From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #297 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Saturday, April 29 2000 Volume 01 : Number 297 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 17:49:20 +1000 From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Subject: (abolition-usa) APPEAL - SUPPORT NEW AGENDA COALITION ON N-WEAPONS PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE Dear All, This is from the director of WILPF's UN office, Felicity Hill, at the NPT Review Conference. You may have recieved it before - We are trying to get absolutely maximal circulation, so duplication is inevitable. Please excuse us. The gist of it is that we should all write to our foreign ministers/secretaries of state and UN representatives, asking them to support the New Aganda Coalition on nuclear weapons, and to endorse the initiatives proposed by that grouping. The New Agenda Coalition has proposed a series of measures aimed that implementing the legal requirement of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, namely that the nuclear weapons states eliminate their nuclear arsenals 'at an early date'. It includes a number of intermediate measures such as taking weapons off hairtrigger alert and 'no first use' guarantees as well as ratification of the CTBT, and START-II. All sane reasonable measures that are important for ensuring planetary survival. The New Agenda program my not be absolutely perfect but it warrants your strong support. Please do send this appeal to as many people as you can, and please do act on what it asks you to do as soon as possible. John Hallam Delivered-To: foesyd4@f.pop.ihug.com.au Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Sender: flick@pop.igc.org Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 18:41:37 -0400 To: updates@reachingcriticalwill.org =46rom: Felicity Hill Subject: ACTION ALERT: SUPPORT THE NEW AGENDA COALITION AT THE NPT Cc: wilpf-news@igc.topica.com X-Rcpt-To: nonukes@foesyd.org.au PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ALL NETWORKS Dear Colleagues, One month is a long time in politics. The nuclear disarmament movement has been given one month to support the activities of the New Agenda Coalition at the Non Proliferation Treaty Review Conference April 24 - May 19, 2000. As you know, the New Agenda Coalition is a post Cold War grouping of states that have proposed a practical, reasonable, achievable programme for nuclear disarmament since 1998. Building on the language contained in treaties, legal opinions and consensus language developed over the 55 year dialogue on nuclear weapons through the UN system, the New Agenda Coalition have presented a brief four page programme of action to the NPT Review Conference called WORKING DOCUMENT ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT. Although this forward looking action plan does not go as far as many in the NGO community may, when advocating abolition, the ideas contained in the New Agenda Coalitions Working Document are something that we can all agree are the obvious first steps to the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons. Think of it as a platform of consensus rather than a compromise. Pressure placed on governments NOW to support this realistic and doable programme, WILL MAKE AN IMPACT on this four-week meeting of 187 governments. You are urged to make a concerted effort at this critical time of international political tension wherein treaty regimes are weakening and a new arms race is brewing. o Please send letters and visit your elected representatives o Please send letters and visit your departments of Foreign Affairs and Defence o Please send letters to the editor o Please create press releases and direct actions around this opportunity =46ollowing you will find: * Some points to use in your letters, lobbying and press work * The text of the speech, also attached, introducing the Working Document * The Working Document on Nuclear Disarmament, also attached. Lobbying Points o The Working Document on Nuclear Disarmament was presented on Monday 24 by Mexican Foreign Minister Rosario Green at the United Nations. Mexico is speaking on behalf of the New Agenda Coalition at the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review conference. o Taking place every five years, these Review Conferences bring together 187 governments to discuss the most widely supported disarmament treaty ever, the Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, which became international law in 1970. o The five Nuclear Weapon States have signed the NPT and in doing so, they committed to getting rid of their nuclear weapon under Article 6. "Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control." o The New Agenda Coalition is made up of Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden. Their resolution at last years General Assembly adopted on December 1, 1999 was co-sponsored by 60 states and enjoyed the support of 111 countries. o A precise understanding of the fact that nuclear disarmament is a complicated process that will not happen overnight informs the forward looking plan of action crated by New Agenda Coalition which is doable, practical and reasonable and realistic. o If your government has any resistance to the following measures identified by the NAC for the implementation of the NPT, ask them specifically what points could possibly object to in the following: 1. the five nuclear-weapon States make an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals, and engage in an accelerated process of negotiation, taking steps leading to nuclear disarmament in the coming five year period; 2. the USA and the Russian Federation undertake to fully implement START II and begin negotiations on START III; 3. all five nuclear weapon-states are integrated into the process leading to the total elimination of their nuclear weapons. Six interim steps were identified: 1. an adaptation of policy and posture to preclude the use of nuclear weapons; 2. de-alerting; 3. the