Return-Path: <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 15:35:12 -0400 From: Dave Robinson <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Subject: Pax Christi on India and Nuclear Weapons States To: "'[email protected]'" <[email protected]> X-Envelope-To: <[email protected]> X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by igc7.igc.org id MAA26788 May 20, 1998 Contact: Dave Robinson 814-453-4955, Ext. 235 PAX CHRISTI USA CONDEMNS INDIAN TESTING AND HYPOCRISY OF OTHER NUCLEAR WEAPONS STATES ERIE, PA. - Adding Pax Christi USA's voice to the chorus of world condemnation about India's nuclear testing is critical, and equally critical is denouncing the hypocrisy of the other nuclear weapons states' reliance on nuclear deterrence, says one of the organization's leaders. "While we feel it's necessary for Pax Christi USA to publicly denounce India's decision to test nuclear weapons, we're also compelled to cry out against the hypocrisy and culpability of the other nuclear weapons states' continued reliance on nuclear deterrence," says Dave Robinson, program director at the Erie-Pa.-based headquarters of Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace orga nization. Quoting from a joint statement of Pax Christi International President Godfried Cardinal Danneels and World Council of Churches General Secretary Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser, issued from Geneva just two weeks before the Indian tests, Pax Christi condemned the doctrine of nuclear deterrence and expressed "grave concern" over India's apparent embracing of "this morally corrupt" doctrine. "The choice", states Pax Christi USA, "is between a nuclear-weapons-free world for all, and a nuclear weapons free-for-all. There is no secure middle ground." Contrary to the Clinton Administration's efforts to persuade Pakistan not to test nuclear weapons by offering to release the embargoed F-16 fighter aircraft the Pakistan government -more- purchased from the United States in 1990, Pax Christi USA calls for a moratorium on conventional arms sales to the region as a way to head off a dangerous conventional arms race that could fuel the two countries' perceived need for nuclear weapons, says Robinson. "The delivery of the F-16's to Pakistan was stopped in an effort to stem the arms race that was building in the region," says Robinson, who just returned from Geneva where 186 nations met to prepare for the formal review of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2000. "To reverse this policy and deliver these very sophisticated aircraft as a way of 'rewarding' Pakistan for not testing nuclear w eapons is irresponsible and short-sighted. It is precisely the introduction of ever more sophisticated weapons into tense regions of the developing world that is fueling the nuclear ambitions of the countries involved." The Pax Christi USA statement (following) holds the nuclear weapons states, and particularly the United States, accountable for the lack of progress on disarmament: "The nuclear weapons states that remain committed to the doctrine of nuclear deterrence continue to use their power and position to frustrate the will of the majority of nations seeking nuclear disarmament. They must be held account able for the proliferation of nuclear weapons," the statement reads. The statement concludes with a call for the Clinton Administration to "halt its provocative and immensely expensive Stockpile Stewardship and Management plans (referring to the Department of Energy's $60-billion reinvestment in the United State's ability to design, develop and test nuclear weapons) and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in the spirit it was intended -- as a means of ending the nuclear arms race and opening the way for negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons Convention banning nuclear weapons completely." -30- 80522.01.txt[5/3/2017 1:27:39 PM] PAX CHRISTI USA STATEMENT ON INDIA'S NUCLEAR TESTS Pax Christi USA expresses grave concern over India's decision to conduct five nuclear weapons tests during the week of May 11, 1998. While we feel it is absolutely necessary to add Pax Christi USA's voice to the chorus of world condemnation directed toward India's decision to test, we are equally compelled to cry out against the hypocrisy and culpability of the other nuclear weapons states' conti nued reliance on nuclear deterrence. Until the nuclear weapons states comply with their nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) obligation to "pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament," Pax Christi USA will continue to cry out against the hypocritical efforts at enforcement of the nonproliferation goals of the treaty. The choice i s between a nuclear-weapons-free world for all, or a nuclear weapons free-for-all. There is no secure middle ground. In Geneva, just two weeks before India tested its nuclear weapons , Godfried Cardinal Danneels, President of Pax Christi International and the Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, condemned the doctrine of nuclear deterrence before the assembled delegates preparing for the next review of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. "As an instrument of deterrence, n uclear weapons hold innocent people hostage for political and military purposes," the church leaders said. " Therefore, the doctrine of nuclear deterrence is morally corrupt." The decision by India to join the club of nations committed to nuclear deterrence is a serious setback for the effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Pax Christi USA calls upon the Indian government, and indeed, all the nuclear weapons states, to renounce their nuclear weapons programs, to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and to follow the example of South Africa, the only nuclear-armed nation to renounce nuclear deterrence, dismantle its weapons and discontinue its program. The developments on the Indian sub-continent raise the very real specter of a nuclear arms race among India, Pakistan and China. Such a development would not only be destabilizing and dangerous in the extreme, it would divert resources that are urgently needed by the suffering poor of those countries. As was the case during the Cold War, a nuclear arms race is expensive and inevitably leads to a conventional arms race. Pax Christi USA calls upon all nations to immediately halt all weapons deliveries to the region and initiate negotiations leading to nuclear and conventional disarmament as an alternative to a costly arms race. The nuclear weapons states remain committed to the doctrine of nuclear deterrence and continue to use their power and position to frustrate the will of the majority of nations seeking nuclear disarmament. They must be held accountable for the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Pax Christi USA calls upon the Clinton Administration to halt its provocative and immensely expensive Stockpile Stewardship plans (the $60-billion Department of Energy plan to upgrade the United States' ability to design, build and test nuclear weapons) and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in the spirit it was intended -- as a means of ending the nuclear arms race and opening the way for negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons Convention banning nuclear weapons completely. -30- For more information or media interviews, call Dave Robinson at 814-453-4955, Ext. 235. $*$*$*$*$ 9 LINES REFORMATTED BY POPPER AT igc.apc.org $*$*$*$*$ 80522.01.txt[5/3/2017 1:27:39 PM] Return-Path: <[email protected]> X-Sender: [email protected] Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 17:32:19 -0400 To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] From: Bridget Moix <[email protected]> Subject: Religious Leaders CTBT Statement Cc: [email protected], [email protected] Dear Friends, Thanks to everyone for all the help on gathering names for the "Statement by American Religious Leaders: Ratify the CTBT." Today, we mailed the statement to all those who signed and provided us with a mailing address. The mailing included a cover note from Joe urging continued action to stop nuclear testing and a fact sheet on public support for the CTBT since the India testing. We also placed copies in the mailboxes in the Methodist Building, and it is posted on our website at http://www.fcnl.org/pub/fcnl/ctbtrel.htm. If you passed along names to me without mailing addresses, please send copies out to those signers, along with our appreciation for their signatures. I've pasted the statement with all signers into this message and sent the formatted file as a wordperfect attachment. I will try to bring copies to upcoming meetings as well. Please let me know if you do not receive a copy or if I can help in any other way. Again, many thanks to everyone for all the help and support! in peace, bridget A Statement by American Religious Leaders: Ratify the CTBT 80522.02.txt[5/3/2017 1:27:39 PM] May 1998 As persons entrusted by our diverse religious communities with special responsibilities to address the issues of justice and peace, we have joined in this appeal for Senate action to approve the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) before the August recess.