August 2024 E-News
In the past weeks we have seen continued arms transfers to Israel amidst the ongoing genocide in Gaza. While the violations and disrespect for international law continue, we saw positive developments in other parts of the world. The historic victory for Aboriginal-led antinuclear organising in Australia ensures that no uranium mining will take place at Jabiluka in the Northern Territory. This result was gained after decades of struggle to defend the land and culture from damage caused by uranium mining. This edition of our E-News includes information about this victory, as well as news on the recent report of the UN Secretary-General about autonomous weapons. It highlights actions undertaken to commemorate of the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, and shares a WILPF report hot of the press about the nexus between the nuclear and fossil fuel industries. As usual, you will also find information about upcoming disarmament conferences and events, and more!
In this edition:
- Upcoming disarmament meetings
- Recently concluded disarmament meetings
- New publication: 'Petrobromance,' Nuclear Priesthood, and Police Repression
- Anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings
- Jabiluka is safe from uranium mining forever!
- UN Secretary-General publishes report on autonomous weapons
- Gender and Disarmament database: Recommendation of the Month
- Upcoming events
- Featured News
- Recommended Resources
Current and upcoming disarmament meetings
Tenth Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty
The Tenth Conference of States Parties (CSP10) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 19–23 August 2024. Check out RCW’s website for documents and statements, as well as RCW’s Briefing Paper to ATT Delegations on Arms Transfers to Israel.
On Friday, 23 July, at 13:15, WILPF, Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva, Control Arms, SIPRI and PAX will be hosting the side-event “The Right of Access to Information and Arms Transfers: Preventing Lethal Secrecy.” Speakers at the event will examine states’ and the arms industry’s obligations and responsibilities respectively under international law to respect and ensure the right of access to information on arms transfers, highlight salient challenges when it comes to reporting practices on arms transfers, and the consequences these challenges have for accountability and oversight.
Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
The Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS) is meeting for its second session of the year from 26–30 August 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. To learn what was discussed in the first session, you can read our CCW Report. Subscribe to receive coverage of the upcoming session!
12th Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
The 12th Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions is taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 10–13 September 2024.
UN General Assembly High-Level Debate
The 79th session of the UN General Assembly high-level debate is scheduled to open on 24 September 2024. As in previous years, Reaching Critical Will will track references to disarmament and arms control for our country-based index.
Recently concluded disarmament meetings
2024 Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee
The Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) held its second session from 22 July to 2 August 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Committee managed to adopt a procedural report, but the fight over the Chair’s summary, and the mounting dangers outside the conference room, risk dragging the treaty, and the planet, into the shallows. Find statements, working papers, documents, and more on the Reaching Critical Will website. Also see our reporting and analysis from the conferece in the NPT News in Review.
New publication: 'Petrobromance,' Nuclear Priesthood, and Police Repression
Reaching Critical Will, together with WILPF's Environment and Women, Peace and Security programmes, published a new report investigating the nexus between the nuclear and fossil fuel industries, and state repression of activism against these industries.
The report is called 'Petrobromance,' Nuclear Priesthood, and Police Repression: Feminist Confrontations of Violent Industries, and Movements to Abolish Them. It analyses, from a feminist and gender-transformative perspective, trends and parallels in how the nuclear and fossil fuel industries operate and entrench their power; their impacts on communities, including gendered impacts; and the ways in which resistance against these industries is suppressed by police, militaries, and private military and security companies. Drawn from research and consultation with activists, organisers, academics, and members of impacted communities, this research aims to create a shared knowledge base and illuminate paths forward for deeper collaboration across movements, including, but not limited to, among antinuclear, environmental, and land and water defence movements.
Anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings
On 6 and 9 August of 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, one over Hiroshima and one over Nagasaki. Before the year ended an estimated 140,000 people in Hiroshima, and another 70,000 in Nagasaki was killed, with countless others experiencing enduring health issues and trauma as a result of the use of nuclear weapons in these cities. Survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, known as hibakusha, faced not only unimaginable pain on the days of the bombings but also lifelong health challenges, including radiation-related illnesses and birth defects. (Image credit: WILPF)
In the Nagasaki memorial ceremony this year, the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany, Italy, and Canada decided to boycott the event due to Israel not being invited to the ceremony. Meanwhile activists and survivors organised multiple initiatives to comemorate the date in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as around the world, including in Canada, Italy, England, Scotland, and more.
Earlier this month, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) launched the report “The Impact of Nuclear Weapons on Children,” which explores the impacts on children of nuclear weapons use on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as of nuclear testing in Australia, Kazakhstan and the Marshall Islands.
Jabiluka is safe from uranium mining forever!