reduction of tactical nuclear weapons towards their elimination; 4. a demonstration of greater transparency regarding arsenals and fissile materials; 5. further development of the Trilateral Initiative; and 6. the application of the principle of irreversibility in all nuclear disarmament, arms reduction and arms control measures. New Agenda Statement General Debate 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non -Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons New York, 24 April 2000 Mr. President, May I begin by expressing to you our congratulations on your assumption as President of the VI Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and express our full confidence in your diplomatic skills to provide the appropriate guidance for a successful outcome. Let me assure you of our support in the discharge of your important responsibilities. I have the honor to take the floor on behalf of Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden, to address some issues of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation that we think are important to ensure that the purposes of the preamble and the provisions of the Treaty are being realized. This is the first occasion that the States Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty are gathered to review the operation of the Treaty since the adoption- without a vote of the three Decisions and the Resolution of 1995. One of the cornerstones of this package was the Principles and Objectives which we agreed would govern our actions in pursuing the goals of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Our renewed commitment in 1995 to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective nuclear disarmament measures included a commitment to the determined pursuit by the nuclear-weapon States Parties of systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally. We must concede that the period of this review has not delivered systematic and progressive efforts by the nuclear weapon states, nor the entry into force of any multilateral instrument in the field of nuclear disarmament. We must recognize that the international nuclear non-proliferation regime is in a fraught state and that our Treaty is under stress. It was within this context that we jointly launched the Declaration: Towards a Nuclear Weapon Free World: The Need for a New Agenda. Our purpose in taking such an initiative was to put the nuclear agenda back on track, to give a clear perspective and underpinning through a new and clear undertaking to bring about a nuclear weapon free world without further prevarication. The New Agenda is a programme of action sufficiently flexible to adapt to the circumstances and requirements of each successive stage in the process that leads to the achievement of a world without nuclear weapons. It captures the elements of ongoing processes. And, in a pragmatic and realistic way it brings together successive steps for the international community to implement the obligations of this Treaty. =46undamental to this initiative is the requirement for an unequivocal undertaking on the part of the five nuclear weapon states to the total elimination of their respective nuclear arsenals. Such a commitment would be new. It would determine all future action on the part of.the nuclear weapon states. It would provide a reference point to evaluate progress towards the goals of the NPT, when we again meet in 2005 to review the implementation of the Treaty. And it would signal determination to uphold disarmament imperatives. Mr. President, The singular goal of the States Parties to the NPT is the total elimination of nuclear weapons. This requires bringing to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects, an imperative that was the unanimous conclusion of the International Court of Justice. Adherence to this Treaty by all but four states, three of which operate unsafeguarded nuclear facilities and retain the nuclear weapons option, is a testament to the extent of international commitment to the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. Underwritten by this unique commitment, there is now an inescapable onus on the nuclear weapon states to meet that challenge. And they must do so by making a definitive and unequivocal undertaking to the total elimination of nuclear weapons. This would be demonstrated by engaging in an accelerated process of reductions. This new signal of determination, together with the efforts of the international community working in concert can achieve the goal of a nuclear weapons free world; a goal that is both realistic and pressing. The one hundred and eighty seven State * s Parties gathered in this review process must engage in plain speaking. We have witnessed continued challenges to the purposes of the Treaty since we last met in 1995. Two states non-parties have carried out nuclear weapon test explosions. These states non-parties and one other state non-party continue to operate unsafeguarded facilities and have not renounced the nuclear weapon option. There has been alleged non-compliance by others. The achievements of the two major nuclear weapon states parties have fallen short of the systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally, as required by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference. Besides the completion of the negotiation of a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty nothing else has been achieved on the multilateral front. In short the response to the challenge of the persistence of nuclear weapons has been of complacency or indifference in some quarters. This critical Review Conference offers us a unique opportunity to move definitively forward in the achievement of a world without nuclear weapons. We have reached the juncture when more far-reaching action must be decided upon. We already have precedents when firm steps were taken which initiated a process leading to the elimination of entire categories of weapons of mass destruction. In the case of nuclear weapons