nuclear-news

Marshall Islands sues nine nuclear powers over failure to disarm

.. The UK government’s plans to replace Trident make a mockery of its professed belief in multilateral frameworks – and now in addition to huge public opposition in the UK, it will also face an international legal challenge to expose its hypocrisy….

Pacific nation that was site of 67 nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958 accuses states of ‘flagrant denial of human justice’

• Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
• theguardian.com, Thursday 24 April 2014

 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/24/marshall-islands-sues-nine-nuclear-powers-failure-disarm

The Marshall Islands is suing the nine countries with nuclear weapons at the international court of justice at The Hague, arguing they have violated their legal obligation to disarm.

In the unprecedented legal action, comprising nine separate cases brought before the ICJ on Thursday, the Republic of the Marshall Islands accuses the nuclear weapons states of a “flagrant denial of human justice”. It argues it is justified in taking the action because of the harm it suffered as a result of the nuclear arms race.

The Pacific chain of islands, including Bikini Atoll and Enewetak, was the site of 67 nuclear tests from 1946 to 1958, including the “Bravo shot”, a 15-megaton device equivalent to a thousand Hiroshima blasts, detonated in 1954. The Marshallese islanders say they have been suffering serious health and environmental effects ever since.

The island republic is suing the five “established” nuclear weapons states recognised in the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) – the US, Russia (which inherited the Soviet arsenal), China, France and the UK – as well as the three countries outside the NPT who have declared nuclear arsenals – India, Pakistan and North Korea, and the one undeclared nuclear weapons state, Israel.

The

NPT, which came into force in 1970 is essentially a compact between the non-weapon states, who pledged to not to acquire nuclear weapons, and the weapons states, who in return undertook to disarm under article VI of the treaty.

Although the size of the arsenals are sharply down from the height of the cold war, the Marshall Islands’ legal case notes there remain more than 17,000 warheads in existence, 16,000 of them owned by Russia and the US – enough to destroy all life on the planet.

“The long delay in fulfilling the obligations enshrined in article VI of the NPT constitutes a flagrant denial of human justice,” the court documents say.

The Marshall Islands case draws attention to the fact that the weapons states are currently in the process of modernising their nuclear weapons, which it portrays as a clear violation of the NPT.

The case against Britain, which has an estimated total inventory of 225 warheads and is in the process of replacing its submarine-launched Trident arsenal, states that: “The UK has not pursued in good faith negotiations to cease the nuclear arms race at an early date through comprehensive nuclear disarmament or other measures, and instead is taking actions to improve its nuclear weapons system and to maintain it for the indefinite future.”

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s general secretary, Kate Hudson, said: “The nuclear-armed states continue to peddle the myth that they are committed to multilateral disarmament initiatives, while squandering billions to modernise their nuclear arsenals. The UK government’s plans to replace Trident make a mockery of its professed belief in multilateral frameworks – and now in addition to huge public opposition in the UK, it will also face an international legal challenge to expose its hypocrisy.”

April 24, 2014 Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Mari Takenouchi uncovers deception and fights litigation

“Since Russian kids have fair skin, people say that is the reason in leukaemia found in children after Chernobyl.” – Health Physics Society Japan

[…]

“It is also an historical fact that CIA involvement has been proven in this matter.” – Mari Takenouchi

Image source – http://www.chernobyl-children.org.uk/archives/3138

This article has been arranged from Mari Takenouchi`s Blog

http://savekidsjapan.blogspot.ie/2014/02/ethos-leader-accused-takenouchi-of.html?spref=tw

Edited by Arclight2011part2

24th April 2014

On April 15, a foreign reporter tried to interview ETHOS leader Ms. Ryoko Ando, who quickly hung up the phone after she said,

“This is a threat! I will expose your name!”
The reporter had managed to tell Ms. Ando,
“This is a good chance for you to tell people the story from your side.”
She was a gentle female foreign reporter who could speak good Japanese and had already contacted Ms. Ando via FAX and e-mail prior to this telephone call. This was told to Mari by the foreign reporter.
Earlier in the year, Mari received a telephone call notifying her that the leader of Fukushima ETHOS Ms. Ryoko Ando (real name is Yoko Kamata) had filed a legal complaint against her.

