VITAL SIGNSThe Newsletter of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

Volume 14, Issue 1May 2001

IN THIS ISSUE

NMD Increases

Risk of Nuclear War

page 3

Bombs Away

page 4

Dialogue with

Decision-Makers

page 5

Middle Powers Initiative:

MPI Program Update

page 6

IPPNW-Germany

page 7

IPPNW 12-Country

Campaign to Block NMD

page 8

Putting Pressure on

the US to Sign the

Mine Ban Treaty

page 11

Small Progress

on Small Arms

page 12

Medical Student News

page 14

IPPNW Nominates

Foro de Ermua for

Nobel Peace Prize

page 15

And much more . . .

1985 Nobel Peace Prize

Nuclear Abolition!!IPPNW Initiative: Rx Abolition• The Medical and Environmental Effects of Nuclear Weapons Use,

Production, and Testing • Depleted Uranium Weapons and Acute Post-War Health Effects:

An IPPNW Assessment Small Arms!!IPPNW Initiative• Facts About Small Arms and Light Weapons• NGOs Urge Governments to “Cast a Wide Net” in Controlling

Small Arms• Statement by Cathey Falvo, MD, MPH, at the Small Arms

PrepComm. 18 January, 2001News!!Editorials, Press Releases• Bush Policy Might Bully US Allies. Washington Post, April 2001• Stop Playing Nuclear Games. Tikkun, May-June 2001• Bush Policy Might Bully US Allies. Boston Globe, March 2001• Nuclear Weapons Remain Greatest Threat. Los Angeles Times Syndicated Service, December 2000• Seize the Moment, Ban the Bomb. Los Angeles Times, November 2000News!!IPPNW in the News• Selling Nuclear Fear. David Beers, AlterNet and Vancouver Sun, March 2001• Searching for World Peace. Profile of Australian Activist Dr. Sue Wareham, Canberra Times,

December 2000• A Disarming Doctor. Profile of IPPNW Co-President Dr. Mary-Wynne Ashford, Heart and Soul,

Journal of the Canadian Medical Association, November 2000Publications!!Books and Reports• Small Arms/Firearms: A Global Health Crisis• Peaceful Caucasus ---- A Future Without Mines: Report on the Second International Conference on

Landmines in Russia and the Former Soviet Union (English translation available only on website)• Nuclear Weapons Convention Monitor, April 2001• Medicine and Global Survival, April 2001• Annual Report 2000Events• Aiming For Prevention: International Medical Conference on Small Arms, Gun Violence, and Injury;

Helsinki, Finland, September 2001• Summit for Survival: IPPNW/PSR World Congress, May 2002

Founding Co-PresidentsBernard Lown, MD, USAEvgueni Chazov, MD, RUSSIA

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Co-PresidentsMary-Wynne Ashford, MD, PhD, CANADASergei Gratchev, MD, RUSSIAAbraham Behar, MD, PhD, FRANCE

Regional Vice-PresidentsAFRICARobert Mtonga, MD, ZAMBIARUSSIA AND THE FORMERSOVIET UNIONLjubov Kolesnikova, MD, RUSSIAEUROPEHerman Spanjaard, MD, THE NETHERLANDSLATIN AMERICAAntonio Jarquín, MD, NICARAGUAMIDDLE EASTPerla Dujovney-Perez, MD, ISRAELNORTH AMERICANeil Arya, MD, CANADAIra Helfand, MD, USANORTH ASIAMasao Tomonaga, MD, JAPANSOUTH ASIAS. S. Shrivastwa, MD, INDIASOUTHEAST ASIA PACIFICIan Maddocks, MD, MPH, AUSTRALIA

At-Large MembersBoris Bondarenko, MD, RUSSIAMonika Brodmann, MD, SWITZERLANDJohn Pastore, MD, USACarlos Pazos, MD, CUBAElisabeth Waterston, MD, UKKenjiro Yokoro, MD, JAPAN

ChairIan Maddocks, MD, MPH, AUSTRALIA

TreasurerHerman Spanjaard, MD, THE NETHERLANDS

SecretaryJohn Pastore, MD, USA

Medical Student RepresentativesCaecilia Buhmann, DENMARKErnest Ryan Guevarra, PHILIPPINES

Speaker of the International CouncilRobin Stott, MD, UK

Deputy SpeakerGunnar Westberg, MD, SWEDEN

Chair of the 15th World CongressPeter Wilk, MD, USA

Executive DirectorMichael J. Christ

IPPNW Vital Signs 2

On the Cover: IPPNW-Canada’s Bombs Away campaign ad. (Design: Darren Carcary, Resolve Design, Inc.,resolvdesign@telus.net; Photography: Alison Burdett, alisonburdett@imag.net; Model: Emira Mears,emira@raisedeyebrow.com)

Executive OfficeMichael Christ, Executive Directorext. 207, e-mail: mchrist@ippnw.orgNaidene Waller, Executive Assistantext. 212, e-mail: nwaller@ippnw.org

Administration and Finance DepartmentDoug Kline, Director of Finance & Administrationext. 202, e-mail: dkline@ippnw.orgMehdi Afkari, Accountantext. 211, e-mail: mafkari@ippnw.org

Communications DepartmentLynn Martin, Director of Communicationsext. 209, e-mail: Ldmartin@ippnw.orgLiling Tan, Communications Associateext. 200, e-mail: Ltan@ippnw.org

Development DepartmentAllison Howard, Development Associateext. 203, e-mail: ahoward@ippnw.org

Program DepartmentJohn Loretz, Director of Programsext. 280, e-mail: jloretz@ippnw.orgPiji Protopsaltis, Project Coordinatorext. 210, e-mail: piji@ippnw.orgBrian Rawson, Program Coordinatorext. 208, e-mail: brawson@ippnw.org

IPPNW/PSR UN OfficeMerav Datan, DirectorIPPNW/PSR UN Office777 UN Plaza, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10017Tel: (646) 865-1883, fax: ( 212) 286-8211e-mail: mdatan@ippnw.org

Staff of Sister Organization in the Central OfficeMiddle Powers Initiative

Suzy Pearce, Executive DirectorTel: (617) 492-9189, e-mail: mpi@ippnw.org Laura Rótolo, Program AssistantTel: (617) 868-5050, ext. 217e-mail: Lrotolo@ippnw.org

IPPNW Central Office Staff 772277 MMaassssaacchhuusseettttss AAvveennuuee,, CCaammbbrriiddggee,, MMAA 0022113399

Tel: 617-868-5050 Fax: 617-868-2560 E-mail: ippnwbos@ippnw.org web: www.ippnw.org

1985 Nobel Peace Prize

New at www.ippnw.org

3 IPPNW Vital Signs

Having promised, during the campaign andin his inaugural address, to conduct a humble,not arrogant, foreign policy, George W. Bushpromptly dispatched Defense Secretary DonaldRumsfeld to Munich earlier this month to tellAmerica’s European allies (and, not incidentally,Russia and China) that regardless of their deepconcerns, the US would move swiftly to deploya national missile defense system (NMD).Nations with peaceful intentions, said Rumsfeld,have nothing to fear from a missile shield.

But, perhaps it’s US intentions that haveeveryone else on edge. Indeed, if you read theglossy 1997 booklet published by the UnitedStates Space Command called “Vision for 2020,”you might be on edge, too. “Vision for 2020” isfilled with Orwellian jargon such as this littlepearl ---- “the emerging synergy of space superi-ority with land, sea, and air superiority, will leadto Full Spectrum Dominance” ---- that leave nodoubt that NMD is part of a larger US plan todominate space for military purposes.

