Statements by RCW
WILPF Statement to the 2015 NPT Review Conference
Thank you, Chair.
This morning states began their work nuclear disarmament in Main Committee I. We are looking forward to an intensive debate about how to achieve the full objectives of article VI in this body. As an NGO that monitors implementation of NPT agreements, we have to say that there is much work
to be done in this area.
Five years after the adoption of the NPT Action Plan in 2010 it is clear that compliance with commitments related to nuclear disarmament lags far behind those related to non-proliferation or the so-called peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
On nuclear non-proliferation, states were mainly asked to “stay the course,” hence, there has been success in implementing the actions in the area of nonproliferation.
A positive development since the adoption of the 2010 Action Plan has been the negotiations between Iran and the E3/EU+3, which led to the agreement of a Joint Plan of Action. The parties are still engaged in negotiations to reach a comprehensive...
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WILPF Statement to the 2015 CCW meeting of experts on autonomous weapon systems
In two weeks, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) will celebrate its 100th anniversary. For 100 years, our members have sought an end to war and promoted nonviolent solutions to conflict. For 100 years, we have worked to prevent the development of violent technologies and called instead for the development of norms, principles, practices, and institutions of peace and justice. That is why we have come to this meeting on autonomous weapons here in Geneva. The world around us is embroiled in armed conflict. We are witness to the bombing and shelling of towns and cities, causing the deaths, injuries, and displacement of scores of civilians. We are witness to the rampant international arms trade and profiteering from weapons development and sale. We are witness to the use of armed drones in ways that violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Amidst this backdrop, we are gravely concerned at the possibility of weapons that may...
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WILPF Statement to the Conference on Disarmament on International Women's Day 2015
Thank you, Mr. President. For the last few years, my organisation, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, has been permitted to deliver a statement to the Conference on Disarmament to mark International Women’s Day. For years before that, our statement was read out to the CD by the sitting president. This is the only time of year that any voice from civil society is allowed inside the CD chamber. And this may be the last time our voice is heard here. The CD has not engaged in substantive work in 17 years. A very small minority of states have managed to block the adoption or implementation of a programme of work for all that time. And yet many of the other members refuse to allow a change in working methods, rules of procedure, enlargement of membership, or engagement of civil society. Dear colleagues, on this last point, let me explain to you what it is like being the only civil society organisation that still pays attention to the CD. Last week, for the...
Law and morality at the Vienna conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons
From 28 February–1 March 2015, Ray Acheson, Director of Reaching Critical Will, participated in a symposium hosted by the Helen Caldicott Foundation on "The Dynamics of Possible Nuclear Extinction". She moderated the second day of the symposium and also delivered opening remarks to report back on the Vienna conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. An archived video of her presentation, and the rest of the conference, is available online. The Vienna conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons was the third in a series of international meetings that set out to illuminate and refine our understanding of the devastating effects of nuclear weapons. These conferences have collectively provided irrefutable evidence about the devastating consequences and risks of the use of nuclear weapons. They have also given voice to international organizations and UN agencies, which have emphatically reported that they would not be able to able to effectively respond to...
WILPF statement to the Human Rights Council on armed drones and international law
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is extremely concerned with the use of armed drones both for extrajudicial killings outside of armed conflict and to conduct attacks during conflict. We are concerned with the lack of due process for those on “kill lists” and other violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law; the deaths and injuries of civilians and destruction of civilian objects; the lack of transparency around the operation and targeting of armed drones; the lack of comprehensive and accurate casualty recording; and the apparent lowering of the threshold for the use of force that is enabled by armed drones. WILPF welcomes the work of the Human Rights Council on addressing the use of armed drones, including the reports by Special Rapporteurs Ben Emmerson[1] and Christoph Heyns,[2] and resolution 25/22. We echo their calls for states to comply with international law, including international humanitarian law and...
WILPF Statement to the CCW Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has opposed the development of technology for killing since our founding in 1915. Women from all over the world came together during the midst of a world war to protest the slaughter with what were then considered advanced technologies, such as tanks, machine guns, and chemical weapons. Now we are here in the United Nations, which did not even then exist, to speak out against the development of fully autonomous weapons. We are gravely concerned at the possibility of weapons that may operate without meaningful human control. The use of force has already become too disengaged from human involvement, with the use of armed drones. Autonomous weapons go beyond remotely-controlled drones, devolving life and death decision-making to software and sensors. Deploying autonomous weapon systems that operate without meaningful human control is not legally or ethically acceptable. The laws of war and protection of human beings...