more than half a century after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we are long overdue in taking a determined step in the same direction. Yet, in place of such determination we continue to witness re-statements of policies and postures which reaffirm the central role of nuclear weapons in strategic concepts and the possibility of fighting war with the use of nuclear weapons. In short, we are witnessing a re-rationalization of nuclear weapons in an age when the context which gave rise to the original proliferation of nuclear weapons among the five nuclear weapon states has long disappeared. The elements of the agenda which we have set before you are not in themselves novel. Each of these elements has been the subject of detailed consideration. In this review process we are called upon jointly to develop nuclear disarmament objectives on the basis of the Treaty and the Principles and Objectives of 1995, What the New Agenda advocates is a coherence in approach that could be attained with the necessary political commitment. The achievement of our common goal requires action by all states. We do not seek to interfere in the details of those negotiations which are the primary responsibility of the nuclear weapon states. We acknowledge the prime responsibility of the United States and the Russian Federation in providing the leadership and first steps in nuclear force reductions. We welcome the ratification of the START 11 Treaty by the Russian Federation and urge the United States to complete the ratification procedure as soon as possible so that full and effective implementation of the Treaty can proceed. We acknowledge the unilateral measures undertaken by two of the five nuclear weapon states but call for the early involvement of all five nuclear weapon states in bringing about the elimination of their respective nuclear forces. We consider that the principle of irreversibility should be applied to all disarmament measures. We look to greater transparency as the nuclear disarmament process gains pace. We recognize that the process of nuclear weapons elimination will take time, even with the implementation of an accelerated program of force reductions. But we are also conscious that the nuclear weapon states parties have a responsibility to undertake interim measures consistent with a determination to lessen the prospect of the unleashing of nuclear weapons whether by design or accident before they are eliminated. The measures which we advance are those which our governments consider achievable if not in all cases with immediate effect, but at least in step with underlying nuclear force reductions: - - we propose that the outcome of any evaluation of nuclear policies and postures should result in the adoption of non-first use strategies,by all nuclear weapon states among themselves and of non use with respect to non-nuclear weapon states. - - we propose that de-alerting and arrangements for the separation of warheads from delivery vehicles be progressively advanced. - - we underline the importance of withdrawing non-strategic nuclear weapons from deployment and their elimination. - - we advocate the provision of security assurances of a legally binding nature to all non-nuclear weapon states parties. In the process of nuclear disarmament, the priority pursuit of force reductions by the nuclear weapon states must be paralleled by the conclusion of instruments necessary to guarantee the conditions of confidence required for a world without nuclear weapons. Nuclear disarmament is the responsibility of all states and all states must be involved in the process leading to this goal. The maintenance of a nuclear weapons free world will require an instrument or a series of instruments negotiated multilaterally, which will result in a non discriminatory and universal nuclear non-proliferation regime. The conclusion of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was an essential building block in the nuclear disarmament agenda. The urgent commencement of negotiations on a fissionable materials treaty must be another essential element, providing as it would the beginnings of the extension of multilateral verification to cover all fissile materials for weapons purposes, as required in a world free of nuclear weapons. Pending the conclusion and entry into force of these instruments, we call for a moratorium by the nuclear weapon states on all further production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons and to uphold the purposes of the CTBT to which they are all signatories. We also urge those states non-parties that operate unsafeguarded nuclear facilities to halt immediately production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. The further extension and development of existing nuclear weapon free zones and respect for their status by the nuclear weapon states through adherence to the relevant protocols reinforce the global thrust of non-proliferation efforts and the international consensus that these contribute to that end. We also call for the establishment of additional nuclear weapon free zones' especially in areas of tension such as the Middle East and South Asia. To date, the Conference on Disarmament has been central to the shaping of the agenda for a world free of nuclear weapons. It is now time to advance our engagement there on the next steps as well as the overall framework necessary for the achievement of a global ban on these weapons. Other organizations, in particular the IAEA, should be mandated to intensify work on elaborating the verification mechanisms required in a world free of nuclear weapons. Mr. President, We are encouraged by the fact that the. Secretary General in his rep ort to the Millennium Assembly of the United Nations proposes to give consideration "to convening a major international conference that would help to identify ways of eliminating nuclear danger". We consider that an international conference on nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, which effectively