wfn.org | AFSC Statement: CTBT Vote

[RByler@afsc.org]

For Immediate Release
September 11, 1996

Contact:  J.Ron Byler (215/241-7060)
or Aishah Shahidah Simmons (215/241-7056)

A Statement in Response to the Vote in Favor of 
a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty by the U.N. General Assembly

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which has long been committed
to the cause of complete and total nuclear disarmament, welcomes the
endorsement by the United Nations General Assembly of a Comprehensive
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, by a vote of 158-3 on September 10, 1996.  The
signing of the treaty by representatives of the declared nuclear powers and
many other nations of the world will begin on September 24th.  This treaty
signing should be the occasion for us to recall the evil effects of
preparations for nuclear war for more than half a century, to give thanks
for the witness of those who consistently opposed those preparations in all
their forms, and to recommit ourselves to the goal of the global abolition
of nuclear weapons.

We can now dare to believe that never again will there be nuclear explosions
in the deserts of Nevada, Lop Nor, Algeria, Kazakhstan, nor in the islands
of Bikini, Moruroa and Novaya Zemlya, and the many others places where life
has been contaminated in the name of "security."  This is reason for
celebration.

The treaty itself, however, is only a step on the road to abolition of
nuclear weapons.  We profoundly hope that its signing will mark a shift from
a continuing arms race that threatens all life on the planet to a process
that yields a treaty banning not only aboveground or underground explosions
but all testing, manufacturing, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons.  

There is much resistance to be overcome.  While we recognize and value the
commitment of the Clinton Administration for this treaty, we realize that
this commitment falls far short of the ultimate goal.  There are no plans to
close the Nevada Test Site, as there should be if an end to testing means
real movement towards disarmament.  In fact, so-called subcritical tests
there have been announced.  There are plans to expend $40 billion over the
next ten years in a program called Stockpile Stewardship and Management,
with simulated testing done in laboratories.  

The U.S. and other nuclear powers cling to the possession of nuclear arms, a
reality most apparent to the non-nuclear weapon states, many of whom pressed
for a test ban treaty that would include a promise for long-term nuclear
disarmament.  India, a nuclear weapons state, has used the absence of such a
promise to justify its deep opposition to the treaty.  India's refusal to
sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, may prevent it from ever becoming
law.  Unless the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is accompanied by
negotiations for nuclear disarmament, as called for by Article VI of the
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and regarded as mandatory by the recent
ruling of the International Court of Justice, the test ban treaty will not
hold.  

We have experienced in recent months a most important shift in momentum in
the direction of disarmament, marked by the worldwide popular resistance to
France's nuclear testing in the Pacific; the coming into being of the global
citizens' network, Abolition 2000; the International Court of Justice ruling
on the illegality of the use of nuclear weapons; the Canberra Commission
report which shows the way to nuclear abolition; and now this vote in the
U.N. General Assembly.  We dare not lose this momentum.

The endorsement of an end to all explosive nuclear testing by so many
nations is to be welcomed and celebrated.  It should be a spur to us all to
increase our educational efforts and our public demands for the global
abolition of all nuclear weapons.

-30-

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization which
includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace
and humanitarian service.  Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the
worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence
and injustice.

J.Ron Byler
Director of Media Relations
American Friends Service Committee
PH: 215/241-7060
FAX: 215/241-7275
E-MAIL: RByler@afsc.org
http://www.afsc.org