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WILPF Statement to the Conference on Disarmament on International Women's Day 2014
Mr. President, Last year here at the CD, WILPF called on all governments to ensure that the second negotiation conference of the Arms Trade Treaty would include a legally-binding provision on preventing armed gender-based violence. We called for a provision that would not undermine existing international law and places gender-based violence on the same footing as other criteria for refusing arms transfers, such as violations of human rights and international law. The final text, adopted by the General Assembly, now signed by 116 states and on its way towards entry into force, achieved this. It is the first ever treaty that explicitly links gender-based violence with international arms trade. The treaty is one of the most significant achievements of our disarmament community in the last few years. We are now focusing our efforts at ensuring that the treaty will be efficiently implemented in order to help to prevent human suffering and armed violence. This should be the goal of all...
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WILPF position on the negative impact of arms transfers on the human rights of people living in conflict-affected areas
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) welcomes the initiative of a resolution on the “Negative impact of Arms Transfer in the Human Rights of people living in conflict-affected areas”. We believe this is an essential issue and bringing it to the Human Rights Council highlights its obligation to address the varied aspects and factors of human rights. The impact that the global uncontrolled and irresponsible arms trade has on human rights was highlighted in the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the text of which was adopted by the UN General Assembly earlier this year (April 2013). The ATT is the first ever international tool that prohibits the sale of arms if there is a risk that the weapons could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law, including acts of gender-based violence. The ATT fills a gap and builds bridges between regulating the arms trade and enhancing human security by providing a potentially...
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WILPF Statement on Syria, chemical weapons, and avoiding military intervention
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) welcomes the decision by the British Parliament to refuse the endorsement of military action against Syria. Parliament upheld the principle that the use of chemical weapons can never be justified, but reasserted the importance of international law and the UN Charter in dictating any response by the international community. However, media reports indicate that the US government is still intent on a military strike against Syria, even without UK support. It has been WILPF’s position since the first reports of use of gas that the use of chemical weapons is a serious violation of international law, regardless of which party to the conflict perpetrated the attack. But the use of chemical weapons, however abhorrent and illegal, should not be used as a pretext for military intervention. Other options are available and must be pursued. Chemical weapons and international law There is no doubt that the use of chemical weapons...
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Statement of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots to the Human Rights Council 2013
Beatrice Fihn, manager of Reaching Critical Will, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), delivered this statement on behalf of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots to the Human Rights Council on 30 May 2013. I am speaking on behalf of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, an international coalition of non-governmental organizations that was launched last month. My organization, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom is a member. We believe that human control of over the use of violent force is essential for ensuring the protection for civilians. The campaign is calling for a comprehensive ban on fully autonomous weapons that would be able to select and attack targets without meaningful human intervention. This prohibition should be achieved through an international treaty on these fully autonomous weapons as well as through national laws and other measures. The campaign welcomes the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or...
WILPF Statement delivered during the panel I of the OEWG
The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. It represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-‐weapon states. Unfortunately, that commitment does not come with a timeframe or any other requirements rather than committing all states parties to “pursue negotiations” to end the nuclear arms race and to nuclear disarmament. Throughout the years, there have been many attempts to turn article VI into something more concrete. For example, the states parties to the NPT adopted an outcome document in 2000, with 13 Practical Steps to implement the nuclear disarmament obligation. The 13 Practical Steps calls for things like ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), applying...
Remarks from RCW at NPT PrepCom side event on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons
The following are the remarks of Beatrice Fihn of Reaching Critical Will, delivered at a side event at the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty PrepCom, Geneva, 30 April 2013. The event was hosted by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF, and Article 36. Discussing the humanitarian consequences of one or several potential nuclear detonations is not a new issue. It has been raised since 1945, when the devastating effects on Hiroshima and Nagasaki unfolded. The use of nuclear weapons would cause massive destruction, death, disease and long-term harm to human society and the environment. By elaborating on the actual consequences, makes the fact that these weapons are not already outlawed incomprehensible. The issue of nuclear weapons is of global concern. Since the catastrophic consequences of the use of nuclear weapons on health, environmental, and development are at the extreme end of a continuum of armed violence that undermines human...
Presentation on disarmament and development
The following are the remarks of Ray Acheson, Director of Reaching Critical Will, delivered at the launch of the publication "Applying a Disarmament Lens to Gender, Human Rights, Development, Security, Education and Communication: Six Essays," hosted by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and Global Action to Prevent War. For a summary of the event, please see the UNODA website.
New York, 9 April 2013
Thank you to UNODA and Global Action to Prevent War for co-organizing this publication and this launch event. I was very happy to be asked to write and speak about the connections between disarmament and development. My organization, WILPF, has been analyzing the intersections between militarism and economic justice since we were founded in 1915.
