Build common security to reduce nuclear dangers, parliamentarians urge governments at the United Nations

Governments meeting at the United Nations for a two-week long Non-Proliferation Treaty conference were urged by parliamentarians to strengthen diplomacy, dialogue, cooperative leadership, common security, and the rule of law to prevent nuclear war, resolve international conflicts peacefully, protect the climate for current and future generations, and advance tangible steps toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

The call came in a presentation by PNND member Hon Rabea Abouras, a parliamentarian from Libya, to a plenary meeting of the NPT Prep Com at the UN on Wednesday.

“Enhancing the use of common security mechanisms, such as the United Nations and the ICJ, to bolster national and regional security can enable states to gradually phase out reliance on nuclear deterrence and military defense and redirect resources toward climate protection and sustainable development,” Ms Abouras recommended to the States Parties to the NPT and the civil society observers.

Hon Abouras called for credible security assurances to support nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and highlighted the important role of the ICJ and other common security mechanisms to implement such assurance.

“I come from a country that once had a nuclear weapons program but voluntarily relinquished it to build better relations with its neighbors in North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the wider international community,” she reported. “Instead of being welcomed and supported for this initiative, Libya was punished, defamed, and subjected to illegal attacks. It was devastated without mercy or regard.”

“The same is true for Ukraine, which voluntarily gave up the hundreds of nuclear weapons it inherited following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in exchange for binding guarantees protecting its territorial integrity. Yet Ukraine was later invaded by Russia, and large parts of its territory have been unlawfully annexed.”

“If we are serious about preventing nuclear war and achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, we must support countries that give up their nuclear arsenals—whether unilaterally or through the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones," she said.

"We must also strengthen existing zones to ensure that guarantees offered are credible and binding. The roles of the UN General Assembly, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court must be reinforced to prevent acts of aggression and hold perpetrators accountable.”

Recommendations to the NPT Conference

Hon Abouras also presented to the conference nine recommendations in the parliamentary statement Turn back the Doomsday Clock, which was endorsed by 70 parliamentarians from 34 legislatures:

1. End the modernisation and production of nuclear weapons; 
2. Affirm that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible, as was agreed by G20 leaders at their Summit in Bali, and that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is generally illegal has been  affirmed by the International Court of Justice; 
3. Commit to phase out the role of nuclear weapons in security policies starting with no-first-use policies:  
4. Commit to achieve the complete elimination of nuclear weapons no later than the 75th anniversary of the NPT; 
5. Commence a collective process for the global elimination of nuclear weapons, which could involve negotiations for a comprehensive nuclear weapons convention, adoption of a framework agreement for nuclear disarmament, or negotiations of protocols to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to enable accession by nuclear-armed and allied states, as outlined in the NWC Reset paper submitted by Abolition 2000; 
6. Affirm the important role of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to advance the rule of law and the peaceful resolution of international conflicts, rather than recourse to the threat or use of force and encourage all countries to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ as recommended by the UN Secretary-General.  
7. Affirm the current regional nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZs) and support the establishment of additional NWFZs including a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction and a North-East Asia NWFZ; 
8. Cut nuclear weapons budgets and public investments in the nuclear weapons industry, and re-purpose these resources to instead support public health, peace, climate stabilization and sustainable development. 
9. Commence negotiations of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, inspired by the NPT, to phase out the extraction of fossil fuels and their emissions. 

Hon Abouras also expressed support for the statement submitted to the NPT conference by Youth Fusion. "We owe it to the youth and future generations to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons and build a world governed by peace and the rule of law—not by the law of force," she concluded.

Full statement by Hon Rabea Abouras MP (Arabic, English)

Caption:  Rabea Abouras MP presenting the parliamentarians statement to the NPT Prep Com at the United Nations in New York.