In another historic victory for Aboriginal-led antinuclear organising in Australia, no uranium mining will take place at Jabiluka in the Northern Territory (NT). The fight to protect Jabiluka from uranium mining has been ongoing for decades, led by the Mirarr Traditional Owners with support from antinuclear, environmental, and Land Back organisations from across Australia. On Friday, 26 July 2024 the NT Mines Minister, acting on the advice of the federal government, decided not to extend the Jabiluka mining lease. This means that once the current lease expires on 11 August, Jabikula will be free from the threat of mining, and the government will work with the Mirarr to incorporate Jabiluka into Kakadu National Park. (Picture credit: Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation)
This amazing news comes after decades of struggle to prevent mining at Jabiluka. The Jabiluka uranium deposit is surrounded by the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, on the lands of the Mirarr people. In the 1990s, the Mirarr led a successful campaign to stop mining at Jabiluka, drawing in local and national environmental groups and international organisations like UNESCO. In 1998, over 5000 people took part in a non-violent direct action blockade at Jabiluka. The mining company back then agreed not to develop Jabiluka without the Mirarr’s specific consent, but the lease remained open. Now, the area will be protected.
“We have always said no to this mine, government and mining companies told us they would mine it but we stayed strong and said no. Today I feel very happy that Jabiluka will be safe forever. Protecting country is very important for my family and for me,” said Mirarr Senior Traditional Owner Yvonne Margarula in response to the decision. Mirarr Traditional Owner Corben Mudjandi said, the decision against the mining lease “proves that people standing strong for Country can win.”
UN Secretary-General publishes report on autonomous weapons
The United Nations Secretary-General released his report on autonomous weapons systems (AWS), which was mandated by the 2023 resolution adopted in the First Committee. The report brings together the views of states, civil society, academia, industry, and others. As highlighted by Stop Killer Robots, the key take away from the report is “time is running out for the international community to take preventive action on this issue.”
Stop Killer Robots stressed: “After ten years of international discussions, new international law is the only effective way to start to address the range of issues – humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical – raised by autonomous weapons systems. States have the opportunity to take meaningful action at the UN General Assembly, which opens in September.” For a summary of made submissions, check out the publication prepared by Automated Decision Research. (Image credit: Stop Killer Robots)
The report contributes to the increasing momentum towards negotiations of a legally binding instrument banning AWS. Earlier this year, during the Vienna Conference on Autonomous Weapons, the Chair’s Summary highlighted the commitment to "work with urgency and with all interested stakeholders for an international legal instrument to regulate autonomous weapons systems." When writing this newsletter 35 states have associated themselves with the Chair’s summary and the list continues to grow!
Gender and Disarmament database: Recommendation of the Month
Our recommendation of the month is the report “Preventing gender-based violence through arms control: tools and guidelines to implement the Arms Trade Treaty and UN Programme of Action,” published by WILPF. Launched in 2017, this report remains relevant in providing tools and guidelines for effective implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty and the UN Programme of Action on small arms and light weapons provisions related to gender-based violence.
The Gender and Disarmament Database, created and maintained by Reaching Critical Will, features a wide range of resources such as reports, articles, books and book chapters, policy documents, podcasts, legislation, and UN documents. The database allows the exploration of relevant resources based on their references to distinctive gender aspects in disarmament, such as gender-based violence, gender norms, or gender diversity, and different related topics or types of weapon systems. It currently contains more than 800 resources. Suggestions of new additions can be sent to disarm[at]WILPF[dot]com.
Conferences
Tenth Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty
19–23 August 2024 | Geneva, Switzerland
Second Session of the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
26–30 August 2024 | Geneva, Switzerland
UN General Assembly high-level debate
24 September–01 October 2024 | New York, United States
Other events
The Right of Access to Information and Arms Transfers: Preventing Lethal Secrecy
23 August 2024 | Geneva, Switzerland
Global Week of Action Against Nuclear Spending
16–20 September
European Comission anounces steep increase in military budget to advance new weapons
The European Comission has announced a dramatic increase in its defense budget to 7.3 billion EUR for 2021-2027, up from 590 million EUR that was invested 2017-2020. This equals an increase from 142 million EUR to one billion EUR a year. Luca Zorloni, writing for Wired, reports that the funding will advance military technologies, including autonomous drones, AI systems, and next generation weapons.
New Zealand shuts down advisory group on autonomous weapons
Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New Zealand has shut down the Autonomous Weapon Systems Working Group due to ‘resourcing constraints.’ Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Todd McClay said in a statement that “lack of international progress towards agreement on rules and limits” on autonomous weapon systems was one of the reasons for the discontinuation of the working group.
In another news, RNZ reported that New Zealand has been actively involved in joint military exercises with the US and other allies by focusing on integrating advanced AI-powered systems into military operations. These exercises are aimed at enhancing the efficiency of “kill chains” and developing what is termed a “kill web’’.
Fire breaks out at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
A fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) earlier this month. The International Atomic Energy Agenda (IAEA) said it saw "strong dark smoke" coming from the facility, but that there was "no impact reported" for nuclear safety. Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the fire.
Navajo Nation bans transport of uranium and other radioactive material over its land
Democracy Now reports that in the United States, the Navajo Nation has temporarily banned any transport of uranium and other radioactive material over its land without an explicit approval. The executive order, which will be in effect for at least the next six months, follows the unnotified transport of two trucks carrying uranium ore across the reservation from an Arizona mine to a Utah processing mill by Energy Fuels Inc.
