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December 2010

Thanks to the support of our donors and colleagues in 2010, Reaching Critical Will was able to facilitate and enhance NGO access to and participation in the NPT Review Conference; provide timely reporting and analysis from the Review Conference, the Conference on Disarmament, the UN General Assembly’s First Committee, the Biennial Meeting of States on small arms and light weapons, and thefirst preparatory committee of the Arms Trade Treaty negotiating process; and offer comprehensive archives of statements, resolutions, and other official documents from these meetings.

We were also able to coordinate, edit, and publish an anthology of NGO experts writing about the current realities of nuclear disarmament, Beyond arms control; work with partners such as the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) to promote the nuclear weapons convention; and highlight some of the most exciting initiatives from civil society on nuclear disarmament, such as the Los Alamos Study Group’s campaign to prevent the construction of new nuclear weapon production facilities.In 2011, Reaching Critical Will will strive to continue being your source for information and analysis on intergovernmental debates and negotiations on disarmament and arms control. Our website will be undergoing a revitalization that will make our current and archived information more accessible and useful. We will be undertaking some exciting new projects with several different NGO colleagues focusing on nuclear weapons and will expand our efforts to cover conventional arms control issues as well. At the same time, we will continue providing the facilitation, reporting, and archiving services upon which you have come to rely.To do so, we will require your continued support of the project! These are financially troubling times. But as we do every year around this time, we ask for your contributions to continue our work. There are many ways you can give: you can sign up for a one-time donation or a monthly pledge through our online credit card service JustGive. You can also donate online through PayPal or write a cheque.For US donors, if you want your donation to be tax deductible, please write a cheque to the Jane Addams Peace Association and write “RCW” in the memo line. All cheques can be mailed to Reaching Critical Will, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 777 UN Plaza, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017, USA.Thank you for considering giving a gift to Reaching Critical Will this year. This will be our last E-News of 2010 but we will look forward to working with all of you again in years to come.

In peace,
Ray Acheson, RCW Project Director

1) Wikileaks and weapons
Few have missed the recent controversial leaks of diplomatic cables by Wikileaks. While most of the media attention has circulated around diplomatic gossip, name calling, and the responsibility of Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange, many of the cables that have received less attention paint interesting pictures of foreign affairs, including multilateral disarmament negotiations. Here are the cables released so far that deal with topics Reaching Critical Will works on.

About the NPT and nuclear disarmament
Aside from highlighting concerns with Iran’s nuclear programme, a number of cables touch upon preparations for the 2010 NPT Review Conference. US officials met with French, British, Russian, Chinese, and Israeli counterparts to discuss preparations and expectations of the Review Conference, in particular the question of a nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East and Egypt’s position on that topic. Many conversations also circulated around the importance of joint P3 or P5 positions in order to “promote achievements on nuclear disarmament”.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/226567

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/140962
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/02/08PARIS245.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2010/02/10PARIS193.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/12/09TELAVIV2757.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/04/09MOSCOW1111.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/10/09BERLIN1271.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/11/09KYIV1942.html

About the IAEA and its Director-General
A few cables touched upon the expectations from the US and other countries on Ambassador Amano as he was appointed Director-General of the IAEA.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/230076
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/226567

FMCT and the CD
Several cables examine the Pakistani position on a fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT) and underlying reasons for its position. Some include discussions on potential Chinese reservations to such treaty. In one of the cables, the Obama administration confirms that future negotiations on a FMCT “would be based on the 2006 draft FMCT text, with an added verification regime that is being worked on.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/236375
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/226567
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/140962
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/02/08PARIS245.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/12/09TELAVIV2757.html

Nuclear cooperation with India
Both the US-India nuclear deal and future civil nuclear cooperation between France and India was touched upon in a couple of cables. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/140962
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/02/08PARIS245.html

CTBT
A few cables touched on US work on ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and its effect on potential ratification by China.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/226567
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2010/02/10PARIS193.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/12/09TELAVIV2757.html

Missiles and missile defence
Missile and missile defence were the topic in many cables from discussions between the US and Eastern European states, as well as with Russia. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/226567
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/140962
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/02/08PARIS245.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2010/02/10PARIS193.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/04/09MOSCOW1111.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/02/09WARSAW170.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/05/09WARSAW467.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/08/09WARSAW876.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/11/09KYIV1942.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2010/02/10STATE17307.html

