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January 2025 E-News

Military spending is on the rise, technocrats are increasing their influence over governments, and the people and the planet are suffering even more from conflict and war. It is more important than ever that we understand how militarism builds on and fuels our ideas about security and power, and what we can do to stop it. This E-News provides information on upcoming disarmament conferences, gives examples of action being taken around the world to stop the Israeli genocide of Palestinians, and recommends materials that explore the connections between patriarchy and war, masculinities and disarmament diplomacy, and much more! We hope these resources are useful to inspire everyone’s work in the new year!

In this edition:

Upcoming disarmament meetings

Open-ended working group on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in all its aspects

The Open-ended working group (OEWG) on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in all its aspects will convene its organisational session on 6 and 7 February 2025 at the Palais des Nations, United Nations Office in Geneva. The new OEWG was established to  operate for the period of 2024–2028, a decision (79/512) taken at the  First Committee in 2024, when states decided to replace the two OEWGs previously established by resolutions 78/20 and 78/238. 

Tenth Session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Information and Communication Technologies 

The Open-Ended Working Group on Information and Communication Technologies is meeting for its tenth substantive session on 17–21 February 2025 in New York. 

ATT Working Group Meetings

The Working Group meetings of the Arms Trade Treaty are taking place  25–28 February 2025. 

Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 

The Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will take place  3–7 March 2025 in New York, with Ambassador Akan Rakhmetullin  from Kazakhstan serving as President. Check out information about civil society participation at ICAN’s website!

2025 NPT Preparatory Committee 

The Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is scheduled to hold its third session at United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States from 28 April–9 May 2025. Modalities for civil society participation are outlined in this information note, as well as on RCW website. Participation in the 2025 NPT Preparatory Committee requires two steps: accreditation and registration.  All requests for accreditation must be submitted to the secretariat no later than 31 January 2025. If you are a WILPF member who wishes to attend the NPT, reach out to Emma Bjertén ([email protected]) so that we can include your name in WILPF’s accreditation letter. 

Recently concluded disarmament meetings

Meeting of High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) 

On 13–15 November 2024, the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) met in Geneva for their annual meeting. The meeting was held in informal mode, after Russia refused to confirm the Rules of Procedure unless certain restrictions were imposed upon the participation of observers, including civil society, in the meeting. Check out RCW's report for the full scoop! 

General Assembly Voting of First Committee Resolutions

On 24 December, the General Assembly voted on the remaining resolutions adopted in the First Committee. The resolution “Nuclear War Effects and Scientific Research” was adopted as a whole by a vote of 136-3-29; the resolution “Artificial intelligence in the military domain and its implications for international peace and security” was adopted as a whole by a vote of 159-2-5; the resolution “Comprehensive study of the question of nuclear weapon-free zones in all its aspects” was adopted as a whole by a vote of 166-1-0; and the resolution “Group of Scientific and Technical Experts on Nuclear Disarmament Verification” was adopted as a whole by a vote of 164-1-1. You can access the voting records of all First Committee resolutions in the RCW website.

Other conferences

Several other meetings took place at the end of last year. The Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction was held from 18–22 November 2024 in New York. The Fifth Review Conference (5RC) of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on Their Destruction was held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from 25–29 November 2024. The Open-Ended Working Group on Information and Communication Technologies (OEWG on ICTs) met for its ninth substantive session on 2–6 December 2024 in New York. And the fifth session of the Working Group on the Strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention took place in Geneva from 2–13 December 2024 and the 2024 Meeting of States Parties from 16–18 December 2024.

Stop Arming Israel

As the Israeli genocide against Palestinians continues, so does the relentless work to stop it. In the last months, there were several successes resulting from targeted action against corporations and countries supporting Israel’s war in the Middle East. Among these successes: Chevron has halted a $429 million expansion of an Israeli-claimed fossil gas field; the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the United Kingdom’s biggest private-sector pension fund, divested over $100 million from Israeli assets, including Israel Bonds; Machinery supplier Hydrafeed cut ties with Israel's largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems; and the Colombian government in August issued a decree prohibiting the export of coal to Israel. (Image credit: Diaa Alomari)

In line with these efforts, Spain denied port access to US arms shipments to Israel on three separate instances in May and November last year. Now, Spain is being investigated by the United States (US). Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares confirmed the government’s decision to block arms shipments to Israel, saying, “We are not going to contribute to any more arms reaching the Middle East. The Middle East needs peace.” In May last year, Spain also denied entry to the Danish-flagged ship Marianne Danica at the port of Cartagena for carrying arms to Israel.

