St. Petersburg Declaration
June 1999
Background
"There can be no peace and security with nuclear
weapons. The dogma of “nuclear deterrence” led to
the building of ever larger arsenals by the nuclear weapons states.
It is illegal, immoral and irresponsible; it must be rejected.
For worldwide security, nuclear weapons must be eliminated."
A Conference on Nuclear Policy and Security on
the Eve of the 21st Century, an Abolition 2000 meeting, was held
on June 19, 1999 in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was organized by
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
of Germany, which is a global federation of national physicians'
organizations dedicated to safeguarding health through the prevention
of war. The conference was hosted by a number of Russian organizations
as well as by Finnish, Swedish and German groups. The St. Petersburg
Declaration [below] was adopted by the participants and was presented
to the governmental conference which follows on to The Hague governmental
meeting.
ST. PETERSBURG DECLARATION
St. Petersburg, Russia - 19 June 1999
Conference on Nuclear Policy and Security on the
Eve of the 21st Century
Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons
In 1899, the Russian Czar Nicolas II took the initiative
to convene a general peace conference which was hosted by the
Dutch Queen Wilhelmina in The Hague. 100 years later in St. Petersburg,
we, the participants in the Abolition 2000 Conference, summarize
our findings on nuclear policy and security on the eve of the
21st century. These will be forwarded to the International Conference
“Centennial of the Russian Initiative. From the First Peace
Conference, 1899, to the Third, 1999” in St. Petersburg
22- 25 June, 1999.
There can be no peace and security with nuclear
weapons. The dogma of “nuclear deterrence” led to
the building of ever larger arsenals by the nuclear weapons states.
It is illegal, immoral and irresponsible; it must be rejected.
For worldwide security, nuclear weapons must be eliminated.
We must move to common security based on human
and ecological values and respect for international institutions
and law. NATO’s recent assertion of the right to engage
in “out-of-area” operations conducted without United
Nations authority is contrary to this imperative. Future European
security arrangements must comply with international law, encompass
all European countries including Russia, and exclude nuclear weapons.
Genuine and lasting peace cannot be achieved by building and expanding
military alliances.
Despite reductions, the nuclear weapons states
still hold enough explosive power to annihilate the planet. Nuclear
weapons have not prevented war. Across the world and within Europe,
at the end of the millennium, brutal conflicts rage. The spirit
and the letter of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty have been
broken. By maintaining and modernizing their nuclear arsenals,
the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China
have encouraged other states including India, Israel and Pakistan
to follow their example.
In the development of nuclear weapons, these governments
have brought death and suffering to succeeding generations of
innocent people and irreversible environmental destruction. Vast
resources have been devoted to nuclear warfare preparations. In
the last 50 years, the gap between rich and poor has grown, not
least within the nuclear weapon states. Funds have been denied
to international bodies concerned with conflict prevention, especially
the United Nations and its constituent regional organizations
including the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe
(OSCE). The OSCE is a pan-European security organization, representing
54 countries including Russia, the United States, and Canada,
which promotes non-military solutions to conflict.
We call for recognition and implementation of the
following principles:
1. Redefine security in terms of peoples rather
than states, where protection of human health and preservation
of the natural environment have overriding priority;
2. Support and strengthen the role of the United
Nations, which was created after World War II to resolve international
disputes peacefully;
3. Place new emphasis on regional security organizations,
such as OSCE, acting under Chapter VIII and the UN Charter and
using political rather than military tools for conflict resolution;
4. Uphold and apply international law in a consistent
and non-discriminatory manner;
5. Recognize the link between nuclear energy and
proliferation, and give high priority to energy conservation and
development of alternative energy sources.
The following urgent measures are needed to implement
these principles, which should be taken simultaneously and in
parallel:
1. Massively increased funding and resources for
OSCE; transparency and democracy in the creation of its forthcoming
“Charter for European Security in the 21st Century”
with the full involvement of civil society.
2. Taking all nuclear forces off alert status through
coordinated measures lowering their readiness for use, including
separation of warheads from delivery systems and withdrawal of
nuclear-armed submarines from patrol;
3. Removal of US nuclear weapons from Europe back
to the United States;
4. Initiation of parallel, reciprocal actions between
the United States and Russia to de-alert, reduce, and account
for warheads and fissile materials, bypassing the blocked START
process;
5. Commencement of multilateral negotiations on
the elimination of nuclear weapons to culminate in a comprehensive
treaty. These negotiations could incorporate or be conducted in
parallel with negotiations on interim steps including no first-use
and no modernization pledges and a fissile materials ban;
6. Reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons
research and development infrastructures and capabilities. This
process should accompany the reduction and elimination of warheads
and delivery systems. It will require a new emphasis on development
of societal verification methods;
7. Reduction and elimination of other weapons of
mass destruction and/or indiscriminate effect, including depleted
uranium, cluster bombs, and land mines.
In conclusion, we strongly endorse the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, as echoed in the words of UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan: “Today security is increasingly understood
not just in military terms, and as far more than the absence of
conflict. It is in fact a phenomenon that encompasses economic
development, social justice, environmental protection, democratization,
disarmament and respect for human rights. These goals --- these
pillars of peace --- are interrelated. Progress in one area begets
progress in another. But no country can get there on its own.
And none is exempt from the risks and costs of doing without...
The world today spends billions preparing for war; shouldn’t
we spend a billion or two preparing for peace?”
For more information contact about Abolition 2000:
Abolition 2000, PMB 121, 1187 Coast Village
Road, Suite 1, Santa Barbara, CA 93108-2794.Tel: 805-965-3443.
Fax: 805-568-0466. Website: http://www.abolition2000.org
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