UN Secretary General Keynoted International Peace Movement Conference to Abolish Nuclear Weapons on eve of NPT Review Conference

Peace Action & PANYS – For Immediate Release: May 1, 2010

New York, New York (May 1, 2010) — U.N. Secretary General, Ban
Ki-moon, addressed an international conference of leading peace, justice
and environmental activists this evening at the historic, Riverside Church
in New York City to push for a world free of nuclear weapons. The conference
and related events are being organized on the eve of this May’s Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.

Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, said to nearly 1,000 participants from
around 30 countries regarding the NPT, “Let it heed our call.  Disarm
Now!”  He continued, “Our shared vision is within reach…a nuclear-free
world.”  And that “nuclear disarmament is my top priority.”

The Secretary noted the significance of the Riverside Church hosting Nelson
Mendela’s first speech in the U.S and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s
famous speech against the Vietnam War.

Regarding the only nuclear weapons ever used in war, the two dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan, he stated that, “It must never be repeated.”

“The time for change is now…We cannot afford to fail again,” in NPT
negotiations. Instead negotiations should move towards “concluding
a nuclear weapons convention.  These negotiations are long overdue,” he
concluded.

Ban Ki-Moon’s speech was the keynote address to a two-day conference, “For a
Nuclear Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World,” which has
been organized by a network of 25 leading peace and nuclear
weapons abolition organizations in the U.S., Europe, Japan and
Israel.  Speaking for the network Judith LeBlanc, Field Organizer for Peace
Action and conference organizer said “The presence of U.N.
Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon at this international conference solidifies
the importance of civil society organizations to continue to pressure
governments to create a world free of nuclear weapons in our lifetime.  We
are urging”, she explained, “that the critically important Review Conference
conclude with a commitment to begin negotiations on a treaty to completely
eliminate all nuclear weapons, as provided for by the Non-Proliferation
Treaty.”

Dr. Joseph Gerson, Disarmament Director for the American Friends Service
Committee commented, “The U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon’s speech
to disarm now is ahead of President Obama’s actions and the U.S. needs to
catch up.”  Gerson was one of the key organizers of the international
conference, rally, march and peace festival.

The conference and other activities was organized by a network of groups
went under The Disarm Now! call which has been endorsed by nearly 300
local, national and international organizations in 32 countries, from every
continent.

The network includes Peace Action, the American Friends Service Committee,
and Western States Legal Foundation (U.S.), the Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament (Britain,) Le Mouvement de la Paix (France,)
International Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (Germany,) the Japan Council
against A- and H-Bomb, Gensuikyo (Japan), and the Emil Touma Institute for
Palestinian and Israeli Studies (Israel).

Other conference speakers included Terumi Tanaka, a Hiroshima A-Bomb
Survivor, Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima and President of Mayors
for Peace, Natalia Mironova of the Institute for Public Policy and Law in
Russia, Professor Zia Mian of Princeton University, Dr. John Burroughs of
the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms, Socorro
Gomes of Cebrapaz  in Brazil and the World Peace Council, Tomas
Magnusson of the International Peace Bureau and others. Two dozen workshops
addressed interrelated issues of nuclear abolition, peace,
environment/health and economic justice.

The conference will be followed tomorrow by a rally, march and festival
attended by more than ten thousand people in Manhattan, May 2 starting at
Times Square at 2:00 PM; and the presentation to the Chair of the NPT Review
Conference of more than seven million of petition signatures
urging that negotiations to eliminate the world’s nuclear arsenals begin
without further delay.

For more information: www.peaceandjusticenow.org

 

*
Contacts: Paul Kawika Martin, Peace Action, 951-217-7285,
pmartin@peace-action.org
Dave Kunes, Peace Action, 585-474-2614, dkunes@peace-action.org