complements efforts being undertaken in other settings, could facilitate the consolidation of a new agenda for a nuclear weapon free world. Mr. President, The States Parties of the NPT gathered here today comprise one hundred and eighty seven out of the one hundred and ninety two member states of the international community. The three states non-parties to the Treaty that operate unsafeguarded nuclear facilities and engage in nuclear weapons development are central to the achievement of nuclear disarmament. This Review Conference must address these states non-parties and work for their accession to the Treaty as non-nuclear-weapon states and for the placement of their nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards. We are committed to this treaty. But no treaty can be upheld, if the bargain which originally gave rise to is not being fulfilled. This is a critical moment for the NPT. This Review Conference may be our last and best opportunity to move definitively towards the. achievement of the goals of the Treaty and to deliver the security that the retention of nuclear weapons can never confer on humankind. Failure to move now or to signal new determination will make these weapons accepted currency. Nuclear power must not be perverted to endow humanity with the reckless instrument of its own destruction. The New Agenda is the advocacy of responsible and concerned states for a future in security. It is for this Conference to give this message substance by supporting the call for a new political undertaking for an accelerated process of action. Mr. President: - Consistent with the need to identify areas in which and the means through which further progress should be sought, the delegations of Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden are putting forward a working document with measures and steps regarding the obligation under Article VI to achieve nuclear disarmament, and request the Secretariat that it be circulated as an official document of this Conference= =2E The Delegations of Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden, propose the following text as the identification of areas in which and the means through which further progress should be sought in the future regarding the obligation under Article VI to achieve nuclear disarmament: NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT The Sixth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Reaffirming the preamble and articles of the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Stressing the importance of the full implementation of the decisions and the resolution adopted at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and their continued validity, Bearing in mind that the overwhelming majority of States have entered into legally binding commitments not to receive, manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, and recalling that these undertakings were made in the context of corresponding legally binding commitments by the nuclear-weapon States to the pursuit in good faith of nuclear disarmament, Recalling the unanimous conclusion of the International Court of Justice in its 1996 advisory opinion that there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control, Reaffirming that the strict observance of the provisions of the Treaty remain central to achieving the shared objectives of preventing under any circumstances the further proliferation of nuclear weapons, and preserving the Treaty's vital contribution to peace and security. Concemed that negotiations on nuclear arms reductions are currently stalled, Concerned also at the continued retention of the nuclear-weapons option by those three States that operate unsafeguarded nuclear facilities and that have not acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and at their failure to renounce. that option, Stressing that the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems remains a cornerstone of strategic stability and underlining the responsibility of its States Parties to preserve its integrity, Underlining the imperative, in the interim leading to the elimination of nuclear weapons, of lessening the role of these weapons in security policies in a manner that enhances strategic stability so as to facilitate the process of elimination, Affirming that the maintenance of a nuclear-weapon-free world will require the underpinnings of a universal and multilaterally negotiated legally binding instrument or a framework encompassing a mutually reinforcing set of instruments, Bound by the Treaty to the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free world, Affirms the need to move with determination to the full realisation and effective implementation of the purposes and all the provisions of the Treaty, and affirms the accountability of the States Parties for the fulfilment of their obligations under the Treaty, and to this end. 1 . The five nuclear-weapon States make an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals and, in the course of the forthcoming Review period 2000-2005, to engage in an accelerated process of negotiations and to take steps leading to nuclear disarmament to which all States Parties are committed under Article VI, 2. 