This is a weekly electronic information service of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility

Editor: Tobias Damjanov, e-mail:    
INES homepage: http://inesglobal.org
INES International Office    
INES Chair Prof. Armin Tenner    

INES Congress 2000

''Challenges for Science and Engineering in the 21st Century''

Stockholm, 14-18 June 2000

http://www.ines2000.org

 INES 2000 Conference Secretariat: mailto:

CONTENTS of WNII No. 4/2000

• Member Organisations' and Project Groups' News:
  • Japan Scientists' Association (JSA)
  • Can you help the Hague Appeal (HAP)?
• Nuclear Weapons:
  • Briefings on the 2000 NPT Review Conference
    • INES/INESAP events planned
    • Information Note for Non-Governmental Organizations
    • Suggestion to press for compliance with NPT Article VI
    • News on WILPF's "Reaching Critical Will"
  • Abolition 2000 Grassroots Newsletter January 2000
  • New resources
• Conferences, Meetings, Seminars:
  • Visions of Peace
  • Deepening the Discourse on Human Rights; Developing Nonviolent Strategies for Direct Action and Diplomacy
  • International Conference on War Tax Issues
  • Sixth World Congress of Educators for Peace
  • IEP 2000: Issues in Global Change
• INES Web- and Email Service
  • UPDATE: email Peter Weish, INES Executive Committee
  • UPDATE: Japan Scientists' Association (JSA)

MEMBER ORGANISATIONS' AND PROJECT GROUPS' NEWS

Japan Scientists' Association (JSA)   

The December 1999 issue of "The Bulletin of JSA" carries the following:    

• Briefings on recent conferences: 1999 World Conference and  Scientists' Meeting on Prohibition of Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb
  • 10th National Symposium of Female Researchers     
• JSA activities: Activities of Research Committee and Groups
  • District and Branches' activities (the JSA consists of 47 branches which are grouped into 9 districts)    
• Article "We Reject the Plan of Transforming National University into Independently Managed Agency"    
• List of articles of the "Journal of Japanese Scientists", Vol. 34/1999, No. 9 - No.11    
• The December 1999 issue plus back issues are stored at:   http://jsao.chem.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp/bull/bullindex.html

Can you help the Hague Appeal (HAP)?     

From HAP Director Gouri Sadhwani 

Dear Hague Appeal Supporters, we are trying to increase the number of people who subscribe to the HAP list-serve. We already have hundreds of people on the list but need thousands! This list is used to send out action alerts on the campaigns promoted by HAP as well as information from around the world on our global peace and justice movement.     Can you copy and paste this message to the bottom of your signature?   This way it will go out on the bottom of all your emails and all your   friends and colleagues can subscribe.    Thanks very much!     Message to copy and past:    "GET CONNECTED TO HAP! SUBSCRIBE to the HAP News list-serve.    Send an e-mail to: "

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Abolition 2000 homepage: http://www.abolition2000.org

Grassroots News: http://www.napf.org/abolition2000/news/  

Briefings on the 2000 NPT Review Conference    

INES/INESAP events planned     INES and INESAP, together with others, are planning to hold two events during the NPT Review Conference, possibly after 8 May:     
(I) a Briefing on the Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) at the UN,  addressing mainly diplomats  
(II) a Forum on the implications of missile defense, including Russian and Chinese perspectives and reactions. The Forum would take place outside the UN, addressing the public and concerned NGOs.  Since preparations are just in the beginning, watch this space for further and more detailed information. However, if it is interesting to you at this stage, you might obtain the minutes of the first preparatory meeting held on 20 January: Contact Tobias Damjanov who has been appointed assistant/secretary coordinating these events:   

Information Note for Non-Governmental Organizations   This is of particular importance for those who plan to attend the    Conference and related activities at the UN in New York: it is a short but very helpful briefing by the UN-based NGO Committee on Disarmament as how to make your arrangements at the spot, and whom to contact for these purposes. Send me a request if you wish to receive this note.    

Suggestion to press for compliance with NPT Article VI     In a response to David Krieger's article "Abolition 2000 At The Year 2000", Edward Perry (Board of Church and Society, California-Pacific Conference, United Methodist Church, USA) suggests that, "the delegates to the 2000 NPT Review Conference be asked to demonstrate compliance with Article VI by implementing the 1961 American/Soviet (McCloy/Zorin) plan for general and complete disarmament. Both the United States and the Soviet Union presented more detailed plans that should be reviewed."  Meanwhile, short comments on that were disseminated by Francis A. Boyle and Alyn Ware, followed by responses to each of them from E. Perry.  Note that Edward Perry's website includes the following:   "a copy of the American/Soviet (McCloy/Zorin) plan for general and complete disarmament (GCD); my opposition to H. Res 479, The Model Nuclear Weapons Convention; when the Hague Appeal for Peace (HAP) switched from GCD in the HAP Vision Statement to the New Agenda Resolution in their final Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century,  I wrote a response that I naturally called the OLD Agenda."   http://www.egroups.com/group/swords-into-plowshares       Send me a request if you wish to receive Edward Perry's statement in full along with the comments.    

News on WILPF's "Reaching Critical Will" (see WNII 3-00)     In the weeks leading up to the NPT Review Conference, WILPF intends to bring representative of Non Governmental Organizations and governmental representatives together for a monthly event at the UN both in New York and in Geneva. For 2 weeks prior to these meetings, we intend to use our web page to solicit views from around the world on relevant topic. Our first session will focus on two questions: 1. What role can the multilateral NPT have in making progress in nuclear disarmament?    2. Should there be a subsidiary body an on-going on nuclear disarmament or another new institutional mechanism? If so, what should it do? Please see our web site for background information: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org       The views collected from this debate will be made available to relevant decision makers in the governmental and non-governmental community on paper and electronically. And how do you join the on-line dialogues???? We will be using 2 parts of our web site for this discussion: For short comments (up to 75 words) please    1. Go to our web site   2. click on our CHAT ROOM ,   3. Wait to load and then enter your name (you are encouraged to identify affiliation by anonymity is fine)   4. Click on ROOMs   5, Click on ROLE OF NPT and then   6. click on ENTER ROOM and type in your comments by clicking in the text space at the bottom of the screen.  If you have a longer piece to submit please email your contribution to:    The chat room transcripts and the longer contributions will appear on our MESSAGE BOARD. If you need technical help in posting something to the chat, email:            Felicity Hill, Director, WILPF United Nations Office          

Abolition 2000 Grassroots Newsletter January 2000     

This year's first Newsletter starts with the following:   " With less than 98 days until the first day of the Non-Proliferation   Treaty Review Conference, we still need to enroll 568 organizations to reach our goal of 2000 by the time of the NPT Rev Con. Currently, the Network is comprised of 1,432 organizations in 91 countries and 239 Municipalities have endorsed the Abolition 2000 Municipal Resolution.   We are seeking your support to help us reach our goal.  Please make a commitment to enroll a new organization this week."    

• From the section "Articles": Mouvement De La Paix Hosts Congress for a "Peace Planet"   http://www.mvtpaix.org       Japanese Campaign Launched to Abolish Nuclear Weapons    mailto:       Protests against the second test of the National Missile Defense System   http://www.globenet.free-online.co.uk      
• New section "Abolition 2000 Organizations in the Year 2000":   This section will highlight the activities of and statements from various organizations in Abolition 2000. If you would like to share your activities and plans with other members of the Abolition 2000 Global Network, please email your statement to Carah Ong at           Malaysia: Malaysian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (MPPNW)     Romania: Mama Terra (For Mother Earth)-Romania & Global Network Against   Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space     
• "Action You Can Take":      Write a letter to your Head of State urging him/her to demonstrate a commitment to nuclear disarmament by attending the 2000 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference.  Names of Downwinders Needed!    Abolition 2000 is collecting names of Downwinders as part of a demonstration that will be held at the United Nations during the NPT Rev Con.  Please send names with, city, country, date of exposure, death, or   accident (where available) to:   Alice Slater (INES member!) at:         Sign the On-line Petition to Stop Ballistic Missile Defense!   http://www.PetitionOnline.com      
• Also in the Newsletter of January: a "Calendar of Events," the   section "Resources," and a "Letter from the Editor" concerning the NPT Review Conference.

New resources    (from: Abolition 2000 Grassroots Newsletter January 2000)     

• Houseman's Peace Diary and World Peace Directory 2000, 47th Edition (ISBN: 0-85283-254-0 / ISSN: 0957-0136)   The World Peace Directory is fully re-compiled and lists 2000 organizations in 160 countries working for Peace and Conflict Resolution, for the Environment, and for Human Rights. This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date directory of its kind published anywhere in the world. For more information or to order a copy, please contact the Housemans Bookshop (London):          
• Feoktistov, Lev P.: Nukes are not Forever    The book presents an insight into the history of the nuclear arms race in the USSR and an analysis of the present nuclear deterrence policy.   The author is a former chief architect of the Soviet nuclear program, and now a member of the Russian Pugwash.   For more information or to order a copy, please   mailto:      
• Boyle, Francis Anthony: Defending Civil Resistance Under International Law   This publication provides information to individuals on how to design a legal defense for actions of civil resistance intended to halt destructive government activities that violate international law. The book includes a special section on nuclear weapons activities.   For more, visit amazon.com at:   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/094132043X/ref=rm_item      
• Bradley, John: Learning to Glow: A Nuclear Reader   Collection of essays that will challenge readers to re-examine their conceptions about nuclear arms and radioactive waste.   For more, please visit:   http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/books/bid1296.htm

CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, SEMINARS

Visions of Peace   

International conference as part of the UNESCO's International Year for a Culture of Peace    

• Date: 22-27 May 2000  
• Venue: Dublin, Ireland  
• Sponsored by the Free University of Ireland     

For more details, contact Sean English at: 

Deepening the Discourse on Human Rights; Developing Nonviolent Strategies for Direct Action and Diplomacy

Three week advanced summer seminar   http://www.geocities.com/hihrmaui/index.html

• Date: 5-23 June 2000  
• Venue: O'ahu, Hawai'i and Maui  
• Organized by the Hawai'i Institute for Human Rights (HIHR)    
• The summer seminar focus is to:
  • educate about the international instruments and institutions, the regional mechanism and national commissions that aim to promote and protect human rights, as well as the established generations of human rights and the emerging generation of collective rights;  
  • organize to challenge the current judicial and political systems to improve and be innovative in their approach; and
  • mobilize participants to move beyond basic understanding and to build skills and strategies for future nonviolence and human rights campaigns.    

The principled analysis of existing international human rights rooted in relevant case law and international issues will be the basis for the seminar. A program of action will be developed together by experts and participants to transform the knowledge into direct action.  Application deadline is March 15, 2000.   For more details,   mailto:

International Conference on War Tax Issues   http://www.nonviolence.org

• Date: 6-9 July 2000  
• Venue: Washington D.C., USA  
• Sponsored by the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund    

For more details,   mailto:

Sixth World Congress of Educators for Peace  

• Date: 8-13 July 2000  
• Venue: Paris, France  
• Organized by the International Association of Educators for Peace   (IAEP)    

For more details,   mailto:  

IEP 2000: Issues in Global Change - Second International Issues in Environmental Pollution (IEP) Symposium    http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/iep2000

• Date: 16-18 October 2000  
• Venue: Lisbon, Portugal  
• Sponsored and hosted by Elsevier Science Ltd.    http://www.elsevier.com
• Aims and Scope (abridged):   The aim of this second IEP conference is to explore the science and policy implications of current research and thinking on resource use.   Particular emphasis will be put on the use of 'water,' 'air' and 'land'   resources, on how these 'reservoirs' are changing globally and on the effect of these changes on science, policy and economic management. IEP 2000 will encourage integration and review among scientists, policy makers, economists and industrialists and an examination of the decision making process. The opportunity to discuss and present issues of common interest and particular significance should enable an evaluation of the current state of information (today's trends and vision), and provide a forum for all parties to exchange ideas, to promote new initiatives and to determine how the conclusions derived from the symposium can be best applied. These aims will be emphasized in interdisciplinary sessions and workshops throughout the conference.  IEP 2000 is focused on global change and the principal natural resources:     - Water: water availability and water quality    - Air: air quality, greenhouse gas research: science and responses/    flexibility mechanisms in the private and government sectors   - Land: land use: forestry, agriculture, unmanaged systems,   minerals/materials     

For more details, contact the IEP 2000 Conference Secretariat, att: Gill Heaton

INES WEB AND E-MAIL SERVICE

All INES e-mail addresses and homepages are available upon request from:

UPDATE: email Peter Weish, INES Executive Committee    

Please note the email address of Peter Weish (Austria), member of the   INES Executive Committee: 

UPDATE: Japan Scientists' Association (JSA)    

Please note:   e-mail:       http://www.jsa.gr.jp /     
"The Bulletin of JSA:"   http://jsao.chem.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp/bull/bullindex.htm

         end of No.4/2000  what's new in ines