Right up front, “Vision for 2020” proclaims:“US Space Command ---- dominating the spacedimension of military operations to protect USinterests and investment. Integrating SpaceForces into warfighting capabilities across thefull spectrum of conflict.” And USSPACECOM,as they call themselves, clearly sees NMD asessential to this warfighting mission.

“Global engagement,” says USSPACECOMin more military-speak, “is the application of pre-cision force from, to, and through space.USSPACECOM will have a greatly expandedrole as an active warfighter in the years ahead asthe combatant command responsible forNational Missile Defense (NMD) and spaceforce application.” (Emphasis added.)

Even though NMD tests thus far have failedspectacularly, the critical question is not whetherNMD might someday be technically feasible, butwhether deployment of NMD will increase ordecrease the risk of nuclear war.

NMD will increase the risk of nuclear warfor several reasons.

First, NMD increases Russian and Chineseinsecurity. The Russians in particular are notbuying assurances that NMD will remain alimited system, and USSPACECOM’s “Visionfor 20/20” undercuts assertions that NMD wouldbe a purely defensive deployment. Russia’s fear is

that NMD could eventually neutralize a sizableportion of Russia’s nuclear deterrent, makingRussia vulnerable to a US first strike. Under suchcircumstances Russia would be loathe to agree tofurther reductions in its nuclear arsenal andwould be under enormous pressure, in fact, to dojust the opposite. This, in turn, undercuts an-other highly desirable goal reportedly under seri-ous consideration by the Bush Administration:unilateral reductions in the US nuclear arsenal bythousands of warheads. If NMD sparks a Russianand/or Chinese nuclear weapons build-up, wherewill the domestic political support for US reduc-tions come from? In short, NMD could well bethe first shot fired in a new nuclear arms race.

Second, deployment of NMD threatens tounravel decades of painstaking efforts to restrainthe nuclear arms race through a web of treatiesat a time when building on that progress is emi-nently possible.

Third, to the extent there are so-called“rogue states” developing a ballistic missile capa-bility with the intention of attacking the US(North Korea and Iran are most often men-tioned), NMD is a stimulus to step up andexpand such efforts. In the unique calculus ofnuclear weaponry, where a single warhead cankill millions and injure millions more, just a lit-tle bit of offense trumps defense. Furthermore, aballistic missile is just one way to deliver anuclear weapon. A suitcase smuggled over theborder is another. NMD or no NMD, peopleeverywhere will remain profoundly vulnerable aslong as there are nuclear weapons in the world.

Fourth, NMD threatens to consume ahundred billion dollars, or more, that would bebetter spent pursuing political and technicalavenues that could reduce the threat of nuclearattack, such as full implementation of theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and purchaseof Russia’s fissile materials stockpile before itends up in other, more dangerous and lessaccountable hands.

US allies who have profound and justifiableconcerns about NMD have options open tothem beyond applying diplomatic and politicalpressure on the Bush Administration. Canada,Norway, Australia, Denmark, Greenland, and theUK, all of which may be asked to provide a basefor NMD-related facilities, could refuse. Thesecountries, and others, may find themselves underenormous pressure from the US to participate inNMD and it will, no doubt, take enormouspolitical will to resist. But, if the President isserious about having a humble foreign policy,he cannot afford to run rough-shod over theconcerns of America’s most important allies, ordismiss those of its potential adversaries. !

In January, India successfully test-fired anupdated version of its Agni intermediate-rangeballistic missile, which has a 1,250-mile range. Thetest-fire prompted immediate concern fromPakistan, Japan, and the UK.

In response to the Bush Administration’sannouncement that it would take a hardlinepolicy with Pyongyang, North Korea threatenedin February to discard a moratorium on long-range missile tests. North Korea had agreed inSeptember 1999 to suspend missile tests duringnegotiations with the US on the country’s missileprogram and in exchange the US agreed to easesanctions and provide assistance to the country’snuclear energy program.

Russia floated plans in February to build itsown ballistic missile system based on using exist-ing theater-range weapons that can destroy ballisticmissiles in their “boost-phase” that differ from USplans to intercept incoming ballistic missiles inspace. Russia later proposed a system that wouldemploy short- and medium-range interceptorsfired from mobile launchers in its campaign toconvince European allies to cosider alternativesto the US proposed anti-missile system thatWashington says could be extended to Europe.

Recently declassified US government docu-ments show that the Kennedy and Johnsonadministrations were alarmed by rapid develop-ments in China’s nuclear program in the early1960s and considered bombing targets, killingexperts, and supplying India with nuclearweapons. Other options included blockadingChina and infiltrating and sabotaging the pro-gram; carrying out air attacks on Chinese nuclearfacilities; supporting a Taiwanese invasion ofChina; and launching a tactical nuclear attack.Later reports stated that China’s nuclear capabilitywould never be great enough to threaten US inter-ests. Other documents also showed that bothadministrations considered helping India developnuclear weapons capability in order to containChina. President Johnson eventually opted fordiplomatic means to contain nuclear expansion.

The New Zealand government expressedstrong concern over a nuclear waste shipment trav-eling from France to Japan. New Zealand andother Pacific states do not want nuclear shipmentsgoing through the nuclear-free zone of the SouthPacific. Nations that ship nuclear waste claim tohave safeguards in place should an accident occur,but refuse to accept liability in the event of an acci-dent. The shipment destined for Japan containsuranium and plutonium mixed oxide fuel (MOX),which could in theory be converted into nuclearweapons material.

Ten thousand anti-nuclear protesters inGermany protested a shipment of radioactive

Nuclear Abolition

News BriefsNMD

Increases

the Risk of

Nuclear War

Nuclear News continues ---- page 4

Peter Zheutlin, JD John O. Pastore, MD

John O. Pastore, MD, serves on IPPNW’sBoard of Directors, and Peter Zheutlin, JD,

is IPPNW’s Associate Program Director.This piece was published in

the Boston Globe on March 25, 2001.

Groups throughout the peace movementhave long wrestled with how to involve theyounger generation in our work. IPPNW’sCanadian affiliate, Physicians for Global Survival(PGS), has found a way to reach the Nexus gen-eration (18-35 year olds) with its innovativeBombs Away campaign to stop US deploymentof a National Missile Defense (NMD) system.

With powerfully combined images andwords on billboards and transit ads (see blackand white version on the cover) in two majorcities ---- Vancouver on the west coast andToronto in the east ---- PGS is driving people toits Bombs Away website. The well-designed siteeducates visitors about the threat nuclearweapons pose today. But many of the 300,000people who have visited www.bombsaway.ca sofar haven’t just read about the issues. More than2,000 have been motivated to act, sending faxesto the Canadian government encouraging oppo-sition to the Bush Administration’s dangerousplan.

The launching of the ads and website inearly February also received extensive coverageby the media, helping to further spread news ofthe cyber-campaign. Journalist David Beers ofthe Vancouver Sun has had his articles on thecampaign picked up by other media outlets suchas the US-based news service AlterNet. (Go towww.alternet.org and select “Selling NuclearFear” to print a copy of this article or use thePublications Order Form on page 19 to requestthat a copy be mailed to you by writing in yourrequest.)

IPPNW Co-President Dr. Mary-WynneAshford’s determination to find effective ways tocommunicate IPPNW’s anti-nuclear message toyoung people sparked the campaign. Ideas forhow to reach the 18-35 year-old demographicwere developed by Amanda Gibbs of theVancouver-based Institute for Media, Policy andCivil Society (IMPACS) and PGS and then weretested by a Toronto-based research firm called D-Code. Campaign development was supported bya generous grant from the Simons Foundation.

The research found that most of those sur-veyed thought that the nuclear threat was a thingof the past ---- that it ended when the Cold Wardid. When told that there are still more than30,000 nuclear weapons in the world today ----with more than 5,000 on hair-trigger alert ---- theywere shocked. Many expressed anger that theleaders of the nuclear weapons states had led

them to believe that they had eliminated thethreat. When given the facts, these Canadianyouth were motivated to work to rid theirworld of nuclear weapons and the immediate,persistent risk of Armageddon.