'The United States of America and the Russian Federation undertake to fully implement the Treaty on Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START 11) and commence without further delay negotiations on START III with a view to its early conclusion; 3. The nuclear-weapon States undertake to proceed to the early integration of all five nuclear-weapon States into the process leading to the total elimination of their respective nuclear weapons; 4. The five nuclear-weapons States undertake, as early and interim steps: (a) To adapt their nuclear policies and postures so as to preclude the use of nuclear weapons; (b) To proceed to the de-alerting, to the removal of nuclear warheads from delivery vehicles and to the withdrawal of all nuclear forces from active deployment pending their complete elimination; (c) To reduce tactical nuclear weapons and to proceed to their elimination as an integral part of nuclear arms reductions; (d) To demonstrate greater transparency with regard to their nuclear arsenals and fissile material inventories; (e) To further develop the Trilateral Initiative between the United States of America, the Russian Federation and the International Atomic Energy Agency so as to include all five nuclear weapon states in similar arrangements and 'to ensure the irreversible removal of fissile material from weapons programmes. (f) To apply the principle of irreversibility in all nuclear disarmament, nuclear arms reduction, and nuclear arms control measures; 5. States Parties agree on the importance and urgency of achieving: (a) The signature and ratification, unconditionally and without delay, of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and, pending the entry into force of the Treaty,'the observance of moratoria on nuclear tests; (b) A non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, taking into consideration both nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament objectives, and pending the entry into force of the treaty, the observation of a moratorium on the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices; (c) The establishment in the Conference on Disarmament of an appropriate subsidiary body with a mandate to deal with nuclear disarmament; 6. States Parties agree on the importance and urgency of the pursuit, extension and establishment of nuclear weapon free zones, on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at, among States of the regions concerned, especially in regions of tension, such as the Middle East and South Asia, as significant contributions to a nuclear-weapon-free-world, 7. The States Parties agree on the importance of the negotiation and conclusion at an early date of an internationally legally binding instrument to effectively assure non-nuclear weapon States party to the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, 8. The States Parties call upon those States that have not yet done. so, to adhere unconditionally and without delay to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to take all the necessary measures required by adherence to that instrument as non-nuclear-weapon States Parties; 9. The States Parties call upon the three States that operate unsafeguarded nuclear facilities and that have not yet acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and that have not renounced the nuclear-weapons option to reverse clearly and urgently the pursuit of all nuclear weapons development or deployment and to refrain from any action that could undermine regional and international peace and security and the efforts of the international community towards nuclear disarmament and the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Content-Id: Content-Type: application/msword; name=3D"nac_statement.doc" ; x-mac-type=3D"5738424E" ; x-mac-creator=3D"4D535744" Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=3D"nac_statement.doc" Attachment converted: JOY!:nac_statement.doc (WDBN/MSWD) (00005588) Content-Id: Content-Type: application/msword; name=3D"nac_working_paper.doc" ; x-mac-type=3D"5738424E" ; x-mac-creator=3D"4D535744" Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=3D"nac_working_paper.doc" Attachment converted: JOY!:nac_working_paper.doc (WDBN/MSWD) (00005589) ******* ******* ******* ******* =46elicity Hill, Director Women's International League for Peace and Freedom United Nations Office 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA Ph: 1 212 682 1265 =46ax: 1 212 286 8211 email: flick@igc.apc.org web: www.wilpf.int.ch www.reachingcriticalwill.org ******* ******* ******* ******* - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 12:14:57 -0400 From: "Joan Wade" Subject: (abolition-usa) Urgent (and simple) Action!!! Dear Friends, I am writing to express my deepest appreciation of all your efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Your passion and commitment is outstanding. After a year of working with many of you as the Disarmament Clearinghouse Coordinator, I will be leaving my position to go to graduate school and become an elementary school teacher. I thank you for all of your hard work and encourage you to apply for this excellent position (please see job description below my namestamp). Of course, I wouldn't be the Clearinghouse Coordinator if I didn't have one more action item for you, so here goes: Thank you to those of you who have signed on to the www.onedemocracy.com/stopmissiles petition against missile defense and to all of you who have taken action to stop this expensive and dangerous program. On June 20, 2000, this petition will be delievered to every member of the US Congress, driving home the message that national missile defense is not the object of the American public, but a political football that should not come at the expense of needed social programs and international treaties to reduce nuclear weapons. If you have already signed on and notified your friends and family to do the same, THANK YOU. If you have not yet taken this simple action for a safer world, I urge you to do so as soon as possible and to forward this message on to many others. If you can link this petition to your web site, please do! President Clinton is scheduled to decide this summer whether or not to deploy a $60 billion national missile defense system that doesn't work. As concerned citizens and activists, we must take every measure to avoid deployment, to avoid a new arms race. Please visit www.onedemocracy.com/stopmissiles today. Yours in Peace, Joan L. Wade, Coordinator Disarmament Clearinghouse 1101 14th St., NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20005 Ph: (202) 898-0150 x232 Fax: (202) 898-0172 E-mail: disarmament@igc.org Web: www.disarmament.org POSITION AVAILABLE DISARMAMENT CLEARINGHOUSE COORDINATOR The Disarmament Clearinghouse is a joint project of major national grassroots membership organizations, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Peace Action, Peace Links, Physicians for Social Responsibility, 20/20 Vision and Women's Action for New Directions. The Clearinghouse provides information, assistance, resources, and action tools to grassroots activists and policy makers working on nuclear disarmament, and develops and coordinates campaigns on nuclear disarmament measures such as National Missile Defense We are looking for someone with the following qualifications: 1) Commitment to promoting a nuclear weapons-free word and knowledge of nuclear disarmament issues including the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, national missile defense, the nuclear weapons abolition movement, and other nuclear disarmament measures. 