FINAL STATEMENT
The 3rd World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates was held from October 18th to 20th, 2002. It was organized by Mikhail Gorbachev and Walter Veltroni, Mayor of Rome.
The participants included: Mikhail Gorbachev, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Joseph Rotblat, Lech Walesa, Betty Williams, Institut de Droit International, International Peace Bureau, American Friends Service Committee, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, International Labour Organization, Amnesty International, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, United Nations Peace-keeping Forces, Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the United Nations.
The participants of the 3rd World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates refuse to accept the cynicism and despair that crushes hope and vision. They affirm strongly our common humanity and capacity to work cooperatively, informed by compassion and inspired by love. Our humanity demands this.
The meeting encouraged an open exchange of opinions regarding threats to world peace, and the contradictions and instability of the current world order. The Nobel Peace Laureates participating in the meeting sought solutions to the principal challenges of our time: widespread war and violence, including international terrorism; poverty; and environmental degradation. There is an urgent need to find solutions leading to a new world order that emphasizes peace, humanity and equality.
1. Of particular concern to the participants is the increased reliance on violence and war as a primary means to resolve political disputes. It is imperative to seek peaceful political solutions to conflict and to deepen collaboration among states, be it through the United Nations or other regional security organizations.
A primary goal is to halt the new arms race, and to demilitarise international relations. The participants are concerned about the new military doctrines that contemplate the use, even pre-emptive, of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons continue to pose a real threat due to a renewed tendency toward proliferation, made more dangerous by the possibility that terrorists may acquire them. Nuclear weapons are immoral and their use is illegal. It is imperative to achieve the total abolition of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
It remains important to maintain tight control over the commerce of conventional arms, and to destroy landmines that continue to disproportionately kill and maim civilians and children.
The participants unanimously agree that the struggle against terrorism needs to be intensified, but it must not become a pretext for unjust constraints on human rights, or for ethnic, racial and religious discrimination. The solutions must actively involve non-violent measures including dialogue, collaboration, and increased understanding between different societies, cultures, and religions. A Culture of Peace must overcome today’s dominant culture of war. To do so, educational institutions must incorporate curricula that include peace education, with particular emphasis on non-violent means of conflict resolution.
2. The participants express their full support of efforts to achieve a peaceful political resolution to the crisis in the Middle East, and call upon both Palestinians and Israelis to reject extremism and violence. Israel’s right to security must be fully guaranteed, as must be the right of the Palestinian people to have a sovereign State. A successful peace process may require the parties to focus on core problems, while postponing complete resolution of every aspect of the conflict.
The participants are satisfied with the initiatives of the “four” (the United Nations, the United States, Russia, and the European Union) and believe that any agreements must be accompanied by guarantees, made primarily by the four promoters themselves.
The problems concerning Iraq must be resolved on the basis of United Nations Security Council resolutions. Unilateral action is not acceptable. The world community must ensure that Security Council resolutions are fully adhered to. This will help normalize the situation in the Middle East and bring stability and safety to the region. In particular, this implies respect for the rights of the Iraqi people, and for Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity.
3. The participants recalled the United Nations’ 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. They expressed their regret that the Summit did not lead to concrete and binding decisions to address fundamental problems, such as poverty, environmental degradation, and the increasingly acute energy crisis.
The participants unanimously declare that the problems of poverty, suffering, the humiliation of millions of people, and the growing gap between North and South represent a time bomb. These problems are a source of conflict and are fertile soil for terrorism.
There is no alternative to sustainable development. Therefore, the fundamental goal must be to improve living conditions and protect the environment and natural resources. There must also be respect for workers’ basic rights, meaningful occupation and dignity for current and future generations, and the elimination of the scourge of child labour.
The participants recommend that governments ensure the right of all peoples to health and guarantee access to basic medicines.
They stress their preoccupation over the destiny of children who are the future of the world.
4. The participants give their support to the “Water for Peace” initiative of Green Cross International and urge governments, state bodies, and the representatives of science, business, and civil society to contribute actively toward its successful implementation.
