International Peace Bureau joins global call for boycott of US products
Monday 14th April 2003
For immediate release: PRESS COMMUNIQUE
International Peace Bureau joins global call for boycott of US products
Geneva, April 14th 2003 - Today, the International Peace Bureau (IPB) calls for a non-violent boycott of US products, and supports the Day of Action organised on April 15. The 1910 Nobel Peace Prize laureate wants to raise pressure on the US government to re-join the international community, complying with the rules of the United Nations and international law. Colin Archer, IPB Secretary-General, believes that the US's unilateral policies pose a serious risk to international security and must be reversed. "The boycott is not against the American people or the American soldiers", he said, "but against the Bush administration and its unilateralist policies."
The International Peace Bureau is the world's oldest and most comprehensive international peace federation, bringing together organizations and individuals working for peace in many different sectors: not only pacifists but also women, youth, labour, religious and professional bodies.
Today, the IPB shares with the emerging Global Boycott for Peace network the analysis that the US boycott, if embraced by the worldwide peace movement as a whole, would be an important form of non-violent direct action that can potentially stop or mitigate new US pre-emptive attacks on other states. If the people opposed to the war were to express their opinion with their wallets by boycotting, the impact on US policies could be significant.
The IPB wants the boycott to be used to press the US administration :
to allow the UN to take over the civil administration in Iraq as soon as possible
to end 'pre-emptive' attacks on other states
to actively pursue a two-state solution for Palestine & Israel
to stop the use of double standards concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction
(e.g. those of Israel and the US's own stocks)
to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
to adopt the Kyoto protocol to stop global warming
to abandon National Missile Defense & reinstate the ABM Treaty
to recognize the competence of the International Criminal Court to
prosecute war criminals and cancel all bilateral agreements
to respect the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
to move towards a Treaty for complete nuclear disarmament
IPB urges its members and all working for disarmament, human rights
and the environment to support and sign-on to the boycott. All details,
including products to boycott and list of endorsing organisations, at:
http://www.motherearth.org/USboycott/index_en.php#pledge
Press contact:
Colin Archer Phone + 41 (22) 731 64 29 mailbox@ipb.org
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