NuclearBan.US & The International Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) – 2018-05-20 22:59:16
US Campaign to Support UN Nuclear Ban Treaty
Launched in New York
NuclearBan.US
“Our campaign is about putting pressure on the United States government and the other nuclear nations to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. But it’s more — we’re putting pressure on the 26 companies that make nuclear weapons to realize the time has come to shift to other industries — like those that address climate change.”
— NuclearBan.US co-founder Vicki Elson
NEW YORK (MAY 14, 2018) — Fifty campaigners from across the US joined together yesterday in Brooklyn to launch a national campaign in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
This Treaty, which prohibits the development, testing, production, deployment, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, and requires environmental remediation and assistance to victims of the nuclear age, was adopted by 122 countries at the UN on 7 July 2017. The US, its nuclear allies, and other nuclear weapon possessor states boycotted the negotiations and have been pressuring other countries not to sign the Treaty.
Campaigners in the US want cities and states — as well as businesses, universities, faith communities, and individuals — to comply with the treaty nevertheless; to defy the US government on this issue and show their solidarity with the rest of the world, much as cities, states, businesses, and others have come out in support of the Paris Climate Accord despite the US government’s decision to pull the US out of that agreement.
Towns and cities in the US cannot “sign” an international treaty, nor can they remove the nuclear weapons that may be stationed or their soil, since this is the sole prerogative of the US government. They can, however, pass legally binding resolutions and local ordinances and statutes that prohibit companies from manufacturing and maintaining these weapons within their jurisdiction. They can divest city and state funds from these companies and they can refuse to sign city and state contracts with these companies.
“In 1983, the City of Takoma Park, Maryland, was one of the first US cities to become a nuclear free zone by a city ordinance,” said Paul Gunter, a member of the Takoma Park Nuclear Free Zone Committee. The committee was created by the ordinance to vet all city contracts to assure compliance on the prohibition to do business with nuclear weapons manufacturers.
Gunter added, “Takoma Park now becomes the first US city to declare compliance with the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, in the effort to set our nation on the same path to ban nuclear weapons.”
The Takoma Park Committee is already working on the next stage of addressing this issue, by calling on the city to divest from the banks that are themselves financing the nuclear weapons industry. This is part of an international effort led by Don’t Bank on the Bomb campaign to get financial institutions all over the world to divest from the nuclear weapons industry.
Two of the largest pension funds in the world — the Norwegian Sovereign Fund and ABP in the Netherlands, have already divested billions from the nuclear industry.
“Our campaign is about putting pressure on the United States government and the other nuclear nations to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. But it’s more — we’re putting pressure on the 26 companies that make nuclear weapons to realize the time has come to shift to other industries — like those that address climate change,” said NuclearBan.US co-founder Vicki Elson.
Contact: Timmon Wallis or Lydia Wood, NuclearBan.US 631-507-8686 www.nuclearban.ustimmon@nuclearban.us
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted at the United Nations on July 7th, 2017. Its importance cannot be overstated. The US should sign this treaty along with the rest of the world. Click here to learn more.
Why All Nuclear Weapons Must be Abolished
The world stands closer to the reality of nuclear war than at any time since the 1960s. North Korean President Kim Jong-un is determined to build the capacity to strike the United States with a nuclear weapon, and US President Donald Trump is determined to prevent that from happening.
The worst possible outcome to this nuclear brinkmanship is a nuclear war to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear weapons — because these cannot be eliminated with conventional weapons. Such a war would create an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, not just for the 25 million people in North Korea, but for the whole world.
Radioactive fallout would affect millions of people in South Korea and Japan and would cause cancers, even as far away as the United States. Firestorms could potentially cause worldwide climate disruption and global famine on a scale never before seen in human history.
Every nuclear weapon, no matter whose it is or where it detonates, poses a real threat to all of us, everywhere.
These weapons of mass destruction serve no useful purpose.
They pose a threat to all life on earth.
They must be abolished.
ACTION ALERT: An Unprecedented Opportunity
Right Now, Right Here in the United States
On July 7th, 2017, the countries of the United Nations adopted, by 122 to 1, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This new Treaty makes everything to do with nuclear weapons illegal. And it lays out the steps to achieve the total elimination of all nuclear weapons.
Until the United States signs, ratifies and implements this Treaty, WE THE PEOPLE can be working through our cities and towns, schools, businesses, unions and faith communities to comply with this Treaty — and you yourself can sign up to become personally Treaty Compliant right here, right now!