A growing number of countries have been supporting an end to arms transfers to Israel. This was demonstrated last November, when 52 states, including Norway, China, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Namibia, Indonesia, Türkiye, signed a letter calling for an arms embargo on Israel. This move followed the historic resolution  in the General Assembly in September and the earlier ICJ opinion on which it was based. In November, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the League of Arab States adopted a resolution in their joint summit also calling for an arms embargo on Israel. 

Amnesty International also called for an end to arms transfers to Israel in a recently launched investigation, which concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The organisation stressed, “States that continue to transfer arms to Israel at this time must know they are violating their obligation to prevent genocide and are at risk of becoming complicit in genocide. All states with influence over Israel, particularly key arms suppliers like the USA and Germany, but also other EU member states, the UK and others, must act now to bring Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza to an immediate end.” 

The harms caused by arms being transferred to Israel have been further demonstrated by a recent reportpublished by Airwars. In the report, the organisation concluding that the the harm to civilians from the first month of the Israeli campaign in Gaza is incomparable with any 21st century air campaign. “It is by far the most intense, destructive, and fatal conflict for civilians that Airwars has ever documented,” said the organisation. The report highlights that at least 5,139 civilians were killed in Gaza in 25 days in October 2023, which is nearly four times more civilians reported killed in a single month than in any conflict Airwars has documented since it was established in 2014. The report also found that over the course of 25 days, a minimum of 1,900 children were killed by Israeli military action in Gaza, the highest number Airwars ever recorded.

Despite this, some countries are trying to repress action against arms transfers to Israel. Moroccan human rights defender and agricultural engineer Ismail Lghazaoui, for example, has been incarcerated for protesting against the docking of ships carrying US military equipment to Israel. In the UK, many Palestine Action protestors have also been arrested for their interventions and blockades at Elbit arms production sites, though most have been released. Repression of student activism continues across countries that are sending weapons to Israel, including the expulsion or suspension of individual students and repression of pro-Palestinian activism and symbols on campuses.

In light of all the harm being perpetrated by Israel, in December 2024 in a joint press conference, independent human rights experts Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Ocupied Palestinian Territories, Margaret Satterthwaite, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter Terrorism, and George Katrougalos, UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in Syria, Lebanon, and Iran.

20th Anniversary of Deportate, Esuli, Profughe focuses on feminism and disarmament

The 20th anniversary special issue of the Italian journal Deportate, Esuli, Profughe opens with an editorial that traces the history of the magazine, the changes in its structure, the themes addressed over the years, and their constant interweaving. RCW’s Director Ray Acheson wrote the introduction for this issue, focusing on feminist and queer contributions to abolishing nuclear weapon and war. The rest of the edition looks at feminist and ecofeminist reflections on war violence, the relationship between militarism and planetary destruction, between patriarchy and the development of armaments, and more, centring transnational activism and decolonial perspectives. 


Routledge Handbook of Masculinities, Conflict, and Peacebuilding

A new publication about men and masculinities in conflict and peacebuilding is now available online and for preorder for hardcopies to be released in February 2025. The Routledge Handbook of Masculinities, Conflict, and Peacebuilding features an analysis that goes beyond “direct, physical, conflict-related violence to examine less visible forms of violence and power as well as other ways in which masculinities interact with conflict and peace.” RCW Director has authored a chapter in the book titled “Confronting Masculinities and Breaking Binaries in Disarmament Diplomacy.” Dean Peacock and Angelica Pino, also from WILPF, have written the article “Seeing the Forest for the Trees: The case of a more structural approach to countering militarised masculinities and mobilising men for feminist peace,” together with Laura Pascoe and Patrick Welsh. 

Gender and Disarmament Database: Recommendation of the month

Our recommendation of the month is Advancing Gender and Inclusivity in Small Arms Control: Key Takeaways from RevCon4, a new joint WILPF and GENSAC publication. In June 2024, the UN convened the Fourth Review Conference (RevCon4) for the UN Programme of Action (UNPoA) on the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and its International Tracing Instrument (ITI). This publication outlines the provisions of the adopted outcome document that relate to gender, inclusivity, and small arms and contextualises the language included therein. It also offers suggestions to advance this work in upcoming meetings of the UNPoA and ITI.

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.  

