UC Students Assert:
Regents Accountable
if U.S. Launches Nuclear Attack on Iraq
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19 2003
Oakland- Students representing five University
of California campus peace groups, which are members of the Coalition
to Demilitarize the University of California, will hold a press
conference to demand that the UC Regents do everything in their
power to uphold international law and disarm Lawrence Livermore
and Los Alamos National Laboratories. Students had planned to
bring their demands to the Regents at their quarterly meeting;
however the UC Regents cancelled their meeting because of the
impending war. The student press conference will now be held at
the UC Regents Headquarters on Thursday March 20, 9 AM, at 1111
Franklin St., Downtown Oakland.
“If the United States declares an illegal
war on Iraq, the possibility of the U.S. launching a nuclear attack
rises dangerously. Since it is UC scientists designing these nuclear
weapons, the Regents are accountable for a potential use of these
weapons, that could plunge the world into a nuclear war and obliterate
the taboo that has prevented the use of nuclear weapons since
the U.S. bombed Japan over 50 years ago,” says UC Santa
Cruz student Emily Hell.
Sophia Santiago, a UC Berkeley student, expressed
her concern for the important international agreements to which
the US is party: “The UC Regents as managers should be holding
the labs accountable; they should ensure that the labs are complying
fully with the [nuclear] Non-Proliferation Treaty. The NPT is
an extremely critical document, especially with respect to an
imminent attack on Iraq in which the labs’ work will make
more probable the use of nuclear weapons.”
Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories
design, modify and monitor nuclear weapons. UC has managed the
operation of the labs under contracts with the Department of Energy
for more than 50 years. Hundreds of undergraduates, graduate students
and professors from the Universities are involved in cooperative
research with the laboratories. Recently, both Livermore and Los
Alamos were allocated $15 million to study the development of
a new nuclear weapon: the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator.
Michael Cox, student at UC Los Angeles, describes
how the UC managed labs violate international law and jeopardize
global security, “Not only is the research and development
of nuclear weapons like the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator illegal,
immoral, and a complete waste of resources, this work could be
in preparation for the deployment of nuclear weapons on Iraq and
the other 6 nations listed in the Nuclear Posture review. The
United states is belligerently hypocritical in its proliferation
of WMD and irresponsible in its position of world leadership.”
According to UC Berkeley student Valerie Kao, the
central critique of the UC Regents management of the National
Laboratories must address the Regents systematic failure to bring
the two labs into compliance with international law. “UC
management could be criticized on the sole basis of its track
record, having failed to protect whistleblowers and to hold stronger
accountability with Lab administration. However, the real issue
is the labs' role in reviving the arms race and preventing real
steps toward international disarmament, as required by international
law.”
The Coalition to Demilitarize the University of
California has partnered with local community organizations including
the Western States Legal Foundation in Oakland, Tri-Valley CAREs
in Livermore, and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara.
CONTACT:
Tara Dorabji: (925) 443-7148 Tri-Valley CAREs
Michael Coffey: (805) 452-1166, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Valerie Kao: (510) 841-8365, UC Berkeley student
Michael Cox: (818) 399-0349, UC Los Angeles student
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