Sarah Kelly, a 24-year-old medical studentat the University of British Columbia, under-stands that the US NMD plan increases the riskof nuclear war. Serving as spokesperson at thecampaign launch, she said, “If the US goes aheadon this, China and Russia have said that they willrespond by heightening the arms race. Keepheightening the arms race, and eventually anuclear weapon will be used.”

IMPACS’ Gibbs says that the Nexus gener-ation is “realistic, confident, optimistic, driven toactivism, and incredibly media literate.” TheBombs Away campaign strategy of using ironicadvertising combined with web-based activismeffectively harnesses the tremendous potentialthis group has to help create social change.IPPNW plans to work with its affiliated organi-zations in other countries to implement similaryouth outreach campaigns ---- especially in theUS and Russia where public support for nuclearabolition must be used to stop NMD and a newnuclear arms race. !

Nuclear Abolition

IPPNW Vital Signs 4

Bombs Away

waste traveling to the Gorleben storage facility inHamburg from the French nuclear reprocessingplant at La Hague. As many as 15,000 police offi-cers were dispatched at an estimated cost of $50million. Germany recently lifted a ban on nuclearwaste transports imposed in 1998 on safetygrounds and two transports are expected per yearas part of a deal made with the electricity industryin 2000 to phase out Germany’s 19 nuclear powerplant reactors by 2025.

A federal court in March granted to theNatural Resources Defense Council and theLivermore-based Tri-Valley CAREs the Motion forPreliminary Injunction in their legal battle againstthe multi-million dollar National Ignition Facility(NIF) mega-laser for violating the Federal AdvisoryCommittee Act (FACA). Being built as part of theStockpile Stewardship program, NIF is suspectedof being designed to research fusion reactions fora new generation of nuclear weapons. The twoenvironmental groups sought to bar the DOEfrom using the NIF August 2000 “rebaseline,”calling it an “illegally-prepared, biased review” togarner support for its problem-plagued laserfusion project. The 2 groups hope that Congresswill take a close look at alternatives to the NIF pro-ject and reconsider its priority within the overallStockpile Stewardship program, believing thatwith an objective external review of NIF’s costs,technical problems, and nuclear proliferation risks,Congress will cancel the facility.

In November, the Ukrainian Parliament rati-fied the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).Ukraine is one of the remaining 14 states whoseratification is required for the CTBT’s entry intoforce. The following thirteen states are required toratify the treaty before it can enter into force:Vietnam, Indonesia, Egypt, Algeria, DemocraticRepublic of the Congo, Colombia, Iran, US,China, Israel, North Korea (sign and ratify), India(sign and ratify), and Pakistan (sign and ratify).

On 3 January 2001, Congresswoman LynnWoolsey (D-CA) submitted a bill, HR 17, to the107th US Congress welcoming the IPPNW-backed Model Nuclear Weapons Convention andcalling on the US President to begin multilateralnegotiations leading to the early conclusion of anuclear weapons convention. The Bill has alreadybeen co-sponsored by 17 additional members ofCongress. US citizens are encouraged to contacttheir Congressional Representative and urge themto become a co-sponsor of HR 17. The full text ofthe resolution can be found at thomas.loc.gov,key word “nuclear disarmament.” !

News Briefscontinued from page 3

More nuclear news is available at www.wagingpeace.org, a project of the

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

Canada’s Cutting-Edge

Cyber-Campaign

to Stop NMD

PGS Members of Steering Committee for BombsAway Campaign (Left to right): PGS ExecutiveDirector Debbie Grisdale with medical studentsParis Ann Gfeller and Jeremy Penner. (Photo:Lynn Martin-IPPNW)

Members of IPPNW’s PR Working Group (left toright): Lynn Martin, IPPNW; Liling Tan, IPPNW;Suzanne Hawkes, IMPACS; and ClareHenderson, MAPW (IPPNW-Australia).(Photo: Piji Protopsaltis-IPPNW)

IPPNW’s Polish affiliate (Lekarze PrzeciwWojnie Nuklearnej) invited an IPPNW delega-tion to meet decision-makers in March inWarsaw to discuss nuclear disarmament issueswith particular emphasis on how to achieve anuclear weapons-free Europe. The team consistedof Professor Stefan Leder and Dr. BogdanWassilewski from Poland, Dr. Herman Spanjaardfrom the Netherlands, Dr. Arthur Muhl fromSwitzerland, Dr. Klaus Renoldner from Austria,Professor Martin Westerhausen from Germany,Dr. Zita Makoi from Hungary, and Dr. LizWaterston from the United Kingdom. News ofthe delegation ran in Poland’s major newspaperTribona.

IPPNW-Poland, under the guidance ofProfessor Stefan Leder and Dr. BogdanWassilewski, met with Poland’s Foreign Minister,members of the Foreign Affairs Committee inthe Sejm (the parliament), and the formerMinister of Defense.

Dr. Renoldner raised IPPNW’s concernsover the deadlock in nuclear weapons negotia-tions, stressing the need for negotiations leadingto a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) toban nuclear weapons. He also urged enactmentof a nuclear weapons-free zone in Europe as aconfidence-building measure. Foreign MinisterBartoszewsky observed that Poland feels threat-ened by the possible presence of nuclearweapons in Kaliningrad, Russia, and said thatthere had been a joint inspection by a Polish andRussian team of experts to two of the five sus-pected sites. It has been reported that Russia mayhave moved nuclear weapons into Kaliningrad inresponse to NATO expansion. The formerWarsaw Pact countries of Poland, Hungary, andthe Czech Republic joined NATO in March1999.

Recent public opinion polls showed 80 per-cent of the Polish population favored joiningNATO. A much lower percentage favors deploy-ing nuclear weapons in Poland or basing foreigntroops there.

The delegation learned that Poland sup-ports the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)and regrets that the US government has not rat-ified the treaty. !

Nuclear Abolition

Dialogue with

Decision-

Makers

in Poland

IPPNW Vital Signs5

IPPNW-Sweden (Svenska Läkare mot Kärnvapen ---- SLMK)has provided a great service to IPPNW’s affiliated organiza-tions around the world by developing a new section on itswebsite focused on US plans to deploy a National MissileDefense (NMD).

Written by respected US-based Swedish journalist Claes Andreasson, the website topics cover:!"What Is the National Missile Defense?!"Clinton’s Missile Defense System!"The Threat!"NMD and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty!"Quotes on NMD

It also has News, Links, Image Gallery, and Sound sections.

Available at www.slmk.org in both English and Swedish, this is a powerful new tool for activists touse in the fight to stop NMD. SLMK has generously given permission for the text to be used byothers with the request that the source be cited as “Claes Andreasson for Swedish Physicians AgainstNuclear Weapons.” !

NMD Featured

on SLMK Website

Herman Spanjaard, MDIPPNW Vice-President, Europe

More than a dozen IPPNW delegates led by Co-President Abraham Behar (top, third from left)gathered in Paris to discuss French nuclear disar-mament policy with the Director of theDisarmament Department of the Foreign Office.The session capped two days of Dialogue withDecision-Makers meetings in London and Paris inNovember. !