Cluster munitions
Several discussions on cluster munitions took place between the US and the UK, as well as with France concerning the Convention on Cluster Munitions and countries that have joined this process. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/208206
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/140962
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/02/08PARIS245.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/05/09STATE52368.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/12/08STATE134777.html

Arms trade
While only a few cables discussed the Arms Trade Treaty specifically, several meetings noted and examined different types of arms trade. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/140962
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2007/10/07MOSCOW5154.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/02/08PARIS245.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/04/09MOSCOW1111.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/05/08STATE50524.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/01/09YEREVAN20.html
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/11/09KYIV1942.html

2) 16 days of action against gender violence
Every year since 1991, 25 November–10 December marks the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign. the dates 25 November—International Day Against Violence Against Women—and 10 December—International Human Rights Day—symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including 29 November (International Women Human Rights Defenders Day), 1 December (World AIDS Day), and 6 December (the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre).The theme for the 2010 Days of Activism is “Structures of Violence: Defining the Intersection of Militarism and Violence Against Women”. In an explanation of why this theme was chosen, the Center for Women’s Global Leadership says:

While there are many different ways to define militarism, our working definition outlines militarism as an ideology that creates a culture of fear and supports the use of violence, aggression, or military interventions for settling disputes and enforcing economic and political interests. It is a psychology that often has grave consequences for the true safety and security of women and of society as a whole. Militarism is a distinctive way of looking at the world; it influences how we see our neighbors, our families, our public life, and other people in the world. To embrace militarism is to presume that everyone has enemies and that violence is an effective way to solve problems. To leave militaristic ways of thinking unchallenged is to leave certain forms of masculinity privileged, to leave global hierarchies of power firmly in place, to grant impunity to wartime perpetrators of violence against women. To roll back militarism is to inspire more expansive ideas about genuine security, to bring more women into public life, to create a world built not on the competitive sale of weapons, but on authentic relations of trust and cooperation.

The mission, values, and strategy of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom are particularly related to this year’s theme. In a campaign that will continue until 10 December and beyond, WILPF Sections, the PeaceWomen project, and Reaching Critical Will are researching, compiling, and calculating data on government military spending versus social services expenditure.

For example, the Swedish Section of WILPF found that the amount the Swedish government spent on the Nordic Battle Group (January–June 2001) was 345 million SEK. This same amount, if spent on social services or development and humanitarian assistance, could have given 1,725,000 young girls access to education, health services, food, and clean water.

Please continue checking the PeaceWomen website for updated examples throughout the month.

3) Report from the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)
Beatrice Fihn | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF

The annual meeting of High Contracting Parties of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) was held in Geneva on 25–26 November 2010. One of the main topics of CCW discussions since the 2006 Review Conference has been the issue of cluster munitions. Despite the Convention on Cluster Munitions having entered into force on 1 August 2010, several states parties of the CCW insist on negotiating a protocol on the same topic within the CCW. During 2010, the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) of the CCW continued its mandate to negotiate a Draft Protocol on Cluster Munitions “to address urgently the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions, while striking a balance between military and humanitarian considerations.”

This year, the GGE met from 12 to 16 April and from 30 August to 3 September and was chaired by Mr. Jesus Domingo of the Philippines. Mr. Domingo delivered a verbal report on the Group’s work to the Meeting of States Parties and notified states that there was still no agreement on a Protocol on Cluster Munitions. However, as Chair, he submitted a Chair’s text that contains elements of a Protocol (CCW/GGE/2010-II/WP.2), but which has not yet received consensus.

During the meeting, states mainly discussed if the mandate for the GGE should be extended to 2011 and how such a mandate should be phrased. Many delegations, including Norway, Germany, and Italy, argued that the mandate should include a time limit. Some emphasized that if no agreement has been reached by next year, the mandate shouldn’t be extended passed the next CCW Review Conference. Other countries, such as the Russian Federation, commended the ongoing process and highlighted the progress that had been made so far.

After some discussion, states parties eventually agreed to undertake three additional weeks of negotiations on a protocol on cluster munitions. The mandate for continuing negotiations on a cluster munitions protocol in 2011 now reads:

The Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) will meet from 21 to 25 February, from 28 March to 1 April and from 22 to 26 August 2011. The GGE will conduct preparatory work for the Fourth Review Conference under the overall responsibility of the President Designate. The GGE will continue its negotiations informed by the Chair’s Text on a draft protocol on cluster munitions, and taking into account other past, present and future proposals by delegations, with a view to making a recommendation for consideration by the Fourth Review Conference, to address urgently the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions, while striking a balance between military and humanitarian considerations. The work of the GGE will be supported by experts on relevant issues. The GGE will report to the Fourth Review Conference.