Upcoming events

Conferences

Open-ended working group on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in all its aspects
6–7 February 2025 | Geneva, Switzerland

Tenth Session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Information and Communication Technologies
17–21 February 2025 | New York, USA

ATT Working Group Meetings
25–28 February 2025 | Geneva, Switzerland

Third Meeting of States Parties of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
3–7 March 2025 | New York, United States

First Session of the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
3–7 March 2025 | Geneva, Switzerland 

Events

Evolving Legal Challenges to the Arms Trade
14 January 2025 | Online 

Moving the Humanitarian Disarmament Agenda Forward
15 January 2025 | Online

U.S. Border: Understanding the Guns and Immigration Link
16 January 2025 | Online

Webinar & Report Launch: Environmental Impact of Explosive Weapons in Southern Ukraine 
16 January 2025 | Online

Autonomous Armageddon: Nuclear Weapons and AI
26 January 2025 | Online

Considérations technologiques dans les cadres pour les femmes, la paix et la sécurité
3 February 2025 | In person and online

Global Day of Action to #CloseBases
23 February 2025 | Multiple locations

Global Conference on AI, Security and Ethics
27–28 March 2025 | In person and online 

8th Annual SYP Conference
15 March 2025 | London and online

Student / Young Pugwash (SYP)  is accepting applications from students and young professionals to present their thoughts and findings on peace, security and disarmament in the upcoming conference “Stepping back from the brink of nuclear war: fresh thinking on peace and disarmament,” which will take place in London and online on Saturday, 15 March.  SYP is welcoming submissions from students at all levels of study, non-academics, and from all disciplines. The deadline to apply is on 31 January.

Featured news

Hiroshima survivor dies at age 92

Shigeko Sasamori, who was severely burned at 13 years old when the United States drop a nuclear weapon in Hiroshima, passed away on 15 December 2024 at her home. Ms. Sasamori spent her life speaking against nuclear war to audiences around the world. “I have a mission to tell people that this should not happen again,” she told a US Senate subcommittee investigating the effects of nuclear war on human health in 1980. “I tell people how horrible it was and how horribly we suffered even though we were children. The next generation of children has come into the world, and I fear for them.”

Utah Quietly Downgrades Northrop Grumman Worker Death Charges 

In 2023, two Northrop Grumman employees, Jonathan Steinke, 24, and Ken Tran, 48, were killed at a missile plant south of Salt Lake City, Utah. As reported by Inkstick Media, they were asphyxiated by leaking argon gas, which displaces oxygen, in a basement area of an industrial complex known as the Bacchus Works that was originally a dynamite plant built back in 1913. The Magna plant nowadays is part of the supply chain for the new intercontinental ballistic missile, Sentinel. After originally categorizing the workplace safety violations as willful and serious, Utah Occupational Health and Safety recently downgraded the charges and fined the company a mere $81,000, allowing the third largest US military contractor to continue to put its workers in peril while it manufacturers weapons of mass destruction. 

Research reveals that the UK’s nuclear stockpile is increasing

An article written by Hans M. Kristensen, Matt Korda, Eliana Johns, and Mackenzie Knight, from the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project, states that for decades the UK has maintained a stockpile of approximately 225 nuclear warheads, but that the stockpile is now increasing. “The United Kingdom is currently building a new class of Dreadnaught-class submarines and developing a new nuclear warhead. In addition, it is expected that the United Kingdom will eventually increase the size of its arsenal and that Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath will regain a United States Air Force nuclear mission in the coming years.”

Arms producers see revenues rise amidst war and regional tensions 

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that arms revenue increases were seen in all regions, with particularly sharp rises among companies based in Russia and the Middle East. In 2023 many arms producers ramped up their production in response to surging demand. “There was a marked rise in arms revenues in 2023, and this is likely to continue in 2024,” said Lorenzo Scarazzato, a Researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme. “The arms revenues of the Top 100 arms producers still did not fully reflect the scale of demand, and many companies have launched recruitment drives, suggesting they are optimistic about future sales.”

Military AI tool provides “worthless” advice according to experts 

The Intercept reports that the startup Scale AI is using Meta’s technology “Llama” to create an AI tool for militaries that provides advice on airstrikes. While Scale AI says that the dataset was trained on international humanitarian law and other relevant policies, the demo examples used have been described as “useless” by experts. Jessica Dorsey, a professor at Utrecht University School of Law and scholar of automated warfare methods, warned that the system seems to entirely circumvent the ostensible legal obligations military planners are supposed to be held to. “The reductionist/simplistic and almost amateurish approach indicated by the example is quite dangerous,” she said.