(Left to right) Stefan Leder, Bogdan Wassilewski,Zita Makoi, Arthur Muhl, Minister of Foreign AffairsBarskewsky, Liz Waterston, Martin Wsterhausen,and Klaus Renoldner.(Photo: IPPNW-The Netherlands)

Meetings in

Paris & London

(Left to right) John Loretz, Dr. Arthur Muhl, Dr. Abraham Behar, Dr. Hans Levander, Dr. Lars Pohlmeier, Ellen Antal (med-ical student?), _________, _________, Noel Barengo (medical student?), Dr. David Rush, Dr. Liz Waterston, and Dr.Monika Brodmann. (Photo: Herman Spanjaard, IPPNW-Netherlands)

Nuclear Abolition

Geiringer OrationOn March 27-28, MPI Chairman Canadian

Senator Douglas Roche spoke in Wellington to ahigh-level UN-sponsored Asia-Pacific regionaldisarmament conference hosted by NewZealand. He delivered the Geiringer Oration*sponsored by IPPNW-New Zealand, in whichhe noted “the determination of the BushAdministration to proceed with NMD, to thegreat concern of NATO allies and the outrightopposition of Russia and China . . . .” He rec-ommended that “in this climate, it is importantthat the core issue of nuclear disarmament bethe central response to missile defense systemproposals.”

Support for the New AgendaMPI sees the outcome of the 2000 NPT

Review Conference as a new moment in nucleardisarmament. Not only did 187 countries pledgean unequivocal undertaking to accomplish thetotal elimination of their nuclear arsenals, theNew Agenda (NA) group also emerged there asthe preeminent political force for nuclear disar-mament and subsequently crafted their 2000 UNGeneral Assembly resolution to embody the 13Practical Steps adopted by the conference.

On November 20, the General Assemblyvoted overwhelmingly (154 yes; 8 abstain; 5 no)to adopt it, with China plus all of NATO support-ing it, with the exception of France and Russia.

An important focus for MPI now is tomonitor progress on implementation of theNPT 13 Practical Steps. MPI began to addressthis at a roundtable it organized at the State ofthe World Forum on September 7 with repre-sentatives from the New Agenda group, the USgovernment, and the UN. Predictions about ful-fillment of the NPT commitments before 2005were gloomy. On October 17, government andrepresentatives of non-governmental organiza-tions (NGOs) again explored prospects for widesupport of a new vehicle to implement the 13steps ---- the NA resolution ---- at a UN forumarranged and facilitated by MPI.

On April 30, 2001, one year after the 2000NPT Review, MPI will hold a strategy consulta-tion “Towards NPT 2005: An Action Plan for the13 Steps” at the UN with representatives of theNew Agenda, other key governments, NGOs,and the UN, to examine progress, analyze obsta-cles, and form strategies for moving ahead on the13 Steps. Discussion will proceed from a papercommissioned by MPI from Dr. Tariq Rauf ofthe Monterey Institute in California, which willprovide background, analysis, and recommendedactions on each of the steps. A report from theconsultation will be widely circulated.

Challenging NATO Nuclear PolicyNATO continues to call nuclear weapons

“essential,” squarely contradicting the NPTReview pledge to pursue their elimination. Inearly October 2000, discussions between anMPI delegation and Foreign Ministry andDefense officials in Oslo, Berlin, Rome, Brussels,and The Hague revealed both lack of awarenessof and inability to grapple with this contradic-tion. The delegation brought these conclusionsto the October 17 MPI consultation and re-ported them widely. MPI was grateful for orga-nizing help from the following IPPNW activists:Kirsten Osen working with MPI CountryRepresentative Terje Stokstad in Oslo; Xanthe

Hall and Dr. LarsPohlmeier in Berlin;Dr. Henri Firket inBrussels; and Dr.Herman Spanjaardworking with MPICountry Representa-tive Karel Koster inThe Hague.

Approach to Canada

The Novemberfederal election inCanada put a plannedMPI delegation onhold. Senator DouglasRoche has taken stepsto acquaint the newForeign Minister John

Manley with MPI’s track record. Senator Rochealso participated in important Canadian NGOevents in the interim and submitted a Motionon NMD to the Senate in February. The MPIdelegation, including IPPNW Co-President Dr.Mary-Wynne Ashford, will visit Ottawa on May8-9, when the conclusions from the 13 Stepsstrategy consultation will be reported to thegovernment of Canada.

Approach to JapanIn November 2000, Senator Roche was re-

presented by Commander of the Royal Navy(Rt) Robert Green at the Nagasaki GlobalCitizens’ Assembly for the Elimination ofNuclear Weapons, along with other MPI mem-bers. Commander Green, accompanied by AlynWare and MPI Country Representative ProfessorHiro Umebayashi, met with senior members ofthe Foreign Ministry in Tokyo to report on theMPI NATO tour and discuss growing contradic-tions in Japan’s reliance on the US nuclearumbrella. The delegation also met with severalkey legislators in the leading opposition partiesin the Diet (Japan’s Parliament) whereCommander Green briefed them on his bookThe Naked Nuclear Emperor: DebunkingNuclear Deterrence (the Japanese version waslaunched in Nagasaki).

Looking Forward to the 2002 NPT PrepCom

MPI will continue to support the NewAgenda group and other key governments inpromoting progress on the NPT 13 Stepsthrough delegations and consultations. A keyquestion is how best to influence the nuclearweapon states in the twelve months precedingthe 2002 NPT PrepCom.

Organizing ParliamentariansFrom the beginning, MPI has seen parlia-

mentarians as a vital link between civil societyand national leaders. Alyn Ware has now beencommissioned to develop a ParliamentaryNetwork for Nuclear Disarmament to facilitateinter-parliamentary communication and cooper-ation, encourage members to participate in inter-national disarmament fora, and provide updateson international initiatives. Alyn can be reacheddirectly at PNND Aotearoa/New ZealandOffice, PO Box 23257, Cable Car Lane,Wellington, phone (64) 4 499 3443, fax (64) 4499 5858, and email alynw@attglobal.net !

* The Geiringer Oration was established in memory ofIPPNW-New Zealand’s Dr. Erich Geiringer, a founderof the World Court Project and prominent politicalactivist.

IPPNW Vital Signs 6

Suzanne PearceMPI Executive Director

IPPNW is a member of the MPI coalition.Visit MPI online at www.middlepowers.org

MPI’s Annual Report and the new report byDr. Rauf are available upon request.

Middle

Powers

Initiative

Program Update

MPI delegation meeting with members of the German Bundestag (parliament)(left to right): Dr. Scilla Elworthy, MP Winfried Nachtwei, Senator DouglasRoche, MP Uta Zapf, and Commander Robert Green. (Photo: MPI)

“Why is it,” asks Professor Horst-EberhardRichter, co-founder of IPPNW-Germany(International Ärtze für die Verhütung desAtomkrieges), “that our society exposes itselfseemingly without any doubts to immensethreats, which are of its own making, instead ofconcentrating on resolutely combining its forcesin a cooperative effort to overcome conflicts, fora mutual and sustainable securing of our vulner-able living conditions and for a creative way ofdeveloping culture? How can we all learn in thissense a more reasonable and thriving way ofkeeping healthy?”

Richter posed this question in December2000 to 1,000 participants at the IPPNW-Germany Congress “Culture of Peace” held inBerlin. In addition to inspiring IPPNW andother peace activists, media coverage broughtthe conference message to a wider audience.

Professor Richter articulated the message ofIPPNW when he said, “There is no healthy soci-ety without peace. There will be no peace, how-ever, without a healthy, socially just, and cultur-ally open society.”

The Terrible Twins:Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power

Nuclear weapons development, testing,storage, and the threat of their use remain a pri-mary concern in Germany. IPPNW-Germany ispart of a national network of more than 40 orga-nizations working against this threat to humani-ty. While IPPNW-Germany continues to workfor a nuclear weapons-free Baltic Sea, the threatof US National Missile Defense has become themain focus for IPPNW-Germany and the net-work.

At the beginning of this year, IPPNW-Germany was prominently cited by the mediawhen the possibility that German soldiers mightdevelop cancer because of depleted uranium(DU)-ammunition used in Kosovo came to light.IPPNW-Germany was quickly sought by themedia to explain the characteristics and medicaldangers of this ammunition. A political andpublic campaign for an international ban onDU-ammunition led to the collection of 1,300signatures from medical colleagues and enoughfunds to publish two advertisements within threeweeks.

For IPPNW-Germany, the danger of nuclearenergy is a concern of central importance. Not

only do our membersengage in activitiesthat inform the pub-lic about the healthhazards of nuclearenergy production,they also try to in-f luence politicians.IPPNW-Germany hascriticized the currentgovernment for reach-ing a compromisewith the industry onphasing out nuclearenergy over much toolong a period and forsticking to outdatedsecurity standards forthis period.

Other ProgramsEach aspect of

the work of IPPNW-Germany is intended to make a change towardsa healthy and peaceful society. Our members arealso involved in securing better conditions fortraumatized refugees in Germany. The organiza-tion also conducts an annual medical studentexchange program that sends students to hospi-tals abroad to participate in social and politicalprojects as well as obtain medical training.

In May, IPPNW-Germany will host aCongress on questions of ethics in medicine.More than 1,000 participants have enrolled sofar. This level of engagement proves that IPPNW-Germany addresses issues that matter to our col-leagues and to the public in effective and creativeways. !

Affiliate Spotlight

IPPNW Vital Signs7

IPPNW-

Germany

Working Towards a

Culture of Peace

Jens-Peter Steffen, MDIPPNW-Germany, Berlin

IPPNW-Germany Congress 2000 on the “Oncoming Tasks of the PeaceMovement” in Berlin, Germany (left to right): Professor Ernst-Otto Czempiel,peace researcher; Professor Richard von Weizsäcker, former president of theGerman Federal Republic; Professor Horst-Eberhard Richter, IPPNW-Germanyco-founder; and Professor Egon Bahr, former politician and peace researcher.(Photo: IPPNW-Germany)

Dr. Lars Pohlmeier

German non-profit organizations are notalone in complaining about the absence ofyoung people in socially responsible work andelectoral politics. But the conclusion that ouryouth have become apolitical is misplaced.

The proof is the continuing interest ofyoung medical students in the activities ofIPPNW-Germany. IPPNW-Germany has gainedgifted and active young colleagues throughoutthe years who have organized many projectsaround the issues that matter most to them.

One of these is Dr. Lars Pohlmeier whojoined IPPNW-Germany in 1991. From the out-set, one of his interests was the internationalwork of IPPNW, and he has served first as astudent representative to IPPNW’s Board ofDirectors, then as IPPNW InternationalCouncillor. Recently, Lars was a member of theOrganizing Committee for the 14th WorldCongress in Paris.

Lars combines the study of medicine withthat of journalism and has written about thecomplex subjects of nuclear disarmament andthe health hazards of radiation for a popular

audience. For years, hewas part of the teamthat produced thebiannual student maga-zine Amatom.

IPPNW-Germany was fortunate to haveLars work throughout the year 2000 in theBerlin office as the physician-representative ofthe organization. During this time, he helpeddevelop IPPNW-Germany’s campaigns. Withhis help, IPPNW-Germany took up the issue ofthe war in Yugoslavia ---- the first time since theend of World War II that Germany had partic-ipated in a military conflict in Europe.

Since January of this year, Lars has beenworking in a hospital in Hamburg, and he hasreceived his MD. Now 31, he and his wife Lena,whom he met while working in St. Petersburg,are raising a lovely one-year-old baby girl. Whatmotivates Lars to be a good doctor and a car-ing father also drives him to devote so much ofhis time and energy to IPPNW: the desire tomake the world a safer and healthier place forpresent and future generations. !

Physician-Activist Profile:

The Youthful Face of IPPNW-Germany

(Photo: IPPNW-Germany)

The road to nuclear abolition has beenlong, much too slow, and filled with twists andturns. When the 187 countries that are party tothe Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) gathered atthe United Nations for their year 2000 review,they agreed on 13 practical steps that wouldmove the world further along that road. Signingthe Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, implement-ing existing treaties, negotiating a ban on theproduction of fissile materials, and reaffirmingthe commitments to disarmament made inArticle VI of the NPT were all on the list.

Not surprisingly, ballistic missile defenseswere not. While the National Missile Defense(NMD) proposals of the Clinton Administra-tion, which have now been taken up far moreaggressively by the Bush Administration, werenot explicitly rejected in the NPT consensusstatement, country after country, including somekey US allies, have warned that deployment ofNMD could lead to the unraveling of decades ofprogress toward nuclear disarmament.

The new US administration has offeredcontradictory proposals that it claims will reducethe threat of nuclear attack at the start of the21st century. The “top to bottom” defensereview ordered by Congress and soon to beimplemented by Secretary of Defense DonaldRumsfeld may result in a recommendation toreduce the US strategic nuclear arsenal unilater-ally from some 7,000 to 2,000 or fewer warheads.During his campaign, candidate Bush alsopledged to take large numbers of nuclear war-heads off hair-trigger alert.

While it has quietly signaled these positivesteps, however, the Bush Administration hastrumpeted its intentions to accelerate the devel-opment and deployment of NMD. George W.Bush made NMD a campaign issue and hasstubbornly supported development of anexpanded missile defense system since assumingoffice in January. Secretary of Defense andardent NMD proponent Donald Rumsfeld andSecretary of State Colin Powell have pressedreluctant US allies in the UK, Denmark,Australia, and elsewhere to accept NMD, whileexpressing indifference to the concerns of Russia,China, and other countries that see missiledefenses as a threat to their own security.

NMD would lullthe American publiceven further into afalse sense of security;would needlessly exa-cerbate feelings of in-security among USallies and potentialadversaries; and wouldincite Russia andChina into increasingtheir offensive nuclearcapabilities. To theextent that so-called“rogue states,” suchas North Korea, Iraq,and Iran, may bedeveloping ballisticmissile capabilitieswith the intention ofattacking the US ---- a claim that has been madetoo casually given the flaws and the expense ofthe system being proposed ---- NMD will onlyprovoke them to step up and expand efforts tooverwhelm or circumvent the defenses.

Aside from increasing global instability,NMD remains technically unfeasible. Two out ofthree tests have failed, and the one labeled a suc-cess was based on manipulated data, accordingto MIT defense expert Ted Postol.

Rather than freeing the world from the con-stant threat of a nuclear catastrophe to whichthere would be no medical response, deploymentof NMD, whether it works or not, would ensurethat the existing nuclear weapon states ---- andundoubtedly a number of new ones ---- wouldretain some nuclear weapons and keep them onhigh alert. NMD is not a step on the road toelimination of nuclear weapons; rather, it per-manently institutionalizes the role that weaponsof mass destruction have played for half a cen-tury in establishing and advertising the posses-sor’s military dominance.

Assurances that NMD is a purely defensivesystem are belied by statements of the US SpaceCommand, which has claimed for itself “agreatly expanded role as an active warfighter inthe years ahead as the combatant commandresponsible for National Missile Defense (NMD)and space force application . . . [S]pace superi-ority is emerging as an essential element of bat-tlefield success and future warfare.”

Finally, NMD threatens to consume hun-dreds of billions of dollars that would be betterspent on urgently needed programs to promoteglobal health, to confront the growing threat ofAIDS and other infectious disease epidemics, toeradicate poverty, and to stabilize the Earth’sclimate and protect the global environment.

IPPNW’s NMD CampaignTo convince the US administration to aban-

don its NMD proposals, IPPNW has launched a

12-country campaign to oppose missile defenses.In coordination with its US affiliate, Physiciansfor Social Responsibility (PSR), IPPNW willmobilize physicians and other concerned citi-zens in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France,Germany, New Zealand, North and SouthKorea, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the UnitedKingdom.

