US Boycotts Nuclear Test Ban Conference
Vienna, September 3rd to 5th 2003

Write a letter to heads of governments/foreign ministers/disarmament ambassadors

THE BAD GUYS

 Send a letter to the US government considering new nuclear tests

 Send a letter to the "hold-out states" who did not sign or ratify the treaty

THE GOOD GUYS

 Send a letter to the signatories of the CTBT who did sign and ratify the treaty

From 3rd to 5th September 2003, governments are meeting in Vienna (Austria) in an effort to get an early entry-into-force of the treaty banning nuclear tests. The US and North-Korea are boycotting the meeting.

Since 1945 there have been 2051 nuclear tests on our planet. This adds up to an average of one nuclear explosion every 10 days for the past 58 years. [ Database of worldwide nuclear tests | Locations of worldwide nuclear tests ]

These atomic tests have caused enormous human suffering in the form of cancers, birth defects and social upheaval, and environmental destruction without precedent. The effects have been felt especially by Indigenous People, who have seen their lives and homelands sacrificed for what officials have misleadingly called safe nuclear tests and activities.
The governments of Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, Russia and the US have all been guilty of nuclear colonialism and racism, by choosing to test their nuclear bombs on the land of Indigenous Peoples' communities.

Following decades of campaigns and anti-nuclear actions worldwide, the nuclear powers were forced to agree to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996. The CTBT bans any nuclear weapon test explosion in any environment, and ends the development of advanced new types of these weapons.

Four Belgian FME activists during a Ground-zero action at the Nevada desert in September 1992. The activists acted as a human shield and were some hundred yards away when the DOE decided to go ahead with the underground atomic test Divider. This was the last US nuclear test. Bush Sr. declared a moratorium October 1st 1992. [ click for larger image ]

The CTBT was negotiated and drafted in at the Conference of Disarmament in Geneva, and was opened for signature in New York on 24 September 1996. The CTBT builds on the work of preceding arrangements, such as the well-known and world-wide supported Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The CTBT aims at eliminating nuclear weapons by constraining the development and qualitative improvement of nuclear weapons. It plays an important role in the prevention of nuclear proliferation and in nuclear disarmament, thus contributing to a safer and more secure world.

The CTBT will enter into force 180 days after it has been ratified by the 44 States who posses nuclear reactors. In the meantime, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization was established to create a global verification regime to monitor compliance with the Treaty. Until now, the Organization has mainly been used to encourage states to ratify the Treaty and to accelerate the entry into force of the Treaty.

On 30th April, the total number of ratifications of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty rose to 100, when Mauritania deposited its instrument of ratification with the United Nations Secretary General in New York. This figure marks a significant milestone on the road to Treaty universality.

It is of great importance that the 44 states with nuclear capacity sign and ratify the CTBT as rapidly as possible, thereby preventing states from developing nuclear arms and preventing nuclear weapon states from acquiring more advanced types of these weapons. That is why we ask the civilians of this world to plead with their governments, diplomatic posts and parliaments to sign or ratify the CTBT.
(For contact information of relevant government officials: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/govcontacts/govindex.html)

This map shows the states who have signed or ratified the CTBT [ click for larger image ]

If your country already signed and ratified the Treaty, you can still write to the US to do the same and to stop deferring the entry into force of the CTBT. India, Pakistan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - three countries whose signature and ratification are required for the Treaty to enter into force - did not yet sign the CTBT and also need some encouragement. By ending the scourge of nuclear testing we take an indispensable step towards eliminating nuclear weapon threats and preventing nuclear warfare, and a secure and safer world is in sight.

For more information, take a look at these sites:
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation
Reaching Critical Will
NGO Statement to the CTBT conference

TIME TO ACT NOW!

Write a letter to heads of governments/foreign ministers/disarmament ambassadors

THE BAD GUYS

 Send a letter to the US government considering new nuclear tests

 Send a letter to the "hold-out states" who did not sign or ratify the treaty

THE GOOD GUYS

 Send a letter to the signatories of the CTBT who did sign and ratify the treaty

Boycott the US
We need to send a strong signal to the US that they have to ratify the CTBT, stop research and development of new nuclear weapons and close and clean-up the Nevada nuclear test site. Because we experience that words have no effect on the policy of President Bush and his administration, we urge you to pledge to start or continue a consumers boycott of (some) US products. This US boycott ALERT is part of a larger boycott which condemns US unilateral policies. www.motherearth.org/USboycott/
Please register your support for this boycott and sign-on.

Citizens Inspections
For Mother Earth is also calling on people to support or take part in "citizens inspections" of nuclear weapons bases. These inspections draw attention to the fact that the US is maintaining their own largely secret stockpiles of nuclear weapons, in breach of their obligations under the non-proliferation treaty, while they use weapons inspections as the justification for going to war against Iraq.
You can find more information about upcoming inspections at: www.motherearth.org/nuke/inspection.php