Palantir and Anduril join forces with tech groups to apply for military contracts 

Palantir and Anduril, two US military companies, are in talks to form a consortium with dozen other companies to jointly apply for US military contracts. The Financial Times reports that likely members of this consortium include “SpaceX, ChatGPT maker OpenAI, autonomous shipbuilder Saronic, and artificial intelligence data group Scale AI.”

Two US states sue Glock over machine gun conversion

Reuters reports that Attorneys general from two US states, Minnesota and New Jersey, are suing Glock on for of making handguns that are easily modified to fire as illegal machine guns through a cheap add-on known as a “Glock switch.” According to Reuters, “The lawsuits said the $20 switches transform Glock handguns, which the complaints said were the most popular brand, into easily concealable weapons that can fire 1,200 rounds per minute, recklessly endangering the public.”

Poland introduces mandatory firearms training for schoolchildren 

The Polish government has introduced mandatory firearms training for children in primary and secondary schools following the proximity of Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. Children as young as 14 years old are now participating in gun training sessions in schools, which include shooting training and basic first aid. 

Survivors of torture support a torture-free trade treaty

On 6 December 2024, survivors and organizations from across the globe published the Declaration from Survivors of Torture: In Support of a Torture-Free Trade Treaty, underscoring the need for international action to end the unregulated production, sale, trade, and use of tools of torture. 

US Judge considers NSO Group liable for hacks on WhatsApp done using Pegasus spyware

NSO Group, the developer of the Pegasus spyware, was found liable for its role in the infection of devices belonging to 1,400 WhatsApp users. “The precedent-setting ruling from a Northern California federal judge could lead to massive damages against NSO Group, whose notorious spyware has been reportedly used, and often abused, by a roster of anonymous government clients worldwide,” writes Suzanne Smalley for The Record.

Colombia becomes the world’s largest exporter of mercenaries

A piece produced by Diego Stacey for the El Pais explores how thousands of former Colombian military personnel are hired for large sums to fight in wars or to serve as private security abroad. The article explores how these people, who are usually former military personnel who retire at an early age and have little training for any activity other than combat, are promised large payments to fight in countries like Sudan and Ukraine, or to work as bodyguards or security guards in the United Arab Emirates or Mexico.

Recommended resources

William Hartung, “AEI would print money for the Pentagon if it could,” Responsible Statecraft, 10 January 2025

François Diaz-Maurin, “The nuclear year in review: Welcome to the antechamber of the next nuclear crisis,”Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 3 January 2025

Riddhi Kanetkar and Hasan Chowdhury, “Big Tech's AI bets are driving a nuclear renaissance. Not everyone is buying the hype,” Business Insider, 30 December 2024 

Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom, “The rise and fall of Sweden’s nuclear disarmament advocacy,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 29 December 2024

American Bar Association Center for Human Rights, “Pursuing Accountability for the Arms Trade: A Primer on European and UK Laws and Mechanisms,” 20 December 2024

Elizabeth Minor, “Opportunities after the UNGA Resolution on Autonomous Weapons: Moving Toward a New Treaty,” Humanitarian Disarmament, 20 December 2024

Gergely Hideg, “Balancing Control and Awareness: Firearms and Safety in Ukraine,” Small Arms Survey, 20 December 2024

David Cortright and William D. Hartung, “When It Comes To Nuclear Weapons, Tell It Like It Is,” Inkstick, 10 December 2024

Cesar Jaramillo, “Amid Gaza carnage, Canada must step up to vigorously defend IHL,” Project Ploughshares, 10 December 2024

 ICAN, “TPNW Third Meeting of States Parties: Policy Overview and Recommendations,” December 2024

Daniel Mack, "Has the firearms industry even heard of Human Rights Due Diligence?," Global Rights Compliance, December 2024

Podcast: MV Ramana, “Nuclear Won’t Meet Tech’s Energy Demands,” Tech Won’t Save Us, 28 November 2024

Kaya Nadesan, “The Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons: We Need More from States,” Humanitarian Disarmament, 26 November 2024

Hiruni Alwishewa, "Addressing the Human Rights Risks of Financing the Arms Industry: Insights from Banks’ Corporate Policies," Business and Human Rights Journal, Cambridge University Press, 25 November 2024

Ray Acheson, “Grappling With Genocide at the United Nations,” CounterPunch, 24 November 2024

M. V. Ramana, “Dangerous Hype: Big Tech’s Nuclear Lies,” CounterPunch, 1 November 2024