Some of these countries are key US alliesthat have expressed doubts about NMD andneed to be reinforced in their opposition. Threeof them ---- Australia, Denmark, and the UK ----will house some of the NMD infrastructure andpersuading them to withhold permission for theconstruction of radars and other communica-tions systems would place a major stumblingblock in front of the Bush Administration.

North Korea and Russia have special rolesto play in IPPNW’s campaign. RussianPhysicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War(RPPNW), working closely with PSR, will use itsaccess to the Russian parliament, the Duma, toarrange meetings between IPPNW physiciansand Russian legislators, with the goal of con-vincing the Russian leadership to hold firm in itsopposition to NMD. During IPPNW’s 15thWorld Congress in Washington, DC, next May,PSR and RPPNW will schedule meetingsbetween Duma members and key members ofthe US Congress to highlight ongoing bilateralopposition to NMD within the governments ofboth countries.

A cornerstone of the pro-NMD argumenthas been the allegation that North Korea isdeveloping nuclear weapons and long-rangemissiles that could threaten the US by the mid-dle of this decade. This threat ---- which cannotbe ignored but has been overstated to sell NMDto the US public ---- would evaporate shouldNorth and South Korea successfully reconcile.IPPNW affiliates in this part of Asia have cometogether in recent years to facilitate regionalpeace building (see Vital Signs 13.1). Sometime

IPPNW Vital Signs 8

IPPNW

Launches

12-Country

Campaign

to Block NMD

Feature

Graphic from United States Space Command Vision for 2020.Website www.spacecom.af.mil/usspace

John LoretzProgram Director

IPPNW Vital Signs9

next year, IPPNW will bring together a delega-tion of Korean, American, and Russian physiciansfor a series of consultations in Pyongyang andWashington, DC. Meetings with government offi-cials, key legislators, leaders of the medical pro-fession, and the media will be scheduled to pro-mote diplomacy and regional reconciliation asthe more effective path toward global nucleardisarmament.

The NMD campaign is already off to anenergetic start. IPPNW’s Australian affiliate, theMedical Association for Prevention of War(MAPW), has called for a public debate onAustralia’s potential involvement in NMD, aswell as on progress towards nuclear disarmamentgenerally.

“The Government seems hell-bent on sup-porting a technical system which will ensure con-tinued reliance on nuclear weapons rather thanpursuing the real goal ---- abolition of nuclearweapons and their means of delivery,” saidMAPW President Dr. Sue Wareham.

Neil Arya, President of Physicians forGlobal Survival (IPPNW-Canada), wrote toCanadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien inFebruary, shortly before his meeting with the USPresident, urging him to state “clearly andunequivocally that Canada opposes the deploy-ment and development of a national missiledefense system and that true security dependsupon the abolition of nuclear weapons.” (Formore on Canada’s anti-NMD Campaign, seepage 4.) !

Medical Student Representative to the BoardErnest Ryan Guevarra (Philippines) consults withopinion researcher Angus McAllister at theIPPNW PR Retreat (Photo: Lynn Martin-IPPNW).

Feature

Demonstrators against missile defense at the PSRco-sponsored Valentine’s Day action in Washington,DC, during a conference for military contractors atthe Ronald Reagan Building. (Photo: PSR)

Within the first 100 days of his presidency,George W. Bush took several steps to fulfill hiscampaign promise to reevaluate and reorient USnational security policy and priorities. On thepositive side, the new administration indicatedthat the US would consider unilateral reductionsin the US nuclear arsenal. These plans fornuclear reductions, however, have been accom-panied by intentions to deploy an elaborateNational Missile Defense (NMD) system thatwould potentially require the US to withdrawfrom the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, thecornerstone of the international arms controland nonproliferation regime.

The Bush NMD PlanThe US is poised to pursue an air-, sea-, and

land-based NMD system that it has said wouldprotect all 50 states, US friends and allies, anddeployed forces overseas against missile threatsfrom “rogue states” such as North Korea andIraq, as well as from an accidental missile launchfrom Russia or China. The fine points of Bush’sNMD will not be known until after the comple-tion of an ongoing Nuclear Posture Review anda separate review of US defense priorities beingdirected by US Defense Secretary DonaldRumsfeld. Based upon public statements, earlyleaks about NMD plans, and references in theFiscal Year 2002 budget, however, it is certainthat the administration is committed to movingahead with development and deployment of a“missile shield.”

PSR’s PositionWhile Physicians for Social Responsibility

(PSR) welcomes steps to reduce the number ofnuclear weapons, the administration’s plans todeploy a missile defense system are a matter ofgrave concern. Deployment of an NMD systemis the wrong prescription for US and global secu-rity. NMD does not presently and may never

meet several fundamental criteria that wouldwarrant system development and deployment.

! Threat: The terrorist attack on the USSCole illustrated that, contrary to the naïvearguments of NMD supporters, futurethreats to US interests and security will notbe delivered by missiles ---- which are inac-curate and whose origin can easily be deter-mined ---- but by anonymous, inexpensive,and clandestine means, including small air-craft, shipping containers, speedboats, andtractor trailers. Moreover, the improvementin US relations with North Korea followingformer Secretary of State Albright’s historicvisit to that country, one of the principal“rogue states’’ against which a NMD systemwould protect, weakens the case for NMDand strengthens the case for the powerfulrole diplomacy plays to promote globalsecurity.

! Technical Feasibility: The technical feasi-bility and effectiveness of an NMD systemis highly questionable. Two recent tests ofmissile interceptors failed and many scien-tists argue that simple countermeasures,such as including decoys along with war-heads in a missile payload, would render thesystem ineffective.

! Cost Effectiveness: The cost of NMD isnot at all commensurate with the relativerisks associated with the threat of a missileattack. Alternative solutions, includingdiplomacy and strengthening of the armscontrol and nonproliferation regimes, areclearly more cost effective.

! International Impact: In light of nearglobal opposition, the deployment of anNMD system by the US will likely lead torenewed nuclear arms races in Russia,China, India, and Pakistan. Moreover, werethe United States to withdraw from theABM treaty to pursue its NMD goals, itwould cause irreversible damage to the exist-ing intricate web of nuclear arms controland disarmament agreements.

Challenges and

Opportunities

for PSR and the Peace

Activist Community

Jaya Tiwari and Martin ButcherPhysicians for SocialResponsibility (PSR)

The Bush

Administration

and National

Missile

Defense

PSR’s NMD StrategyPSR’s strategy to oppose the US adminis-

tration’s plans for NMD includes grassrootsaction, quality research, public outreach and edu-cation, media work, interaction with legislatorsand officials, and international efforts:

! Grassroots Action: PSR encourages itsmembers and activists to participate in peti-tion drives, protests, and call-ins/write-ins.PSR has launched a petition campaignencouraging the public to voice oppositionto NMD. Some 5,000 PSR members andactivists have signed petitions asking thePresident to halt NMD research and devel-opment. Since last year, PSR has led threepublic protests opposing “Star Wars.”

! Research and Analysis: A group of PSRphysicians has just concluded a major sci-entific study, due to be published at the endof this year, detailing possible medical con-sequences of an accidental or intentionalnuclear attack on the US. The findings ofthis study suggest that the US population islikely to suffer greater casualty and devasta-tion with a deployed missile shield thanwithout.

! Media Work: A number of PSR membersand activists have written letters to editors ofnational and local newspapers stating theiropposition to NMD. PSR staff membersconduct meetings with newspaper editorialboards to encourage national and localnewspapers to write articles on nationalmissile defense, de-alerting nuclear weapons,and nuclear abolition. As a result of thesemeetings, some 60 editorials, op-eds, andarticles have appeared in newspapers, bring-ing the public’s attention to these issues.Some 400 doctors joined PSR’s call tooppose “Star Wars’’ in a full-page ad pub-lished in the New York Times.

