wfn.org | AFSC: Abolition 2000

[RByler@afsc.org]

For Immediate Release
January 13, 1997
Contact:  J.Ron Byler (215/241-7060)
or Aishah Shahidah Simmons (215/241-7056)

AFSC Supports Upcoming Abolition 2000 International Meeting in Tahiti

PHILADELPHIA – More than two dozen people related to the American Friends
Service Committee (AFSC) will attend the Abolition 2000 conference on the
French-occupied islands of Tahiti and Moorea, January 20-28, 1997.  They
include AFSC staff and volunteers, as well as representatives of peace and
indigenous peoples organizations from Europe, Israel and the Pacific.
Abolition 2000 is an international network of more than 650 citizens’ groups
seeking to have a treaty by the year 2000 to eliminate nuclear weapons. 
	"We need global support to address the health, economic and social impact
of the development and testing of nuclear weapons on Pacific indigenous
peoples," said Kilali Alailima, coordinator of AFSC’s Pacific program, a
co-sponsor of the Tahiti conference.  The conference will be hosted by Hiti
Tau, an association of more than 50 indigenous French Polynesian
organizations.   
	Information about an independent health study of the effects of nuclear
testing in the area will be shared at a final press conference of the
Abolition 2000 meeting.  The study of 2,000 test site workers was
commissioned by the World Council of Churches and conducted by Hiti Tau.
The French government has refused to acknowledge correlation between the
nuclear testing on Tahiti and health problems of test site workers and their
families. 
	"Momentum is growing for international agreement to rid the world of
nuclear weapons," said David Gracie, director of the Peace Education
Division of the AFSC.  Gracie cited as examples the recent signing of the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the United Nations General Assembly
resolution calling for a global treaty to abolish 
nuclear weapons.
	January 27 marks both the 46th anniversary of the first U.S. nuclear test
in Nevada, and the first anniversary of the last French nuclear test in the
Pacific.  Indigenous youth of French Polynesia (Tahiti) have called for a
worldwide vigil on January 27 to support the movement to abolish all nuclear
weapons.
        In the United States, January 27 has been designated as a national
call-in day to President Clinton.  The President will be asked to cancel the
"subcritical" underground nuclear testing planned for the Nevada test site,
seek global action to take all nuclear forces off alert, and initiate
negotiations on a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons.  "We challenge our
president to devote his second term to being a leader in ridding the world
of the weapons that still pose the greatest threat to our continued
existence on the planet," said Gracie. 
	The AFSC has been an active member of the Abolition 2000 network from its
inception in 1995.  The abolition of nuclear weapons is a continuing
priority for AFSC and its Peace Education Division.  AFSC’s program in the
Pacific helps indigenous voices be heard on a range of regional and
international concerns, including becoming a nuclear free and independent
region of the world.
	The AFSC delegation includes:
Kilali Alailima, coordinator of AFSC’s Pacific program
Dorothy May Ying Chan, Hong Kong, a senior at Tufts University
Terry Foss, photography director in AFSC’s national communications office
David Gracie, national director of AFSC’s Peace Education Division
Lakota Harden, Native American Health Center, Oakland, Calif.
Kinga Horvath, from the Hungarian peace group, Alba Kor
Fargas Istvan, also from Alba Kor
Rishi Manchanda, a Tufts University senior
Bruce Martin, coordinator of AFSC’s Connecticut program
Eric Moon, peace education program associate in AFSC’s Oakland office
Thoai Nguyen, national coordinator of AFSC’s Asia Pacific program
Byron Plumley, disarmament program director in AFSC’s Denver office
Diana Roose, a member of the program committee in AFSC’s Akron, Ohio office
Michael Simmons, national coordinator of AFSC’s East-West program
Gideon Spiro, nuclear disarmament peace activist in Israel
Michael Styer, student activist at Wesleyan University
Bill Sulzman, director of Citizens for Peace in Space in Denver
Moko Suzuki, Tokyo, a senior at the University of Massachusetts
Sally Laidlaw Williams, attorney, and longtime AFSC volunteer in Oakland

	The delegation includes four youth from the New England region involved in
peace and demilitarization work who will meet with young people from the
Marshall Islands during their trip.  AFSC is also assisting a dozen Pacific
Islanders from Hawai’i, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Tonga and Fiji to
attend the Abolition 2000 conference.  They will talk about the effects of
nuclear testing in the Pacific and their efforts to become a nuclear free
region.
	For more information, call Ron Byler, AFSC director of media relations, at
215/241-7060 or email him at RByler@afsc.org.  A comprehensive web site
about the Abolition 2000 event can be accessed at
http://hookele.com/abolition2000.
--end --

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