IPB Statement on French Nuclear Test and Call for Action

[Eric Fawcett]

   INTERNATIONAL PEACE BUREAU [Science for Peace is an affiliate 
   of IPB and endorses their Statement: a list of FAX addresses 
   is appended, which we urge you to use to express your concern]

Geneva, Sept  6 - The IPB utterly condemns the French nuclear test
that took  place yesterday  at Moruroa.  This is the 138th test on
the atoll.  It shows a total disregard for the fragile environment
and inhabitants  of the  region, and  is step back to the paranoid
politics of  the Cold  War. The fact that these tests are intended
to develop  new, more  sophisticated,  nuclear  devices  is  clear
evidence that France intends to maintain its arsenal well into the
next century.  Why does  France need it? What contribution will it
make to  solving the  Bosnian crisis,  or to  halting terrorism on
Parisian streets?

It is unacceptable that Chirac, elected by only a slim majority of
the French  electorate, pays  more attention  to a  small military
clique than  to the  outraged protests of governments and citizens
all over  the world,  or the views of 60% of his own people. It is
also a  slap in  the face  for the  European Union, who are due to
announce this morning a legal ruling on the French decision.

Even from  the point of view of Chirac's own party, this test is a
grave political  error. It  may well encourage threshold states to
join the  nuclear club,  since it  conveys the  message that  only
those prepared  to threaten the use of weapons of mass destruction
carry real  political clout.  It will  certainly increase pressure
for the  independence of  Polynesia, and  will lower still further
the President's  personal standing.  Furthermore,  the  suggestion
that the  French nuclear  deterrent be  somehow  shared  with  the
European Union will prove politically explosive.

The protest  campaign, including the international boycott - which
the  IPB  called  for  on  the  day  following  Chirac's  original
announcement -  will continue  until the tests are stopped. France
and the other nuclear states must fulfil the commitments they made
at the  Non-Proliferation Treaty  extension conference  in May  to
"the  determined  pursuit  .....  of  systematic  and  progressive
efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally".

Meanwhile, we call for:

1. an  announcement by  the Chirac  administration cancelling  all
   further nuclear weapons experiments;

2. the  immediate release  of all those who are still under arrest
   for their protest activities in French Polynesia;

3. an  urgent meeting of the 5 officially declared nuclear weapons
   states to agree  on  a  multilateral  resumption of the testing
   moratorium, pending the conclusion of the CTBT;

4. the  intensification, using all possible nonviolent methods, of
   the global campaign against nuclear testing.

                           ------------
                                 
IPB is  the world's  oldest and  most comprehensive  international
peace network, with 19 international and 140 national/local member
organisations in  over 40  countries. It  has had  UN Consultative
Status as an NGO since 1977.
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FAX addresses of the five Nuclear Powers and French Embassies

a. those for ambassadors other than the U.S.A. and Canada are not easily 
   available to us.

b. some of these addresses may not work, which may in fact be an 
   indication of a response to the campaign to FAX protests: in particular, 
   President Chirac's FAX number below is now said to evoke a voice response.

c. please let us know any difficulties you encounter with these 
   addresses, and provide alternatives; most of all we should like to 
   know the e-mail addresses oh Heads of State other than President Clinton.

France: 
President Jacques Chirac              FAX: 33-147-42-2465
Ambassador in Ottawa                  FAX: 613-789-0279
Ambassador in Washington              FAX: 202-944-6072

U.S.A.: 
President Bill Clinton                FAX: 202-456-2461
                                      e-mail: president at whitehouse.gov

China: 
Chairman Deng Xiaopeng                FAX: ???
Ambassador in Ottawa                  FAX: 613-789-1412
Ambassador in Washington              TEL: 202-328-2500[2507]

U.K.: 
Prime Minister John Major             FAX: 44-171-930-1419
Foreign Minister ???                  FAX: 44-171-270-2144
High Commissioner in Ottawa           FAX: 613-237-7980
Ambassador in Washington              FAX: 202-898-4255

Russia: 
President Boris Yeltsin               FAX: ???
Foreign Minister Andrezj Kozyrev      FAX: 7-095-2442-401
Ambassador to Canada                  FAX: 613-236-6342

Canada: [of interest only to Canadians, since Canada is not a nuclear power]
Prime Minister Jean Chretien          FAX: 613-957-5571

                     !!!!!!!PLEASE FAX TODAY!!!!!!!

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    We remind you again to forward this message to friends and colleagues. 
We also invite you to join Science for Peace (a Canadian organization, but 
not restricted in membership). 
Please e-mail for further information about Science for Peace:

        sfp at physics.utoronto.ca  or fawcett at physics.utoronto.ca

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