2) Strong writing and oral communication skills, especially for an activist audience. 3) Strong organizing skills with at least one year's experience organizing national issue/ policy campaigns and experience working with peace activists. 4) Knowledge of the legislative process and key policy makers on nuclear weapons issues. 5) Computer skills - Familiarity with e-mail list maintenance, word processing, desk top publishing, database management, and basic web design. 6) Ability to work efficiently and carry-out several projects simultaneously. 7) Ability to work effectively in coalitions, and be accountable to the Steering Committee organizations. 8) Ability to work independently. 9) B.A./B.S. degree or equivalent experience. The tasks of the Coordinator will include: 1) Provide - via e-mail, mailings, phone, and web postings - timely news and analysis of nuclear disarmament issues to grassroots activists and policy makers. 2) Produce educational and organizing resources such as sample letters to the editor, flyers, action alerts, news letters, resource kits etc. 3) Maintain and develop interactive web site. 4) Inform, mobilize, and coordinate national, and regional events such as call-in days, strategy summits. 5) Maintain and build a database of over 500 activists, organizations, and policy maker contacts. 6) Respond to daily requests for information and assistance. 7) Working with the Steering Committee to prepare funding proposals and progress reports for funders. 8) Conduct meetings of the Clearinghouse Steering Committee, including agendas and minutes. Terms: Full-time position. Salary in mid to high $20,000 depending on experience, with health coverage, and annual leave. Open until filled. Please send resume, cover letter and brief (no more than 1-4 pages) writing sample by to: Disarmament Clearinghouse Search 1101 14th Street NW #700 Washington DC 20005 Via FAX: (202) 898 0172 Via E-mail: mbutcher@psr.org NO phone calls please An Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 14:49:18 -0700 From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) .Getting re-legalization into Election2000 mainstream Saturday, April 29, 2000 Dear Friends, Please consider and take seriously this USCampaign strategy for using the Election2000 media melodrama to get hemp/cannabis/marijuana relegalization into the mainstream of public awareness and onto the platforms of those candidates who will be elected this November, along with other critical issues. Right now this campaign needs the quick commitment of a fairly small number of folks in each State plus DC who are willing for their names to be listed as "Electors" on ballot access petitions so that these petitions may now be put on the web for downloading and circulating by others in each State towards gaining ballot listing for the USCampaign candidacy which is standing strong for full relegalization for all uses as well as a global scale emergency revival of the 1941-45 USDA Hemp for Victory "crash program" to grow this plant everywhere possible as soon as possible as the best way to help ameliorate global climate change before it is too late. No other candidates for election this year are yet taking this strong a stand, but by your quick and easy action now -- to offer your name as a Presidential Elector so that others may start circulating ballot access petitions between now and mid-August towards getting enough signatures for ballot access -- then the public awareness level will rise quickly on this issue and thereby pressure all candidates who want to be elected to take up this legitimate and very serious strong stand for full relegalization. By offering your name as a Presidential Elector you do not have to commit to working on this campaign, gathering signatures, or even voting for the USCampaign ticket in November; your only serious commitment by offering your name as a registered voter to be listed on petitions as an elector in your State is that if the USCampaign ticket wins the popular vote in November in your State for the US Presidency (how likely is that? :-), that you will cast your Electoral College vote for the Williams-Peltier ticket. The entirety of this idea is to pressure mainstream candidates via the polls and increasing public awareness through newspaper articles, etc., to adopt this relegalization issue, and other critical issues that this campaign is championing, eg, end the drug war and CIA drug smuggling complicity, Pardon Leonard Peltier, abolition of nuclear weapons, funding for new clean-energy technologies to replace nuclear and fossil fuel power, "Global Peace Now!", etc., etc. We need these elector names committed right away so signature gathering can start on or before a main public "kick-off" of the ballot access petitioning in conjunction with the May 6th global Millennium Marijuana March events for medical cannabis relegalization, and ibogaine legalization to help end drug addictions http://www.cures-not-wars.org So far, among the well known activists on the hemp issue who will help and endorse this campaign are Jack Herer, Chris Conrad, and Ann McCormick who will be electors and/or helping as best they can to promote this campaign. Jack http://www.jackherer.com will be circulating our