Ban nuclear weapons, Jeremy Corbyn writes

This video from Japan says about itself:

Survivor Dr Hiromi Hasai recalls the horror of Hiroshima

20 October 2011

As part of the War In Profile series of events, A-Bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a poignant look at the effects of the first and, so far, only use of hostile nuclear weapons from World War II on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

Warning: this Interview contains graphic vision of horrific human injuries and death. Viewer discretion strongly advised.

By Jeremy Corbyn in Britain:

Objective: a nuclear free world

Saturday 23rd may 2015

The permanent members of the UN security council claim they want disarmament but at the same time develop ever more efficient ways of destroying the planet, writes JEREMY CORBYN

The UN Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference is held every five years. It is meant to monitor the effects of the spread of nuclear weapons around the world and ensure that the treaty is upheld.

Fundamentally the treaty has two big objectives: that all non-nuclear states who sign should not acquire or develop nuclear weapons, and that the existing nuclear weapon states (Britain, France, China, Russia and the US) should take steps to disarm, thus reaching the objective of a nuclear free world.

This review conference is drawing to a close and at the time of writing, the final declaration has not even been presented to the rather jaded delegates who’ve spent three weeks haggling over its details in endless committee meetings all over the UN in New York.

In reality it is the eternal debate of the permanent five and, despite all the public rhetoric, none have effectively moved towards nuclear disarmament — but in all cases have reduced the number of warheads they hold.

The development of nuclear weapons by India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel is obviously a threat and a danger, and an even greater danger would be the development of nuclear weapons by any other state. Interestingly, South Africa, the most prominent country to unilaterally give up nuclear weapons, is playing a very crucial role at the conference and its ambassador, Abdul Minti, commands huge respect amongst the many peace organisations in New York.

Before the conference began, there was a march of 7,500 people on the UN, with supporters from 20 countries who presented a letter to Taous Feroukhi who is the president of the Review Conference.

She accepted the seven million signature petition which called on all parties of the NPT to immediately develop a timetable to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons, and called upon India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan to join the process without delay.

One of the issues has been the dishonesty of the nuclear weapon states who claim to be reducing the number of warheads and in some cases de-targeting existing ones. This narrative is undermined by a very interesting article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists nuclear notebook by Andrew Lichterman, who noted that “new or improved nuclear weapons programmes underway worldwide include at least 27 ballistic missiles, 9 cruise missiles, 8 naval vessels, 5 bombers, 8 warheads, and 8 weapons factories.”

Rearmaments around the world stretch from the US to China, with Britain preparing to spend £100bn on the development of the new generation of Trident nuclear submarines.

Last December was the third conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons hosted by the Austrian government in Vienna, which concluded with the Austrian pledge that “mindful of the unacceptable harm that victims of nuclear weapons explosions and nuclear testing have experienced, and recognising that the rights of these victims have not been adequately addressed,” calls for a treaty banning nuclear weapons.

Belated participation in the conference in Vienna by the US and Britain sadly was only used as a platform for them to claim that their security depended on their nuclear weapons. It is quite possible that South Africa will host another Humanitarian Effects of Nuclear Weapons conference and thus further isolate the nuclear ambitions of the nine nuclear states of the world.

The 2005 conference called for the establishment of a Weapons of Mass Destruction Zone in the Middle East and a conference to set this in motion which would have to include both Iran and Israel to have any effect.

This conference has never been held despite Finland being tasked with hosting it, and at the last review conference in 2005 there was a unanimous vote to hold the conference. Since then the progress of negotiations with Iran has provided the basis on which the conference could be held. The exasperation of delegates regarding this lack of progress is clearly boiling over and the Russian delegation is tabling new proposals on how to take the matter forward.

Quite simply, if there is not a process of nuclear disarmament in the region, then any one of the immensely wealthy countries could purchase or provide their own nuclear weapons.

The case of the Marshall Islands who were the victims of 67 nuclear tests between 1946 and ’58 has become a cause celebre, and the government of the Marshall Islands has now instituted a case in the International Court of Justice against the one member on the P5+1 — five permanent members of the UN security council, namely China, France, Russia, the Britain, and the US, plus Germany — which subscribes to the International Court of Justice for its non-fulfilment of the disarmament obligations of the NPT.

The case is proceeding in the court.

Albert Einstein said: “Bullets kill men, but atomic bombs kill cities. A tank is a defence against a bullet, but there is no defence against a weapon that can destroy civilisation …”.

Depressing as the outcome of the conference looks, the cause of peace and nuclear disarmament is more vital than ever.

Britain has a huge role to play in this, with the newly elected Conservative government promising to pledge £100bn on replacing the Trident system which runs completely counter to the high-minded rhetoric of the P5 who claim they really want disarmament while at the same time developing ever more efficient ways of giving themselves the ability to destroy the planet.

The NATO military alliance is preparing to implement a more aggressive nuclear weapons strategy in response to alleged “Russian aggression,” according to NATO sources cited by the Guardian Wednesday evening: here.