The Ethos program supports relocation of residents, including pregnant women and children, to keep living in contaminated areas, justified by decontamination procedures and radiation measurements, and is likely contributing to sickness among majority of the children. This was program was previously conducted in Belarus and now in Fukushima prefecture and is funded by pro-nuclear institutions.
The fight against these pro nuclear international institutions will be long and hard and Mari is going to hire a lawyer with your generous support, here is her Bank details;
RyukyuBank (serial No. 0187) Matsuo Branch (No. 301)
Holder’s name: Mari Takenouchi
Ordinary Account 529695
Aside from receiving threats as the foreign reporter above has, she has received support concerning other litigation against her, here is a recent comment from a lawyer to Mari;
“This case comes under the violation of Article 21, Freedom of Speech. Except that the word “Criminal” was too strong, your words came from a sense of justice to protect countless numbers of children. If this case was indicted, it would be a chance for you to publicise this issue to the rest of society.”
“Probably the reason why the accuser used “criminal contempt” instead of “”defamation of character” is that the latter has the stipulation saying, “If the case is involved for the public benefit, the accused shall not be punished.”
“However, the legal defense would be the same in both case, especially If you can explain that you are trying to prevent massive health damages among the children in the future that no one has been done thus far.”
Here is some other comments on this issue from the parties involved;
Ms. Ryoko Ando, of ETHOS said;
“It is important to establish your own standard of radiation safety to achieve your true sense of security.”
To which Mari commented that she really did not understand what Ms Ryko was trying to say. Mari`s simple point is that children should be relocated away from Fukushima because it is dangerous for them to live there and this is a simple truth!

Continue reading →

April 24, 2014 Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Secret Plan to Advance Global Internet Censorship. ISPs to Act as “Internet Police”

http://www.globalresearch.ca/secret-plan-to-advance-global-internet-censorship-isps-to-act-as-internet-police/5378905

This is urgent. An Internet censorship plan is being finalized in secret meetings right now. We need all hands on deck at this crucial moment. 

Here’s the situation: President Obama himself is in secretive meetings with key political figures and lobbyists in Asia to lock the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Internet censorship plan into place.

We know from leaked documents that this secretive plan will censor your use of the Internet and strip away your rights.[1] If finalized, this plan would force ISPs to act as “Internet Police” monitoring our Internet use, censoring content, and removing whole websites.[2]

It will give media conglomerates centralized control over what you can watch and share online.

We urgently need your help to fight back. Add your voice right now and we’ll project a Stop the Secrecy message on key buildings in Washington D.C. to ensure Obama, the media, and everyone else knows this censorship plan must be stopped.

This is huge: covering 40% of the global economy, the TPP is being called a legal “blueprint” for the rest of the world.[3] Once key leaders finalize TPP Internet censorship plans, those plans will be used to globalize censorship. You will be affected and this may be our only chance to stop it.

Our attention-grabbing message will shine a light on their secret plan and will make clear to Washington lobbyists that the Internet community will never accept the TPP’s secrecy or censorship. The more who speak out, the larger our projection will become, and the more people we can reach.

This is a decisive moment: we need to act right now. Join with hundreds of thousands of people all over the world to shine a light on the TPP’s job-killing Internet censorship plan. Let’s send decision-makers and the lobbyists pulling the strings a message they can’t ignore: “Stop the secrecy now.”

Thank you for being a part of history,

After signing the petition, please forward this message to your friends.

– The RootsAction.org team

RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Coleen Rowley, Frances Fox Piven, and many others.

Footnotes:

[1] WikiLeaks: Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
[2] Electronic Frontier Foundation: TPP Creates Legal Incentives For ISPs To Police The Internet
[3] U.S. “Bullying” TPP Negotiators Amid Failure to Agree. Source: Inter Press Service News Agency.

April 24, 2014 Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment