Reversing nuclearization: From nuclear weapons sharing (Belarus and NATO countries) to a European-Nuclear-Weapon Free Zone

Online event. Thursday March 5. 5pm-6:30pm Central Europe Time

Commemorating the anniversaries of the 1954 Bravo nuclear test (Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day) and of Belarus’s 2022 decision to remove its nuclear-weapon-free status.

Photo by Alan Wilson (UK). Wikipedia Commons. Nuclear capable SU-30 fighter plane of the type used by the Belarus Air Force

Moderators

• Jackie Cabasso. Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation. Steering Committee Member, Abolition 2000
• Teresa Bergman. Senior Researcher, Advocate and Strategist, World Future Council

Speakers

• H.E. Doreen Debrum. Ambassador of the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the United Nations in Geneva.
• Olga Karach. Belarusian activist, political scientist and director of the human rights organisation ‘Our House’
• Alyn Ware. Director, Basel Peace Office (Switzerland). Global Coordinator, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament.
• Bojan Lazarevski. Political Scientist in International and Intercultural Studies. Erasmus and CEEPUS alumni at Charles University and University of Vienna. 

Outline

The risks of a nuclear war by accident, miscalculation or intent have increased with various escalatory actions, including the deployment by Russia of nuclear weapons to Belarus, announcement by the U.S. President of a possible resumption of nuclear testing, expiration of the New START agreement and various provocative statements regarding possible use of nuclear weapons in current conflicts including in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Human Rights Committee affirmed in October 2018 that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is “incompatible with respect for the right to life” (under the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights) and “may amount to a crime under international law”, and that “all States must refrain from developing, producing, testing, acquiring, stockpiling, selling, transferring and using nuclear weapons.”

This has opened the door to raising the issue of human rights and nuclear weapons policies of specific countries in the Human Rights Council. A number of submissions to the Council on this issue have proposed the establishment of regional nuclear-weapon free zones in the Arctic, Europe and North-East Asia as common security approaches to the issue.[1]

March 1 is the anniversary of the Bravo Test – the most destructive nuclear weapons test ever conducted by the United States (in 1954). February 27 is the anniversary of the date in 2022 that the Belarus government changed the constitution of Belarus, deleting its status as a nuclear-weapon-free country. Our event marks these two days, and revives the proposal originally made by Belarus in 1990 for the establishment of a European Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. This was similar to other proposals for a European NWFZ (see A Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone in Europe Concept – Problems – Chances).

Proposals for a European NWFZ address the fact that most European countries rely on nuclear deterrence – through extended nuclear deterrence relationships. Similar to other regional NWFZs, the proposals do not call for states to unilaterally relinquish nuclear deterrence, but to do it mutually with others in the region. This would be accompanied by security guarantees from the nuclear-armed states to respect the territorial integrity of States Parties to the NWFZ and to commit not to threatening or using nuclear weapons against them.

Proposal for MAP
The event will also discuss a proposal to establish a Marathon for nuclear Abolition and Peace (MAP) initiative to include a number of transnational, cooperative runs promoting peace, nonviolent conflict resolution and nuclear abolition, with the first of the runs taking place on April 6, the International Day of Sport for Peace and Sustainable Development.

[1] This includes submissions with regard to nuclear weapons policies of Belarus, Denmark, Japan, North Korea and South Korea.

Cosponsors

The event is cosponsored by Abolition 2000, Basel Peace Office, Our House: Centre for Human Rights and Relief, Mayors for Peace European Chapter, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament, UNFOLD ZERO, World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy and World Future Council.