Dear Lisa and Kathy: I suggest that we pick up the discussion started by Bob Tiller's "too many meetings" communication at Thursday's meeting of the Nuclear Weapons Working Group. Howard 10114.01.txt[5/3/2017 11:54:34 AM] Dear George Farebrother: Thanks for circulating the speech of Miguel Marin-Bosch. It is a very helpful analysis. He says that 28 nations who voted against pro-disarmament resolutions "represent today the biggest obstacle to nuclear disarmament". Can you provide me a list of those 28 nations? The Religious Working Group for Nuclear Abolition, which I serve as a co-convener, is lining up some world religious leaders to communicate with delegates to the NPT PrepCom and to sponsor a reception for delegates in Geneva. We would like to encourage our religious contacts in various nations to lobby their governments prior to the PrepCom. It appears that we should concentrate particularly on those 28 nations. That's why the list will be useful. Is there anyone in the Abolition 2000 network who is coordinating such lobbying? Shalom, Howard W. Hallman, Chair Methodists United for Peace with Justice 10114.02.txt[5/3/2017 11:54:34 AM] Dear friends, The International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES) based in Dortmund, Germany, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara, California, USA and the Austrian Study Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR) are organizing a People for Peace Conference at Burg Schlaining in Austria from 17-19 August 1998. Any other organizations interested in co-sponsoring this event can contact Basil Massey <[email protected]> or Dietrich Fischer <[email protected]>. The aim of the conference is twofold. First, to provide inputs for the 1999 Hague Peace Conference and second, to bring together people sharing the same ideas to advance the evolving global culture of peace. A draft of details of the conference is enclosed. The organizing committee, participating organizations and experts will refine and develop this list in the upcoming months. A brochure of the town selected for the Peace Conference will be mailed to you soon. Your organization is invited to participate and share your views with others in planning future steps towards the culture of peace. Please let one of us know your views and whether you would like to participate in this conference. Yours sincerely, Basil Massey Dietrich Fischer Major, Indian Army Professor at Pace University Engineers and Scientists 114 Conover Road for Global Responsibility Robbinsville, NJ 08691, USA Gutenbergstrasse 31 44139 Dortmund, Germany Phone: +49-231-57 52 02 Phone & Fax: +1-609-799-8319 Fax: +49-231-57 52 10 E-mail: E-mail: [email protected]> [email protected] PEOPLE FOR PEACE CONFERENCE 17 - 19 August 1998 Peace Center, Burg Schlaining Austria "If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are people who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and 10114.03.txt[5/3/2017 11:54:34 AM] lightening. That struggle might be a moral one; it might be a physical one; it might be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will. People might not get all that they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get." Frederick Douglass Abolitionist VISION STATEMENT This century has seen the end of slavery, colonialism and apartheid. The United Nations has been successful to a large extent in the role for which it was created, mainly stopping wars between states. After the two world wars, wars between states have gradually been reduced, and in the last few years after Iraq invaded Kuwait there has been no act of aggression by a state. Yet, we in this same century have seen internal conflicts sharply increasing. More people have died in them than the combined toll of the two world wars. There have been incredible advances in technology and scientific developments. Advances in communications have made the world smaller as distances hardly matter any longer. Information can be shared in seconds, which has truly made the world global. Yet, all this has not benefitted the people. The gulf between the favored and the less fortunate on this earth has been widening, and there is no meeting point in sight. In the past, discussions about national and international security have focussed primarily on the threat of military aggression across borders and on military means to meet such threats. Although this threat must not be underestimated, it represents only one among many dangers that pose a risk to human life or inhibit the development of humanity's full potential, in harmony with nature. Threats to human survival also include potential ecological catastrophes, such as climate change and population explosion. Exhaustible resources are being used up rapidly, pollution is generated at a rate that in many cases exceeds nature's capacity to render it harmless, and many species are becoming rapidly extinct, while the human population may soon exceed a sustainable level, if it has not already done so. Many vital old cultures are disappearing, and many people are denied elementary rights and freedom. The growing interdependence of the world has given rise to a series of global problems that states can no longer solve by themselves. Only through worldwide cooperation can we cope with such issues as preventing climate shifts, stabilizing the population growth, preventing nuclear winter/nuclear terrorism, 10114.03.txt[5/3/2017 11:54:34 AM] having a code of conduct in the international arms trade, stopping the use of children in government as well as insurgent armies. And to achieve all this there is an urgent need to strengthen the United Nations. But above all the people have to voice their opinion and make their governments change policies. The importance of people and NGOs is manifested in that some international NGOs have memberships of millions of people, which in certain cases is more than the population of entire countries. In this People for Peace Conference, we cannot touch on all issues, hence it will focus on four themes. One goal of this People for Peace Conference is to provide input for the 1999 PEACE CONFERENCE IN THE HAGUE on these four global issues. In this conference, specifically let us find the moral, spiritual and political will to do what our leaders know must be done but cannot bring themselves to do: - Abolish weapons of mass destruction; - Abolish the arms trade, or at least reduce it to levels compatible with the prohibition of aggression enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations; - Stop the cruel practice of using child soldiers; - Strengthen the United Nations. CONFERENCE DETAILS DATE 17-19 August 1998 LOCATION Peace Center Burg, Schlaining, Austria PROPOSED NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 150-200 COST Details not yet available, but assistance to participants from developing countries is expected FORMAT The People for Peace Conference will bring together a wide variety of groups to facilitate the development of new ideas and projects, as well as to create plans for sustained follow- up activities. The participants of such a large number of organizations from activist to strategic to government backgrounds will allow for extensive networking and collaboration across a variety of sectors. The conference will discuss the full spectrum of initiatives integral to the promotion of peace in the 21st century with special reference to the four themes. The conference will have plenary meetings every day at which major world leaders will address the conference on the day's key Agenda item, which will be followed by a variety of lectures, panel discussions, round table sessions and other activities. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 10114.03.txt[5/3/2017 11:54:34 AM] Organizing Committee The functions of the organizing committee include: Development and implementation of key agenda items; Dissemination of information to; and Cooperation with other interested organizations; Arrange the key staff for this conference. Coordinating Committee The Coordinating Committee is the core group of citizens responsible for the entire project. Its functions include: - Oversight of the legal, administrative and financial aspects of the People for Peace Conference; - Responsibility for fund raising; - Establishment of an Honorary Committee comprising renowned individuals; - Outreach to media, governments and citizens organizations. Participating Organizations A variety of citizens' organizations will participate in the conference. They will: - Assist in the development of the key agenda items; - Provide practical and logistical support throughout the various stages of the conference; - Organize delegations to participate in the conference; - Conduct outreach and dissemination of information. Honorary Committee An Honorary Committee comprising world leaders, Nobel laureates, peace activists, and others is being established to provide advice and vision to the People for Peace Conference. Honorary Advisory Committee An Advisory Committee, comprised of individual scholars, representatives of key academic bodies and activist organiza- tions, will be formed to provide expert assistance and input in the formulation of the Conference Agenda for the four themes. 10114.03.txt[5/3/2017 11:54:34 AM] ABOLITION 2000 EMAIL ADDRESSES: 254 subscribers as of 12/97: PLEASE FILL IN THE BLANKS! [email protected] Dietrich Fischer [email protected]