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	The abolition of nuclear weapons is long overdue by Malcolm Fraser ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons   Aug, 2010   Sixty-five years on from Hiroshima, abolition of nuclear weapons is long overdue.   Sixty-five years ago today, the city of Hiroshima and, three days later, Nagasaki were devastated by nuclear weapons. By the end of 1945, the two bombs, small by today"s standards, had killed 230,000 people and injured more than 150,000.   Their radioactive poison continues to this day to afflict the survivors and their offspring with increased rates of cancer, chronic disease and genetic damage.   The plea to do away with nuclear weapons should not be confused with the need to rely to a much greater extent on nuclear power for peaceful purposes. The scientific reality is that this represents an essential part of a worldwide program to combat global warming.   The grim reality of nuclear weapons is stark. In an afternoon they could lay waste much of the earth and end human civilisation. The weapons currently held by nine nations are the equivalent of 150,000 times the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. Even a tiny fraction of the world"s nuclear arsenal exploded on cities in a regional nuclear war on the other side of the world - such as between India and Pakistan, or in the Middle East - would alter the climate for years, devastating agriculture and causing starvation on a scale never seen before.   The danger of nuclear weapons being used by accident or design is growing. They and the means to acquire them - uranium enrichment technology and nuclear reactors - are spreading. If we do not get rid of them, it will only be a matter of time before the weapons are used. We must not allow that to happen.   Dismantling and outlawing nuclear weapons will need a binding, verified global treaty - as is needed to ban dumdum bullets, biological and chemical weapons, landmines and cluster bombs.   The recently concluded five-yearly review conference on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty made it clear that the treaty by itself is inadequate to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons. It provides no binding process and no specific phased plan. After 40 years, it has not delivered disarmament and has not prevented the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Nor has it been able to make real progress on universality, making withdrawal from the treaty more difficult, or strengthening safeguards, nuclear export controls, nuclear safety or security.   The most significant aspect of the review conference was the unprecedented level of support from a clear majority of close to 130 of the world"s governments, as well as civil society, for getting on with the negotiation of a non-discriminatory comprehensive legal framework to eliminate and outlaw nuclear weapons.   The greatest immediate threat to human survival posed by nuclear weapons affects everyone and is too important to be left to politicians. Citizens the world over have a critical role to play, and to ensure their leaders are in no doubt about what they must do. Leaders need to hear a multitude of voices, impossible to ignore, telling them to negotiate a global abolition treaty now.   That is why I am pleased to support the MillionPleas campaign launched this week. It invites everyone to support a clear message: 65 years is too long. It"s time to retire nuclear weapons. A global abolition treaty is the best way to accomplish this.   * Malcolm Fraser was Australian prime minister from 1975 to 1983. Visit the related web page
	UN hails entry into force of global pact banning cluster munitions by United Nations News   30 July 2010   United Nations officials have expressed their delight at Sunday’s entry into force of the international convention banning the manufacture, use and stockpiling of cluster munitions, calling it a “major advance for the global disarmament and humanitarian agendas.”   Billions of these weapons – which are considered particularly dangerous, despite their lack of precision – are believed to exist around the world and many have been used in recent conflicts, killing or maiming countless civilians.   Thirty ratifications were needed to make the pact, which prohibits explosive remnants of war known either as cluster munitions or unexploded ordnance (UXO), a part of international law. That milestone was reached in February when Burkina Faso and Moldova both submitted their instruments of ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions at UN Headquarters in New York.Some 98 per cent of victims are civilians and cluster bombs have claimed over 10,000 civilian lives, 40 per cent of whom are children.   The convention, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement on Friday, “will help us to counter the widespread insecurity and suffering caused by these terrible weapons, particularly among civilians and children.”   He is particularly pleased, the statement continued, that the pact will enter into force on 1 August, just over two years after it was adopted by 107 States in Dublin, Ireland.   “This highlights not only the world’s collective revulsion at these abhorrent weapons, but also the power of collaboration among governments, civil society and the United Nations to change attitudes and policies on a threat faced by all mankind,” the Secretary-General emphasized.   The convention – negotiated by States that represent past and current producers, stockpilers and victims of cluster munitions – establishes important commitments regarding assistance to victims, clearance of contaminated areas and destruction of stockpiles.   To date, 37 countries have ratified the pact, which also has 107 signatures.   First used in the Second World War, cluster munitions contain dozens of smaller explosives designed to disperse over an area the size of several football fields, but often fail to detonate upon impact, creating large de facto minefields.   The failure rate makes these weapons particularly dangerous for civilians, who continue to be maimed or killed for years after conflicts end. Some 98 per cent of victims are civilians and cluster bombs have claimed over 10,000 civilian lives, 40 per cent of whom are children.   Recovery from conflict is also hampered because the munitions place roads and lands off-limits to farmers and aid workers.   The pact represents “a major advance for the global disarmament and humanitarian agendas,” Mr. Ban noted in his statement, a theme echoed by Daniël Prins, chief of the conventional arms branch of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA).   “This is a great step forward – here we have a treaty at the nexus of disarmament and humanitarian efforts,” Mr. Prins said in an interview with the UN News Centre.   He noted that the convention is not merely symbolic, but contains many practical measures, such as requiring States to provide assistance to victims, engage in clearance operations and conduct awareness campaigns so that children do not inadvertently set off explosions.   The first meeting of States parties to the convention will be held this November in Laos, which Mr. Ban said is a country “that has suffered tremendously from the impact of cluster munitions.”   Clearance operations are still ongoing in the South-East Asian nation more than 30 years after conflict left 75 million unexploded cluster bomblets across the country.   Mr. Ban called on all Member States to take part in the November meeting to express their support for the convention, while also urging those nations which have yet to accede to the pact “to do so without delay.”   Cluster munitions have been used in conflicts around the world in recent years, including in the Middle East, South-Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Horn of Africa and Central Africa.   The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has been coordinating the removal of cluster munitions in many countries, including Cambodia, Chad, Laos, Lebanon, Tajikistan and Zambia. Visit the related web page
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