ballot access petitions in Alaska while promoting the full relegalization initiative they already successfully got on the November ballot in that State by a major signature gathering campaign. Chris http://www.chrisconrad.com , who I spoke to about this last night on the phone, will be an elector for California and will be heavily lobbying other political candidates to stand strong for relegalization of medical cannabis/marijuana and industrial hemp. Jack and Chris both were glad to be my electors in my brief 1996 Independent Presidential campaign trying then to bring out these same issues. Ann http://members.home.net/amccormick , who I spoke to on the phone yesterday after her return to LA from the Global Peace Walk, is helping with networking and has recommended some good folks for me to contact in New England but I need your help, due to time limitations, to forward this post to all those you know who might be interested to help with this need for electors, right away, like this weekend. If we get enough signatures for ballot access in this period, then the Williams-Peltier ticket will go on the November ballot and that will give enormous leverage for the relegalization issue, and the others, during the last three months before the election. In each State where not enough signatures are gathered, the slate of electors will still be registered in each State by a later deadline two weeks before the election. This would mean instead of it being an "Independent Candidacy" listed on the ballot, it will be an offical "Write-In Candidacy" not listed on the ballot but where any write-in votes will be in fact be counted and reported. Again, I'm not asking for any commitments to waste votes in November, just to use this opportunity to raise public awareness and thereby pressure other candidates to take up this legalization issue and other important issues that USCampaign is championing. The first newspaper article about this USCampaign will appear in tomorrow's Bakersfield Californian newspaper and it may be on their website (Features?) in the morning at http://www.bakersfield.com The reporter interviewed me two days ago and said he would write in mention of Ann with reference to Todd McCormick's case, so already you can see that the media is becoming interested to write about this more because of this Quixotic Presidential Campaign. He said he is limited to 600 words and it is already longer than that, so we will see how it comes out. I expect he will do more articles because I gave him so much info on campaign issues. This is an AP wire paper so if the article appears in your newspaper, please save it and let me know so we can use it. You can also write a followup letter to the editor at that site with your comments and encouragement for them to do more stories in this, my local newspaper. For more information on this campaign, issues and strategy, see http://www.egroups.com/group/williams-peltier If you can offer your name as a Presidential Elector in your State, send an email to uscampaign@egroups.com with the subject line including your state abbreviation [bracketed] followed by a space, and your name as registered to vote, eg, ----Subject: [CA] Hempfree J. Bogart ----. In the body of the email put your name and address as registered to vote, along with phone/fax/email data so when needed your info can be verified etc. If you have questions about the procedure, issues, messages, etc., or if you want to help as a signature gatherer or in any other way, please read the first posts in the messages archives at http://www.egroups.com/group/williams-peltier If you know you want to be a coordinator for this USCampaign to help get the word out, collaborate by email, etc., send an email same as above but in addition to your state abbreviation begin subject line with [coordinator] in which case you do not even need to be a registered voter. Only electors and signature gatherers need to be registered voters. The most I can hope for at this time is that this campaign will gain enough public awareness with your help so that folks can pressure their favorite candidates for all offices this year on their particular issues by saying, "Look, even this Davy Crockett guy supports this issue so if you don't take it up, then I might have to vote for him and Leonard Peltier in November and I don't want to do that!". If we get a high enough level of public awareness on this campaign, with your help, this may become more than the joke it seems to be at this point in time. Thanks for doing whatever you can to help on this as the future of our planet may depend on the success of this campaign, for real, as well as any kind of relegalization and resolution to the drug war. David Crockett Williams, C.L.U. Chartered Life Underwriter Bachelor of Science, Chemistry Tehachapi, California, USA General Agency Services gear2000@lightspeed.net http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/genagency.html FreeService: Money by Email [sign up and we each get $5] https://secure.paypal.com/refer/pal=gear2000%40lightspeed.net Easy way to Email all Media and Government officials by State http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd Science & Technology in Society & Public Policy List http://www.egroups.com/group/dcwilliams Global Peace Walk 2000 http://www.globalpeacenow.org Updates/Voicemail 415-267-1877 Global Emergency Alert Response http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000 Nuclear Disarmament & Economic Conversion Act http://www.PetitionOnline.com/prop1/petition.html USCampaign gear2000@onemain.com DCWilliams for President, Leonard Peltier for VP http://www.egroups.com/group/williams-peltier "An Agenda for Peace", one Global Peace Walk support letter http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/agenda.html The Vision of Paradise on Earth, DCWilliams http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/vision.html - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. 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