! Interaction with Legislators and Officials:A number of PSR physicians are scheduledto meet with members of Congress in May2001 to educate legislators about the med-ical community’s opposition to NMD.

International Efforts Martin Butcher, Director of PSR Security

Programs, met with members of the NorthAtlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO)Parliamentary Assembly (NPA) during their visitto Washington, DC, in January. The parliamen-tarians had expressed a desire to be briefed onnuclear weapons and NMD issues before theirofficial meetings with US officials. PSR staff hasalso been meeting with political and defensecounselors of different embassies in Washington,DC, to convince NATO countries and other USallies and friends to not give in to US pressuresto join NMD. !

IPPNW Vital Signs 10

Feature

Landmines News

On March 1, 2001, the international cam-paign celebrated the two-year anniversary of theMBT’s Entry-into-Force. However, at the timeof the anniversary, Russia, Burma, Sri Lanka,and Angola were among those governmentsactively laying anti-personnel landmines.

To date, 139 countries have signed theMine Ban Treaty (MBT) and 11 have ratified it.Most recent ratifications include Kenya(January) and Zambia (February). Still, 54countries have yet to sign the MBT and 28have signed but not ratified the treaty.

Nearly 200 campaigners from 90 countriesgathered in Washington, DC, on March 6-10,2001, to bring attention to the US, one of thekey countries standing outside the treaty. Thiswas the International Campaign to BanLandmines (ICBL)’s first-ever internationalmeeting in the US. (See accompanying articleon page 11).

Key findings of the Landmine MonitorReport 2000 include signs of progress: morethan 22 million AP stockpiled mines destroyedby over 50 nations; fewer mine victims in af-fected countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, and Mozambique;and a total of 168 million square meters of landdemined in 1999 by seven of the largest human-itarian mine clearance programs.

Landmine Action/UK and the GermanInitiative to Ban Landmines launched“Alternative anti-personnel mines ---- The nextgenerations,” a report that identifies victim-activated weapons, both in existing stockpilesand in development, which may function as APmines or have the same impact on civilians.(The report is available at www.landmine.de.) !

US Congressman John Tierney addressing demon-strators at the Valentine’s Day action against missiledefense co-sponsored by PSR, Peace Action, andGreenpeace. (Photo: PSR)

15th World

Congress

Washington, DC, May 2002

IPPNW’s next World Congress, the 15thsince it was founded in 1980, will be hosted byPhysicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) inWashington, DC, from May 1-5, 2002. PSR isthe US affiliate of IPPNW.

At this pivotal time in world history,IPPNW and PSR believe it is crucial to conveyto Congressional and Administration officialsthe global impact of US government decisions.To change what happens on our fragile planetand to all who inhabit it, we must fully under-stand and ultimately change the thinking ofleaders in Washington. The 15th IPPNW Con-gress is a part of that overall strategy to educateand influence decision-makers.

For further information, contact NaideneWaller at IPPNW, nwaller@ippnw.org, or AlysonMichael at PSR, 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW,Suite 1012, Washington, DC 20009. Tel: (202)667-4260. !

IPPNW Executive Director Michael Christ withIPPNW Board Chair Dr. Ian Maddocks at theIPPNW Board of Directors meeting in Decemberin Boston. (Photo: Lynn Martin-IPPNW)

Peace and Health

IPPNW Vital Signs11

Putting Pressure on the US

to Sign the Mine Ban Treaty

On March 6-10 , 2001, more than 400 cam-paigners, mine survivors, deminers, observersfrom non-governmental organizations (NGOs),and representatives of international organizationsgathered in Washington, DC, to attend a GeneralMeeting of the International Campaign to BanLandmines (ICBL), as well as an array of activi-ties and events arranged by the US Campaign(USCBL). Participants included 160 members ofthe ICBL from 80 countries, 20 NGO observersfrom an additional 10 countries, and 250 mem-bers of the USCBL from 46 of the 50 US states.IPPNW representatives Dr. Eddie Mworozi(Uganda), Roman Dolgov (Russia), and PijiProtopsaltis (Central Office) were among theparticipants. The combined presence of theICBL and the USCBL in Washington, DC, ledWashington, DC’s Mayor Anthony Williams todeclare the week “Ban Landmines Week.”

After years of meeting in every corner of theworld, the international campaign decided tobring the world’s attention to the US by holdingits first-ever international meeting in the nation’scapital. The US, a special target country for theICBL, continues to stand outside the Mine BanTreaty (MBT), along with another 53 countriesincluding Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Israel,India, Pakistan, and Yugoslavia. Though it con-tinues to be the largest donor government formine action ($100 million per year for globalmine clearance efforts), the US has yet to jointhe 112 states parties to the comprehensive land-mine ban. The Bush Administration has not yetmade any policy statement on the banning ofanti-personnel (AP) mines, though current po-licy calls for the US to join the MBT in 2006if alternatives have been found. National andinternational activists joined forces and used theDC meetings as an opportunity to push thelandmine issue onto the new administration’sagenda.

The General Meeting included discussionson the progress of the ICBL since the lastGeneral Meeting in Mozambique (May 1999),as well as on the strategic direction and activitiesfor the next four years leading to the first ReviewConference of the MBT in 2004. Based on theinput of national campaigns, individual NGOs,and working groups of the ICBL, a draft 2004Action Plan was adopted at the closing of theconference, outlining ways in which the interna-tional movement will work over the next fouryears to achieve universalization and implemen-tation of the MBT. A separate two-day meeting

of the Landmine Monitor duringwhich researchers gathered to discussand analyze their findings followedthe General Meeting. The ThirdLandmine Monitor Annual Report(2001) will be launched at the ThirdMeeting of States Parties to the MBT,scheduled to be held in Managua,Nicaragua (September 2001).

Even more exiting, however, wasthe long series of activities and aware-ness-raising events held throughoutthe week, parallel to the formal meet-ings. These included meetings with300 Congressional representatives;embassy visits; a press conference nextto a giant pile of 6,000 shoes repre-senting the victims of landmineinjuries and an international deminingdemonstration on the Capital lawn; areception at the Organization ofAmerican States, featuring speeches byHer Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan,Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT),Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA),and Jody Williams; an amputeehockey tournament; film screenings and amine-related play; exhibits in shopping mallsand cafes; a demonstration in Lafayette Park;petitioning for signatures by national and inter-national youth across from the White Houselawn; and, finally, an inter-faith prayer service inmemory of the hundreds of thousands of minevictims. The events generated widespread mediacoverage, including CNN Morning News, NBCNightly News, National Public Radio, AP andReuters wire stories, and dozens of local printstories.

More importantly, the “Ban LandminesWeek’’ events succeeded in bringing the atten-tion of the US administration to the landmineissue. During that week, US Secretary of StateColin Powell met with Her Majesty QueenNoor, USCBL Co-Chair, and landmine survivorJerry White and 17-year-old Cambodian land-mine survivor Song Kosal to discuss landmines.Secretary Powell assured the group that land-mines would be included in the administration’stop-to-bottom review of the military. Moreover,in honor of the March events, Senator Leahyintroduced the Landmine Elimination andVictim Assistance Act of 2001 on March 8. Thebill urges the US to join the MBT as soon aspossible, directs the Department of Defense to

field alternatives to AP mines, and directs thePresident to create an inter-agency committee onmine victim assistance.

US leadership in the field of demining andmine victim assistance is not enough if newmines continue to be placed in the ground. Letus hope that the Washington events made aclear and loud statement to the BushAdministration: public pressure will not restuntil the US shows equal leadership in banningthe weapon completely. !

