For those who share my concern about the dangers to humanity that nuclear weapons pose that was highlighted by Russian President Vladimir Putin when he used the threat of nuclear war in his attack on Ukraine, there is a statement being circulated by the Nuclear Ban Treaty Collective’s campaign to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which can eliminate Putin’s threat. This statement reads as follows:
“The power to initiate a global apocalypse lies in the hands of the leaders of nine nations.
“As 122 nations of the world indicated when they adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in July, 2017, this is unacceptable.
“As concerns about the threat of nuclear weapons re-enter the public consciousness, it is important to know that humankind is not without an answer to the nuclear threat. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force on Jan. 22, 2021, provides a clear pathway to the elimination of the nuclear threat.
“We call on all nuclear armed states to take immediate steps to:
* engage the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,
* attend the First Meeting of States Parties, and
* sign, ratify and implement the Treaty.
“We also call on the US media to recognize the existence of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to include the Treaty in discussions, articles, and editorials regarding the nuclear threat and methods available to address it.”
This statement will be released nationwide on Tuesday, June 7th. You can find the page to sign the statement as well as other steps you can take on this issue at: (https://nuclearbantreaty.org/statement-on-the-nuclear-threat/). The text of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons can be found at (https://www.icanw.org/tpnw_full_text).
We can all use this statement to take a stand for a world free from the threat of nuclear war.
Judy Reynolds,
Davis
