FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Carah Ong, Coordinator, Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons
Cell: 646-337-7279
In New York: c/o Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy
Tel: 212-818-1861 Fax: 212-818-1857
Abolition 2000 Global Network Enrols 2000th Organization
In May 1995, during the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review and Extension Conference at the United Nations in
New York, citizen action groups from around the world recognized that the declared nuclear weapons states were unwilling
to discuss complete nuclear disarmament as stipulated in the treaty. These organizations drafted an Abolition Statement
that would become the founding document of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons. The Statement
called for the implementation of NPT disarmament obligations through the immediate commencement of negotiations leading
to a nuclear weapons convention by the year 2000. An Abolition 2000 Working Group produced a Model Nuclear Weapons
Convention (MNWC), which is now an official UN document. The MNWC was drafted by lawyers, scientists and policy makers
under the leadership of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the International
Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and the International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against
Proliferation (INESAP).
Although the Global Network produced its treaty, Abolition 2000 recognized that disarmament efforts have reached an
impasse and that the nuclear weapons states are likely to fail once again in concluding negotiations on the elimination
of nuclear weapons in the year 2000, the year by which the Abolition 2000 Statement called for a nuclear weapons
abolition treaty. In response, the Abolition 2000 Global Network initiated a "2000 by 2000 Campaign" early this year.
The goal of the campaign was to obtain 2000 endorsers by the end of NPT Review Conference. This week, Abolition 2000
reached its goal with now more than 2025 organizations and municipalities in over 95 countries endorsing the Abolition
2000 Statement. Abolition 2000 is now the third largest network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the world.
According to Alice Slater of the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE), a founding member Abolition
2000: "The continued and increased support for the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons
demonstrates that the resolve of the nuclear weapons states to maintain their arsenals is unacceptable to civil society.
We will continue to grow and press our demands, until we prevail."
The goal of the Network's efforts is to influence a grassroots movement and to push the issue of nuclear abolition onto
the public agenda in order to increase political will and support for a nuclear weapons convention. Members of the
Global Network include lawyers, physicians, peace activists, religious organizations, environmental groups, human rights
groups, women's groups, youth and many others, proving that a secure and livable world is a common aspiration and
requires the elimination of nuclear weapons and the redress of environmental degradation and human suffering caused by
more than fifty-five years of nuclear weapons testing and production.
Abolition 2000 regional networks have also been established in places including Aotearoa/New Zealand, Eastern Europe,
France, Japan, Latin America, the Pacific, the United Kingdom and the United States. Additionally, the Global Network
has produced an International Petition that has been signed by more than 13.5 million individuals worldwide. The
Abolition 2000 International Petitions were symbolically presented to the Chairman of the NPT Review Conference,
Ambassador Baali of Algeria, at the UN in a ceremony on April 27th.
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