Jimmy Carter calls for disarmament efforts to save the NPT

Former US President Jimmy Carter, at a diplomatic consultation in Atlanta organized by the Middle Powers Initiative (MPI), announced his support for efforts to preserve and strengthen the Non-Proliferation Treaty by calling on the nuclear weapon States (NWS) to abandon their double standards and start to disarm their stockpiles of the same type of weapon which they are trying to prevent others from acquiring.

“Our common goal is simply stated: to exert leverage on the nuclear powers to take minimum steps to save the non-proliferation treaty in 2005” said President Carter on January 27 to a group of seventy diplomats and disarmament experts from around the world including three representatives from IALANA. “The five historic nuclear powers and Pakistan, India and Israel, refuse to initiate or respect restraints on themselves while …raising heresy charges against those who want join the sect. This is indeed an irrational approach.”

President Carter distinguished the current US administration from previous US governments both Democratic and Republican. “All of us American Presidents, from Eisenhower to George Bush Sr., were avidly seeking to restrict and reduce nuclear arsenals – some more than others. So far know, there are no sincere efforts underway by any of the nuclear powers to accomplish these crucial goals.”

President Carter praised the Middle Powers Initiative and the New Agenda Coalition – a group of seven governments including Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden – for providing an urgently required bridge across the “deep divisions between the nuclear powers who seek to stop proliferation without meeting their own disarmament commitments, and the Non-Aligned Movement whose demands include firm disarmament commitments and consideration of the Israeli nuclear arsenal.”

Marian Hobbs, New Zealand Minister of Disarmament, called on all eyes to focus on the 2005 NPT Review Conference, and the “goal that we agreed to in the Non-Proliferation Treaty—the end/abolition of nuclear weapons.”

She noted that the division between advocates of disarmament and advocates of nonproliferation “could be bridged, and progress made on both nonproliferation and disarmament fronts, by adopting an abolition framework, i.e. through advancing norms which further de-legitimise nuclear weapons regardless of who may possess or aspire to possess them, and further developing the mechanisms which prevent their acquisition and provide for their systematic and verified elimination.”

Jane Goodall, respected primatologist, noted that humans, somewhat like other primates, had the capacity for both peaceful co-existence and violence, but that humans had the intelligence to create the conditions where needs were met and security achieved without recourse to mass murder including the use of weapons of mass destruction.

The consultation provided an opportunity for diplomats from a range of countries including NATO States, NAM members and other non-NWS, to informally discuss proposals made to strengthen the NPT and generate momentum for NWS to implement their disarmament obligations.

The discussions were guided by a working paper drafted by John Burroughs from the Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy, and presentations by a number of experts including Bruce Blair (de-alerting), Alyn Ware (nuclear terrorism), Nobuyasu Abe (non-proliferation initiatives) Rose Gottemoeller (obstacles to disarmament), Detlev Wolter (space weaponisation), Frank von Hippel, (fissile materials) and Werner Bauwens (verification).

As well as considering proposals by the New Agenda Coalition, other non-NWS, the IAEA and others, a number of new ideas were suggested including using the UN Security Council 1540 reporting process to strengthen reporting and transparency in the NPT, returning to the International Court of Justice with a case on compliance with disarmament obligations (see Time to return to the World Court? p6) and placing a deadline on the Conference on Disarmament (CD) to commence disarmament negotiations before swinging to an alternative forum.

The final report and recommendations from the consultation will be personally taken to NATO capitals by an MPI delegation consisting of Senator Douglas Roche, Jonathan Granoff, Zachary Allen and Alyn Ware. In addition, President Carter pledged to assist in promoting the recommendations and will be continuing to consult with MPI on the best way to do this.

For more information including the speeches and presentations see www.gsinstitute.org/mpi