A four-day international conference of doctors, lawyers, scientists and nuclear experts from 27 countries concluded in Basel yesterday with the release of the Basel Declaration on human rights and trans-generational crimes resulting from nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.

The declaration draws from the scientific evidence presented to the conference, and the application of international law, to conclude that:

'the risks and impacts of nuclear weapons, depleted uranium weapons and nuclear energy, which are both transnational and trans-generational, constitute a violation of human rights, a transgression of international humanitarian and environmental law, and a crime against future generations.'

Energy and security possible without nukes

The Basel conference also considered alternatives to nuclear energy and the role of nuclear weapons in security doctrines. As such, the declaration affirms that:

The energy needs of all countries can be met by safe, sustainable, renewable energies, and that the security of all countries can be met without reliance on nuclear weapons.

The declaration cites REthinking Energy: Renewable Energy and Climate Change , the 2015 Report of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) which demonstrates the possibilities to completely replace fossil fuels by safe renewable energies, without relying on nuclear energy, by 2030.

The declaration highlights that 'The high risks of nuclear weapons being used in current conflicts such as in North East Asia, in other times of tension, and until nuclear weapons are eliminated provides an imperative for nuclear abolition.'

It 'calls on all countries to agree to the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons and to adopt, at the 2018 UN High Level Conference on Disarmament, a framework to implement this.'

For more information see, Basel Declaration on trans-generational crimes of nuclear weapons & nuclear energy, published by Abolition 2000.

Click here for the full declaration.

President of the UN General Assembly selects civil society speakers for the UN High-Level Meeting, Sep 26

In December 2013, the United Nations General Assembly established the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, to be commemorated on September 26.

The principal aims of the day are to increase public awareness and action for nuclear abolition, and to advance negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention - an international treaty to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.  In New York, the UN holds a High-Level Meeting annually on September 26, which all UN member countries are invited to address at the highest possible level (e.g. head of state or foreign minister). There is also space for two representatives of civil society to speak. This year, the civil society representatives chosen by the President of the UNGA to speak are:

• Marzhan Nurzhan (Kazakhstan). Marzhan is PNND Coordinator for CIS countries and Convener of the Youth Working Group of Abolition 2000, the global network to eliminate nuclear weapons;
• Dennis Kucinich (USA). Dennis was nominated by the Basel Peace Office. He is former Mayor of Cleveland and Member of the U.S. Congress, where he served as Chair of the Progressive Caucus.  

We expect that the High Level session will be able to be watched live on UN Web TV.

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