Solving the global water crisis represents an important step toward achieving the goals of sustainable development, and will improve life and health conditions for millions of people, not only in the developing world, but also in the developed world. This goal is of vital importance.
The participants endorse the Johannesburg Joint Declaration of Nobel Peace Laureates and Mayors of major cities, “The Battle for the Planet.” It is an efficient consolidation of efforts in favour of sustainable development, and it provides a useful blueprint for action.
The participants are determined to continue, each in their own country and according to their abilities, to implement the activities required to meet the objectives stated above. They will keep in contact with each other and will gather again at the Forum in Rome to continue their collective work.
This statement will be delivered to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council, the Prime Minister of Israel, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, the President of Iraq, the leading organs of the European Union, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Italy, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, and all other Nobel Laureates.
Posted by zack_allen at 03:09 PM
October 20, 2002
Nobel Peace Laureates Challenge Doctrine of Unilateral Militarism
Report of the Third World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates
From October 19-20, 2002, the City of Rome hosted the 3rd World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.
Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute, and Senator Douglas Roche, Chairman of the Middle Powers Initiative (a program of GSI) represented the International Peace Bureau, a Nobel Laureate organization. During the conference, Granoff and Roche convened and co-chaired an “Extraordinary Session” of Nobel Peace Laureates to discuss concrete responses that could be taken against the emerging doctrine characterized as Unilateral Militarism.
Nobel Laureates took up the issue of an impending war in Iraq, challenges posed by unilateral militarism to the United Nations system, with particular emphasis on the Bush Administration’s policies regarding nuclear weapons. Nobel laureates were especially concerned by doctrines relating to testing and building new nuclear weapons, their integration into conventional war-fighting doctrines, and threats of preemption.
New Advisors for GSI
Nobel Peace Laureates Rigoberta Menchú Tum and Sir Joseph Rotblat accepted invitations to be active members of GSI’s Advisory Board.
Joseph Rotblat is a physicist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for his work to eliminate the dangers posed by nuclear weapons, a life-long campaign since his withdrawal from the Manhattan Project. During the summit, Rotblat publicly credited GSI’s Middle Powers Initiative with helping to achieve an important clarification in terms of international law:
“Under the terms of the NPT, the 183 non-nuclear countries have undertaken not to acquire nuclear weapons, and the five overt nuclear states have undertaken to get rid of theirs. There was some ambiguity in the formulation of the relevant Article VI of the NPT, which provided the hawks with an excuse for the retention of nuclear weapons until general and complete disarmament had been achieved. But — under pressure from the New Agenda Coalition and the Middle Powers Initiative (of which Senator Douglas Roche is Chairman) — this ambiguity was removed two years ago in a statement issued after the 2000 NPT Review Conference.”
Rome Nobel Statement
In their final statement twenty Nobel Peace Laureates and representatives of Nobel Peace Prize-winning organizations stated that “Nuclear weapons are immoral and their use is illegal. It is imperative to achieve the total abolition of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.”
The statement has been sent as a communiqué under a covering letter from conference-organizer Mikhail Gorbachev to the leaders of the G-8 countries, the United Nations, the Pope, and the President of Iraq. GSI staff Urs Cipolat and Zack Allen assisted with the finalization and multi-language translation of the Nobel statement.
Posted by zack_allen at 10:27 AM
October 08, 2002
The Global Security Institute Announces Bipartisan Security Group
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ambassador Robert T. Grey Jr., 202-797-5280; Zack Allen, 415-775-6760
WASHINGTON, DC: The Global Security Institute (GSI) announced today that it has launched a new program to provide Members of Congress with expert analysis and opinion on security-related issues. Composed of the leading architects of the international security regime, the Bipartisan Security Group (BSG) seeks to serve as an objective, reliable resource for policy makers who support the American tradition of securing security through international cooperation and the rule of law.
“BSG can be of significant assistance to Members of Congress in the crucial forthcoming national debates over international security,” said GSI President Jonathan Granoff.
According to BSG Chairman Ambassador Thomas Graham, “In order to win the war on terrorism and effectively pursue peace and security in the 21st Century, strengthening international security treaty regimes, advancing the role of international law and developing and maintaining close working relationships with all members of the civilized world is essential.”