The focus at this year’s meeting on extending the mandate and modifying its wording did not, however, hide the fact that there are some significantly divergent views on the necessity of these negotiations. While the US representative stated, “some delegations and NGOs may view these negotiations as being unnecessary. We strongly disagree. A CCW Protocol that imposes meaningful requirements on approximately 90% of the world’s stockpiles would be an important step forward from a humanitarian standpoint,” views from countries like Norway andGermany and from civil society representatives differed. The Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC) argued that the draft protocol proposed by the chairperson of the GGE “establishes neither meaningful nor immediate prohibitions and it is certainly not compatible with the CCM.” The CMC continued by arguing, “an agreement based on such a hollow prohibition would certainly be an illusory achievement.

”The issue of cluster munitions has certainly drawn attention to the benefits and drawbacks of independent disarmament negotiations such as the Ottawa process versus consensus-based UN processes like the Arms Trade Treaty, the CCW, and even the Conference on Disarmament. The lack of progress in the CCW has proven inadequate in responding to the humanitarian challenges posed by cluster munitions, especially when compared to the concrete actions set out in the Vientiane Declaration and Action Plan adopted at the first Meeting of States Parties to the CCM. While a future CCW protocol might have the advantage of including major stockpile holder such as the US and Russia, the CCM is making a difference on the ground already today.

The Fourth Review Conference of the CCW will be held on 17–25 November 2011, and will be chaired by Ambassador Gancho Ganev of Bulgaria.

4) Upcoming events
Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) Tenth Anniversary Event
9–12 December 2010, New Delhi, India

CDNP is India’s national network of over 200 organisations, including grassroots groups, mass movements and advocacy organisations, as well as individuals. Formed in November 2000, CNDP demands that India and Pakistan roll back their nuclear weapons programmes. CNDP works to raise mass awareness through schools and colleges programmes, publications, audio and visual materials, and campaigning and lobbying at various levels. For its tenth anniversary, CDNP will hold a national convention in New Dehli, “Towards a nuclear weapon free world”. Programmes in English and Hindi are available on CDNP's website.

2011 Sacred Peace Walk
18–25 April 2011, Nevada, USA

Nevada Desert Experience’s 63-mile, annual pilgrimage to the Nevada National Security Site (the NNSS, formerly called the Nevada Test Site) begins on April 18 with an orientation in Las Vegas and preparation for the six-day walk starting on April 19. The main Walk ends on Sunday the 24th, with a special action on Monday the 25th for those who feel called to further direct actions in the desert. A support vehicle is available for those who need extra support, and for emergencies as well. This year Walkers will address the changing face of the NNSS/NTS and on the ongoing Predator and Reaper bombing missions controlled from Creech AFB in Indian Springs en route to the NNSS. The issue of land ownership and control by the Western Shoshone (and by extension, indigenous people’s in general) will also be discussed and reflected upon. For more information, see the Nevada Desert Experience website.

5) Featured news
NATO Strategic Concept
The new North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) 

Strategic Concept, released in November, is “less explicit” than the 1999 version on NATO’s nuclear weapon policy, explains Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists. He notes that while the Strategic Concept “recommits to the ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament, and reaffirms that circumstances in which the alliance could contemplate using its nuclear weapons are ‘extremely remote,’” it “fails to present any steps that reduce the number of or reliance on nuclear weapons.” He goes on:

The new Strategic Concept does not explicitly reduce the role of NATO’s nuclear weapons. Instead, it echoes the Obama administration’s formulation that “as long as nuclear weapons exist,” NATO will remain a nuclear alliance.

And the formulation in the 1999 Strategic Concept that “NATO’s nuclear forces no longer target any country” is gone from the new document. Instead, it states that NATO “does not consider any country to be its adversary.”

Overall, the 2010 document is far less explicit than the 1999 document about what the role of nuclear weapons is. The previous document explicitly described the role “to preserve peace and prevent coercion and war of any kind…by ensuring uncertainty in the mind of any aggressor about the nature of the Allies’ response to military aggression,” and “demonstrate that aggression of any kind is not a rational option.”