South African Court orders the suspension of arms sales to Myanmar
A South African Court ordered the countrie’s national arms regulator to suspend and review all permits granted for the sale of weapons to Myanmar. The ruling also obliges the national arms regulator to suspend, review, and possibly even cancel permits for exports to governments in place via a coup or suspected of crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide. Human rights organisations said that from 2017 to 2021, South Africa exported 11.9 million USD worth of arms to Myanmar.
United States lifts ban on sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia
The US announced a decision to lift a ban on sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia. The ban had been placed three years ago over concerns with the war in Yemen. According to Reuters, “the opposition has softened amid turmoil in the Middle East following Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel and because of changes in the conduct of the campaign in Yemen.”
United States aproves 20 billion USD in weapons to Israel
Despite concerns about international law violations by Israel in its war against Palestinians, the US approved another 20 billion USD in weapons transfers to Israel. The transfer includes fighter jets, missiles, tank ammunition, high explosive mortars, and tactical vehicles.
British diplomat resigns over arms sales to Israel
Mark Smith, a British Foreign Office official, resigned in protest at arms sales to Israel, affirming that the UK government “may be complicit in war crimes”. The BBC reports that Mr Smith, who previously worked in Middle East arms export licensing assessment for the UK government, said he had raised concerns “at every level” in the Foreign Office, including through an official whistleblowing mechanism. In his resignation letter, he said that there was “no justification for the UK's continued arms sales to Israel”.
Amazon and other tech giants are storing data on Palestinians for Israel’s war
An investigation by +972 and Local Call revealed that “the Israeli army is using Amazon’s cloud service to store surveillance information on Gaza’s population, while procuring further AI tools from Google and Microsoft for military purposes.” According to multiple sources interviewed for the investigation, the exponential capacity of the cloud system allows the Israeli army to have “endless storage” for holding intelligence on almost “everyone” in Gaza. Workers from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are organising under the campaign “No Tech for Apartheid” and have signed a joint statement against their companies’ contracts with Israel.
New interactive map reveals connections between surveillance companies and their funding sources
“Surveillance Watch” is an initative recently launched that documents the connections within the surveillance industry. Founded by privacy advocates, most of whom were personally harmed by surveillance tech, the initiative maps out the intricate web of surveillance companies, their subsidiaries, partners, and financial backers, with the aim “to expose the enablers fueling this industry's extensive rights violations, ensuring they cannot evade accountability for being complicit in this abuse.”
Drone whistleblower is finally free
Daniel Hale, who was arrested a decade ago for disclosing documents and speaking publicly about the limits and failures of US drone warfare, has finished his sentence on July 2024. He had been in home confinement since February, after having served the majority of his 45-month sentence at a federal prison in the US. Hale, a veteran of the US Air Force, participated in the US drone program and later became an outspoken opponent of the US targeted killings program.
Setsuko Thurlow, “I survived the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. Canada still hasn’t learned the lesson from that day,” Toronto Star, 7 August 2024
“A Diplomat’s Guide to Autonomous Weapons Systems,” Future of Life, 5 August 2024
Ray Acheson, “Gun Violence and the Marketing of Militarism,” CounterPunch, 28 July 2024
M.V. Ramana and Jixiang Wang, “More Nuclear Reactors? Deceptive Tunes from the Pied Piper of Vienna,” CounterPunch, 26 July 2024
Murray Hogarth, “Behind the plans for Australia to become a nuclear dumping ground and leverage synergies with the US military alliance and civilian nuclear,” The Fifth Estate, 22 July 2024
Ray Acheson, Joshua Frank, and Erik Wallenberg, “AUKUS and Divestment,” CounterPunch Radio, 19 July 2024
Lama Abdul Samad, Martin Butcher and Bushra Khalidi, “Water War Crimes: How Israel has weaponised water in its military campaign in Gaza,” Oxfam International, 18 July 2024
Elizabeth Minor, “Why the new UK government should support a treaty on autonomous weapons,” Rethinking Security, 17 July 2024
Jessica West and and Vaishnavi Panchanadam, “Hidden Harms: Human (In)security in Outer Space: Consultation Report,” Ploughshares, 10 July 2024
Spencer Akerman, “These Corporations Are the True ‘Winners’ of the War on Gaza,” The Nation, 9 July 2024
Dave Maass, “Hundreds of Tech Companies Want to Cash In on Homeland Security Funding. Here’s Who They Are and What They’re Selling,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, 8 July 2024
Tiara R. Na’puti and Riley I. Taitingfong, “Unsettling Intercultural Communication: Settler Militarism and Indigenous Resistance From Oceania,” in Thomas K. Nakayama and Rona Halualani (eds.), The Handbook of Critical Intercultural Communication (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2024).
Riley Simmons-Edler, Ryan Paul Badman, Shayne Longpre, Kanaka Rajan, “Position: AI-Powered Autonomous Weapons Risk Geopolitical Instability and Threaten AI Research,” Proceedings of the 41st International Conference on Machine Learning, July 2024.
Alexandria Burkie and Emily Tripp, “Community response to the use of explosive weapons in Syria,” Fragments, June 2024