ACTION: Next Steps for Individuals . . .
You can be part of the solution — and help rid the world of nuclear weapons! Join our campaign to get cities and states (and organizations and individuals) to comply with the Nuclear Ban Treaty. Sign up today!
ACTION: Next Steps for Organizations, Businesses,
Faith Communities, Cities and States . . .
If you are here on behalf of an organization or government, you can take immediate steps to begin the process of getting your organization or government to comply with the Treaty. Sign up here
ACTION: Not Based in the United States?
Go to the ICAN website for information about the global campaign and links to campaigns in other countries.
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Toronto Calls on the Canadian Government
To Join the Nuclear Ban Treaty
ICAN
(May 11, 2018) — When a country’s position on nuclear weapons does not match that of its citizens, cities too, can ramp up the pressure on the government to join the nuclear ban treaty. On April 24, the City of Toronto formally requested that “the Government of Canada sign the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” following the City Council’s reaffirmation of Toronto as a nuclear weapons free zone in November 2017.
This municipal action came as a result of hard work from Canadian campaigners who called on the City Council and the Board of Health to hold public hearings on the “dangers of nuclear weapons and radiation fall out.” Over 30 statements and letters from civil society were submitted to the public hearings and leading to the Board of Health recommending that City Council requests the Government of Canada to sign the treaty.
Cesar Jaramillo of Project Ploughshares, a Canadian ICAN partner, said “Canada’s largest city has set a compelling example for the nation and for the world to follow by reaffirming its status as a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone — and has demonstrated that national level intransigence on this existential matter need not trickle down to the municipal level.”
As one of the most diverse cities on the planet, home to over 2.9 million people more than 50% of whom were born outside of Canada, Toronto’s City Council recognizes that our world is interconnected and that nuclear weapons threaten us all.
As a microcosm of the global community, it is only fitting that the City of Toronto would join the 122 states who adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in declaring that nuclear weapons are illegal and illegitimate threats to our shared humanity.
Should a nuclear weapon ever be detonated again, it will be local governments on the front line of the attempts to respond but none will have the capacity to do so. Based on the humanitarian dangers nuclear weapons pose, Toronto and the numerous other nuclear weapons free cities around the world are taking a stand when even when their national governments are lagging behind.
Austria Ratifies the Nuclear Ban Treaty
ICAN
http://www.icanw.org/action/austria-ratifies-the-nuclear-ban-treaty/
(May 8, 2018) — Today, Austria has become the ninth state to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TNPW). Austria is well known as one of the key drivers and champions for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
In 2014, Austria hosted the Third Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, which culminated in a Humanitarian Pledge, ultimately signed by 127 states. Through UN General Assembly meetings and UN Working Groups, Austria has consistently and stridently carried the flag for a ban on nuclear weapons. Austria’s early ratification of the TPNW demonstrates that it intends to continue to take a leadership role in the implementation of the treaty and promote its universalization.
Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director ICAN, celebrates this commitment: “Leadership on diplomacy and disarmament is about making agreements and treaties, not about ripping them up. On the day where the US might withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal, I’m grateful for Austrian leadership on humanitarian and nuclear disarmament.”
Nadja Schmidt, Executive Director of ICAN Austria, is “very pleased to see Austria ratify the TPNW, being among the first ten countries to do so. This is a huge success for our national campaign. Austria continues to demonstrate it’s will to play a leading role in eliminating nuclear weapons (for a nuclear weapon free world). We call on our government and parliament to uphold this strong engagement in the future.”
Austria joins the State Parties to the TPNW only days after the island nation of Palau became the first Pacific country to ratify the treaty.
Related News
Palau Ratifies the Prohibition Treaty
(May 4, 2018) — The Pacific Island nation of Palau has become the latest state to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The people of Palau have been leaders in nuclear disarmament for decades. Congratulations!
More ratifications to come this month. #nuclearban #endofnukes
Will the “Responsible States” Please Stand Up?
(May 4th 2018) — Over the last two weeks, approximately 120 government delegations have been gathered at the UN in Geneva to discuss the implementation (and lack thereof) of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The meeting has not been particularly productive
Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor on the Way
(April 30th 2018) — In support of ICAN, Norwegian People’s Aid is now establishing the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor. The Monitor will measure progress related to signature, ratification, entry into force and universalization of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
The Power of Diplomacy: ICAN Welcomes Efforts to Denuclearize the Korean Peninsula
(April 27th 2018) — The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) welcomes the efforts from North and South Korea to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.
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