The new document, in contrast, describes the role of nuclear weapons in very general terms, essentially with no specifics, and as part of an overall mix of nuclear and conventional capabilities.

Gone is the previous language about U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe providing an essential political and military link between Europe and North America, or that sub-strategic forces provide a link with strategic forces.

Instead, the document states that it is the strategic forces of the United States, in particular, and to some extent Britain and France, that provide the “supreme guarantee of the security of the Alliance”.

US activists on trial for protesting nuclear weapons
On 7 December, the trial of the Disarm Now Plowshares five, who entered the US Navy’s Strategic Weapons Facility (SWFPAC), Pacific on 2 November 2009 in a symbolic act intended to bring light to the immoral and illegal nuclear weapons stored and deployed from there, began in US District Court.

The defense attempted to counter the government’s effort to limit their cross examination. The defense asked the Judge to take judicial notice that nuclear weapons are stored at SWFPAC and attempted to introduce documents citing such evidence, but Judge Benjamin Settle stated they had not yet produced anything from the public record indicating that there are nuclear weapons on the base. The defendants believe that the presence of nuclear weapons at SWFPAC is central to their ability to present any defense. Opening statements began after the lunch recess. The US Attorney Arlen Storm’s first words were, “This is a case about trespass and damaging government property.” The defendants have a different perspective.

The defense attorney Susan Crane started off her opening statement by introducing the defendants and all the humanitarian work they have done in Tacoma and around the world. She then focused on the three central pillars of their defense: the nuclear weapons at SWFPAC are horrendous; they are illegal; it is our duty as citizens to resist them. The jury listened attentively as Crane described the medical and environmental effects of nuclear weapons. She tried to convey to the jury that the use and threatened use of nuclear weapons is a war crime, and was interrupted as the prosecutor objected to the reference to international law. Crane replied, “Alright, I'll go on, but it is hard not to tell the truth.”

In his opening statement, Father Bichsel's voice shook with emotion as he described his experience in Japan hearing the stories of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He said the greatest gift he brought back from his visit was the commission to “please get rid of these nuclear weapons.” Bichsel explained the Disarm Now Plowshares state of mind as they entered SWFPAC, where lethal force is authorized. They went “in solidarity with half the people in our world, who are living under authorized lethal force - without food, without housing, without education, without the possibility of employment. The things that they live under – it’s lethal force. And it’s authorized, it’s not just happenstance that they are living that way. It doesn't have to be that way, and we have the power to change it.”

In his opening statement Bichsel also explained how the consciences of Disarm Now Plowshares have been formed by the people they hope to call as expert witnesses in the coming days: Steven Leeper, Chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation; Angie Zelter, Scottish Plowshares activist and founder of Trident Ploughshares; Dr. David Hall, former president of the Washington State chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility; and Retired Colonel Ann Wright, who resigned from the State Department over the U.S. led invasion of Iraq.

On Wednesday morning the trial will continue as the government presents its case. Trial updates at http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com/

Contact: Leonard Eiger, (425) 445-2190
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
Poulsbo, Washington 98370

Women Say “No to NATO”
On Saturday, 20 November, fourteen purple T-shirts gave London a message: Say No to NATO. Women of antiwar groups spelled out these words in a parade that took them into the pre-Christmas crowds of the capital on the day that Heads of State gathered in Lisbon to endorse a new ‘Strategic Concept’ for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Londoners took notice, enjoying the performance, reaching for a leaflet, but all too often asking “What’s NATO?” The women’s T-shirt action in London was part of a Europe-wide day of protest by feminist antimilitarists. It was mounted by women of the networks Women in Black against War, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp, and Trident Ploughshares. Alongside women from Italy, Germany, and other NATO states, they were pointing out that military expenditure steals money from the education, health and housing services badly needed by women, who carry the main burden of domestic life. In war, women suffer displacement, rape, loss, injury and increased responsibilities. In NATO member states its military bases are a source of social stress in neighbourhoods, of toxic pollution, sexual exploitation and violence. For more information on ‘Women Say No to NATO’ see .

6) Recommended reading
Robert Haddick, “This Week at War: The Paradox of Arms Control,” Foreign Policy, 19 November 2010.

James P. Rubin, “Farwell to the Age of the Treaty,” New York Times, 21 November 2010.

Russ Wellen, “The Frontlines of Disarmament,” Counterpunch, 1 December 2010.

Darwin BondGraham, “Nuking the Social Contract,” Counterpunch, 3 December 2010.