“America has worked diligently and successfully to create multilateral cooperative regimes based on the rule of law as a means of pursuing security,” said Director Ambassador Robert T. Grey, Jr., who will head the office located at 1779 Massachusetts Avenue. “Bipartisan cooperation has characterized American global leadership in arms control and nonproliferation efforts,” said Grey noting key control and disarmament treaties (e.g. the ABM Treaty, START I, the INF Treaty, the NPT and the CWC) all obtained with bipartisan leadership.
“The U.S. Constitution emphasizes the importance of international agreements by making treaties the supreme law of our land,” said Granoff. “This insight in building international order proved its value in the arms control process that helped guide us safely through the Cold War. Now the terrorist threat continues to make it vital. The unilateral actions of any one country in this global context is not legally viable and can only be perceived as politically naïve. UN mechanisms are available, are legally binding, and must be used to confront terrorism.”
The Global Security Institute was founded by Senator Alan Cranston who believed that it is unworthy of civilization to base security on the threat to annihilate millions of innocent people. He also felt strongly that international institutions that promote cooperation and the law are viable mechanisms to move beyond the unacceptable risk posed by nuclear weapons.
The following senior experts have joined the Bipartisan Security Group and are available for comment. To set up an interview, please call the press office at 202-797-5280 or 610-585-0844:
Chairman
Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr., former President of the Lawyers Alliance for World Security (LAWS), was involved in the negotiation of every major international arms control and nonproliferation agreement of the past 30 years. As President Clinton’s Special Representative for Arms Control, Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Ambassador Graham led the successful U.S. government effort to indefinitely extend the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Director
Ambassador Robert T. Grey, Jr., former U.S. Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, was also Leader of the State Department UN Reform Team. He was a Senior Fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations and Counselor for Political Affairs of the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York. Among other postings, Ambassador Grey served as Acting Deputy Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency as well as Counselor for Political Affairs, U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels.
Dr. Gloria Duffy has served as U.S. Special Coordinator for Cooperative Threat Reduction and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Clinton Administration. Her mission was to convince the countries of the former Soviet Union to give up their weapons of mass destruction, and to prevent the spread of their nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and material to terrorists and states that threaten international peace and security. Dr. Duffy is currently CEO of the Commonwealth Club, the nation’s largest and oldest civic forum.
Ambassador James Goodby, former Ambassador to Finland, is Non Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for East Asian Studies and Senior Advisor in the Security Studies program at Massachusetts Institute for Technology. Ambassador Goodby was Vice Chairman of the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Nuclear Arms Negotiations with the U.S.S.R., Chief of the U.S. Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Europe, and Chief U.S. Negotiator for the Safe and Secure Dismantlement of Nuclear Weapons. He was advisor to AEC Commissioner John von Neumann and also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Politico-Military Affairs and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs.
Rose Gottemoeller is a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and holds a joint appointment with the Russian and Eurasian Program and the Global Policy Program. Before joining the Endowment, Ms. Gottemoeller was Deputy Undersecretary for Defense and Nuclear Nonproliferation in the U.S. Department of Energy.
John Holum served as Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security; Senior Advisor to President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament; and as Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
Professor Barry Kellman is a law professor at DePaul University College of Law and co-director of the International Criminal Justice and Weapons Control Center. As chair of the Committee of Legal Experts of the Chemical Weapons, he was principle author of the Manual For National Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was recently issued in its second edition. He has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense Special Weapons Agency, the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. He chairs the ABA Committee on Law and National Security as well as the American Society of International Law Section on Arms Control.
Professor David Koplow, former Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Defense, teaches International Law and National Security, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation at Georgetown University.
John Rhinelander is senior counsel at Show Pittman LLP. Before joining Shaw Pittman in 1977, he served in six departments and agencies of the federal government, including Defense, State and Legal Advisor to the US SALT I delegation.
Suzanne Spaulding was formerly Executive Director of the National Commission on Terrorism and of the US Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Ms. Spaulding also served as Deputy Staff Director and General Counsel of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Assistant General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency. She is currently Chairperson of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security and a consultant on national security issues.