treaty,
and calls on all Member States to act
promptly,
2.
Calls on the US Government to halt the series
of sub-critical tests and calls on all
governments to refrain from carrying out such
tests;
3.
Calls on the US Government to issue an
official declaration stating that the tests in
no way form part of a new weapons design
programme, and that new nuclear weapons design
does not form part of US policy,
4.
Calls for increased transparency on-site as
well as additional confidence-building
measures, in order to allay international
concern over possible CTBT violations,
5.
Calls on the Council to adopt a joint action
under Article J.3 of the Treaty on European
Union, to promote signature and ratification
by other states, and to include all necessary
assistance to enable other states to comply
with the provisions of the treaty,
particularly the establishment of an effective
global verification regime,
6.
Instructs its President to forward this
resolution to the Council, the Commission and
the President and Congress of the United
States of America.
****************************************************
Letter
of Protest
The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton
Blair
Prime Minister
The United Kingdom
Letter
of Protest
The
United Kingdom, in conjunction with the US,
conducted a subcritical nuclear test at the
American underground test site in Nevada on
February 23.
With
the international community gravely concerned
about nuclear proliferation, the UK purports
to be leading the effort to find a peaceful
resolution to the problem of Iran's nuclear
program, yet you conduct a subcritical nuclear
test, a clear indication that you are
developing new nuclear weapons. Such behavior
is intolerable. You have brought the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, the international
agreement regarding nuclear weapons, to the
brink of collapse, and, we fear, are provoking
a new round of proliferation.
Mayors
for Peace is now conducting an Emergency
Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons that has been
endorsed by the US Conference of Mayors, the
US National Conference of Black Mayors, the
European Parliament, the International
Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War, and
many other organizations around the world. The
vast majority of people and nations on this
planet desire the total abolition of nuclear
weapons, yet you utterly discount them and
conduct a subcritical nuclear test. We are
outraged by your trampling on the hopes and
desires of the A-bomb survivors and countless
millions around the world seeking liberation
from nuclear weapons, and, on behalf of the
1,285 cities in 115 countries and territories
that are members of the Mayors for Peace, we
vehemently protest.
While
demanding that non-nuclear-weapon states
abandon their nuclear programs, nuclear-weapon
states have failed to fulfill the promise of
"an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish
the total elimination of [their] nuclear
arsenals" made at the NPT Review
Conference in 2000. This double standard is
provoking nuclear proliferation. The
prevention of proliferation will require,
above all, cooperation and monitoring by the
international community. Thus, we urge you
halt all nuclear testing, including
subcritical testing, and take the lead in a
convincing effort to build a genuinely
peaceful 21st century free from nuclear
weapons.
February
24, 2006
The
Conference of Mayors for Peace
Tadatoshi
Akiba, President Mayor of Hiroshima
Iccho Itoh, Vice President Mayor of Nagasaki
Herbert Schmalstieg, Vice President Mayor of
Hannover
Catherine Margate, Vice President Mayor of
Malakoff
Mohammed Afzal Khan, Vice President Mayor of
Manchester
Jaime R. Fresnedi, Vice President Mayor of
Muntinlupa
Eugeny P. Ishchenko, Vice President Mayor of
Volgograd
Donald L. Plusquellic, Vice President Mayor of
Akron
Garry Moore, Vice President Mayor of
Christchurch
Leonardo Domenici, Vice President Mayor of
Florence
Patrik Vankrunkelsven, Vice President Mayor of
Laakdal
Links:
Learn
more about subcritical tests here
from the Shundahai Network.
Read:
North
Korea's nuclear ambitions provoked by U.S.
nuclear experiments, at
AfterDowningStreet.org
WHY
WE ALL SHOULD OPPOSE SUBCRITICAL TESTS:
--Continued
testing at the Nevada Test Site violates the
spirit, if not the letter of test ban
treaties. We should be setting the example,
not pushing limits.
--Asserting that these tests are necessary to
the reliability of the stockpile, implies the
continued willingness to use nuclear weapons,
and such use is unacceptable.
--Testing of any kind at the Nevada Test Site
is a violation of Western Shoshone sovereignty
and must cease.
Please mail your Senators this
postcard - find your U.S. Senators here
Other
articles on Unicorn:
Sep.
12, 2006 - Political Affairs Magazine -
Japan Peace Groups Say No to US Nuke Test
- Peace organizations and Nagasaki mayor call
for canceling of U.S. nuclear testing.
"It
may give other countries a pretext for
developing their nuclear weapons, amounting
to an outrageous act that threatens the
world peace and stability."
Aug.
30, 2006: ABC Australia- US
carries out subcritical nuclear test
'...Many
activists and experts argue that the tests
undermine the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
on nuclear weapons and that the Bush
administration is carrying them out to use
them to boost its efforts to develop new
nuclear arms...'
Learn
more about NSTec, the contractor to
the Nevada Test Site that currently helps conduct these
tests.
Learn
more at Idealist.ws
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