Things have changed a lot since then, but some things haven’t changed very much at all.
The world is still in crisis and violent conflict. Economies are entwined in these conflicts and in the production of weapons used to...
WILPF Statement to the Conference on Disarmament on International Women's Day 2013
Madame President, Thank you for again for inviting the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) to address you on the occasion of the International Women Day. International Women’s Day is an occasion upon which WILPF, together with other women’s organisations all over the world, highlights the injustices and discrimination that women face every day. WILPF has since 1915 emphasized the link between women’s rights and military expenditure, the arms trade, and armed violence. In just a few days, all UN members will gather in New York to engage in the second diplomatic conference in order to agree on the world’s first multilateral international arms trade treaty (ATT). WILPF has since 2006 been engaged in the ATT process in order to support the establishment of an international tool that will prevent the transfer of arms when there is a possibility that these weapons might be used to violate international humanitarian law, human rights, or undermine socioeconomic...
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Remarks on Ward Wilson’s “Five myths about nuclear weapons”
The following are the remarks of Ray Acheson, Director of Reaching Critical Will, delivered as a discussant at a book launch and discussion with Ward Wilson, author of Five myths about nuclear weapons. The event was hosted by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) at UN Headquarters. For a summary of the event and a link to Ward Wilson's presentation, please see the UNODA website.
20 February 2013
Thank you to UNODA for inviting me to be a discussant on this panel. And thank you to Ward for this new book.
The basic myths that Ward addresses in this book are those that still capture the popular imagination. When talking to anyone not actively involved in the debate about nuclear weapons, if they are skeptical about getting rid of them it is because of at least one of these myths. Thus the style of the book, its accessibility and straightforward language and structure, will be extremely beneficial for any public discussion on nuclear weapons.
By interrogating five...
Presentation on consensus, political will, nuclear disarmament, and the Conference on Disarmament
Presentation by Ray Acheson, Director of Reaching Critical Will of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, during a panel discussion hosted by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in New York during the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security. 11 October 2012 Thanks very much to UNIDIR for organizing this event and inviting me to speak. UN disarmament machinery is an important topic for Reaching Critical Will, which is the only civil society group still monitoring the CD through fifteen years of deadlock. Along with many governments, we have growing concerns about the stalemate. My comments today will focus on issues of consensus, political will, and achieving nuclear disarmament. Consensus Some governments and civil society actors have repeatedly warned that blind faith in, and strict interpretation of, the consensus rule have badly damaged UN-affiliated disarmament machinery. Over the years,...
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WILPF Statement to the Human Rights Council on children and armed conflict
September 2012
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom welcomes the annual report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (A/HRC/21/38), in particular the section on the emerging concerns over use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
However, we note with concern that the links between the proliferation and illicit trade in small arms and light weapons and children and armed conflict were not addressed in this report. The recently-concluded review conference on the UN Programme of Action on small arms called for “improved understanding of the different concerns and needs” of children in this context.
Regarding explosive weapons, Save the Children UK has stated that: “the use of explosive weapons in populated areas has a devastating impact on children. As well as killing and injuring [they are] denying children access to healthcare and education, and ruining their futures.”
In 2012, we have already seen...
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WILPF Statement to the Human Rights Council on nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands
September 2012 The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on Toxic Waste on the human rights impact of US nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands (A/HRC/21/48/Add.1). Though 50 years have passed since the United States ceased testing nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands, many residents still suffer from the long-term health effects. There has been no “durable solution” to the displacement of communities or long-term measures to tackle the consequences of the testing. Nuclear testing has been proven to affect basic human rights in communities, including the right to food, adequate housing, and health. Studies of the human health effects of exposure to fallout and remaining nuclear waste in the Marshallese environment has shown documented health problems, such as changes in red blood cell production and subsequent anemia, metabolic and related disorders; immune system vulnerabilities; osteoarthritis and other...
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WILPF statement to the Conference on Disarmament on International Women's Day 2011
Also see information about the 2011 WILPF IWD seminar The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), talking on behalf of women from around the world, has taken this opportunity to address the Conference on Disarmament on International Women’s Day, a day that has linked women’s engagement in political processes for peace and justice since 1911, celebrating 100 years this year. We appreciate the opportunity to speak directly to the Conference in a plenary meeting for the second year in a row. Yesterday, WILPF organized our annual International Women’s Day seminar on disarmament here at the United Nations here in Geneva. This year, the seminar focused on United Nations General Assembly resolution 65/69 on “Women, disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control”, adopted without a vote in 2010. Participants discussed the importance of including the women, peace, and security agenda within international security debates and decisions in general, and in disarmament and...
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