Piji ProtopsaltisProject Coordinator

Demonstration urging the US government to sign the MineBan Treaty. (Photo: www.icbl.org/Kjell Knudsen)

Paul Saoke of IPPNW-Kenya and Mr. Nyamweya,clinical officer with Norwegian People’s Aid, at YeiCounty Hospital in Kenya. (Photo: IPPNW-Kenya)

Nations assembled at the third and lastpreparatory session for the upcoming UN con-ference on small arms in March failed to reachconsensus on a number of critical measures forthe control of small arms proliferation. In res-ponse, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)are planning a “Global Day of Action’’ in Juneand a large presence at the UN conference itselfin July. Then, in September, IPPNW and itsFinnish affiliate, PSR-Finland, will host a majorinternational medical conference on the publichealth consequences of small arms trafficking.

The UN Conference on the Illicit Trade inSmall Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects,July 9-20 in New York, is the long-awaited oppor-tunity for governments to address the problemof small arms proliferation. At three preparatorysessions, or PrepComs, held over the past 13months, governments have negotiated the spe-cific political commitments to be agreed to inJuly. IPPNW and other NGOs in theInternational Action Network on Small Arms(IANSA) have attended each session urging acomprehensive and legally binding approach.

Humanitarian Crisis; Complex SolutionThe UN, numerous governments, and

NGOs have for several years investigated the role

IPPNW Vital Signs 12

of small arms and light weapons ---- includingfirearms, handguns, assault rifles, mortars, andother portable arms ---- in facilitating and pro-longing a worldwide epidemic of armed vio-lence. Widely available, easy to purchase anduse, and highly lethal, they make armed attacksmore likely, quicker to escalate, more deadly, andharder to resolve.

The humanitarian dimensions of the crisisare widespread and enormous. Small arms areused to kill an estimated 300,000 people inarmed conflict every year. In addition, some200,000 lives per year are taken in homicides,suicides, and accidents. Small arms used in con-flicts contribute to legions of refugees and inter-nally displaced persons (1 person in 120 world-wide) and to psychological trauma; they disrupthealth and humanitarian services; and theydetract from development and human rightsprotection.

In a study released at the March UNPrepCom entitled “Global Trade in SmallArms: Public Health Effects and Interventions,”IPPNW and SAFER-Net ---- a Canadian-basedsmall arms information network ---- reportedthat civilian-type weapons and legal marketsexacerbate the problem of major gun violenceconducted with military weapons obtainedthrough illicit markets.

Neither governments nor NGOs are con-sidering a total ban on small arms. But NGOsare urging the UN to require closer monitoringand control of legal arms holdings because illicitarms are often smuggled from legal stocks ----military, commercial, or civilian.

Falling ShortThe UN Conference will address only mili-

tary-style small arms instead of dealing withthe complete spec-trum. Moreover, itwill produce onlystatements of politi-cal principles with-out a timetable forimplementation in-stead of producinglegally binding mea-sures and a timetablefor implementation.It will address pri-marily “downstream”interventions (forexample, improvedcustoms detection ofsmuggled arms, des-truction of surplusstocks after cessationof conflict) whileshying away from“upstream” measuresat the source (forexample, greater trans-

parency and monitoring regarding military andcivilian holdings). Nor will it confront stateresponsibilities to impose export criteria or toestablish a code of conduct that would preventstates from exporting arms to regions of conflictor human rights abuse.

In response to these perceived shortcom-ings, IANSA members are working to increase apublic awareness of the humanitarian dimen-sions of the problem and its solutions leadingup to the July conference. Civil society willhave to create the political will needed to bringthe small arms epidemic under control. !

Peace and Health

PSR-Finland Vice-President and Member of Parliament Dr. Ilkka Taipale speak-ing to reporters about small arms. (Photo: Brian Rawson-IPPNW)

Brian RawsonProgram Coordinator

Small

Progress on

Small Arms

The light weight, small size, accessable, and easy-to-use weapons have made it possible for childrento be recruited in violence and warfare around theworld. (Photo: Oxfam-UK)

Edited by Lora Lumpe

Whether in Africa, SriLanka, Colombia, or theUS, it is not heavy wea-ponry or hi-tech devicesthat kill the most people, but cheap and acces-sible small arms that have flooded so manycountries in the 1980s and 1990s. This highly readable book advances under-standing of the illegal arms traffic. How is itconducted? Who are the players? What are theimpacts? And, most importantly, what can bedone to curb the deadly trade? It is a fascinat-ing, highly informative, and policy relevantinvestigation into an issue affecting too manyof us, and about which far too little is known.The book’s author Lora Lumpe is with theinternational Peace Research Institute (PRIO) inOslo, Norway. To order Running Guns, writeto: Palgrave, c/o Roxanne Hunte, 175 Fifth Ave,New York, NY 10010, or fax (212) 777-6357. !

The Global

Black Market

in Small Arms

Running Guns

IPPNW Vital Signs13

IPPNW and PSR (USA) opened a newUnited Nations office in September 2000 towork on nuclear disarmament and internationalsecurity issues, small arms, and environmentalissues including climate change and energy.

During September, October, and November2000, in cooperation with other NY-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who followdisarmament, the UN Office monitored thedeliberations of the UN General Assembly(UNGA) First Committee (Disarmament andInternational Security) and sent regular updatesto IPPNW and PSR members. These reportswere the first NGO effort of its kind, closely fol-lowing and summarizing the First Committeedebate and the voting on resolutions. Severalgovernmental delegates also relied on thesereports (and a few even admitted that they usedthem for their own reports to their govern-ments). All reports and UNGA resolutions areavailable at www.reachingcriticalwill.org.

The UN Office will be following the devel-opment of a new study on missiles and will pro-vide input wherever possible. We are also partic-ipating in an international NGO study group“Beyond Missile Defense’’ that seeks to exploreand advocate new and scientifically based alter-natives to missile proliferation and missile de-fenses. The UN Office was also part of a smallgroup of NGOs invited to provide input into anew study in disarmament education. IPPNW’shistory educating the medical community andthe greater public will be useful for this study,which is to produce specific recommendationsfor furthering disarmament efforts.

Merav Datan, Director of the UN Office,has been participating in the Security CouncilWorking Group, a closed group of NGOs whomeet regularly with individual Security Councilambassadors for informal briefings, primarily onmatters of sanctions and peacekeeping. Membersof IPPNW affiliates who have questions or com-ments for the Security Council are encouragedto send these to the UN Office.

The UN Office has been in contact withthe newly formed NY office of the PreparatoryCommission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) and isseeking ways to cooperate to support the CTBT,with particular attention on the upcoming EntryInto Force Conference, scheduled for September2001 in New York.

In the field of small arms, the UN Officehas been an active member of the New YorkAction Network on Small Arms and provides abase for NGO activities during the PreparatoryCommittee meetings for the upcoming UNConference on illicit traffic in small arms. As an

office of both IPPNW and PSR, the UN Officeseeks to bring domestic gun violence concernsto international attention and vice versa and toraise awareness of the public health aspects ofsmall arms.

As part of the Student PSR NationalConference, the UN Office organized a specialevent for medical students that included a tourof the UN, a showing of the film “Armed to theTeeth,” and a panel discussion with UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament AffairsJayantha Dhanapala, Minister Angelica Arce deJeannet of the Mexican Mission to the UN,Commander Stephen Metruck of the USMission to the UN, and Counselor Satish Mehtaof the Indian Mission to the UN. Merav Datanmoderated the panel.

The UN Office has become the contactpoint for NGOs who are participating in theCommission on Sustainable Development andworking on energy issues. These efforts are ori-ented at preventing the promotion of nuclearenergy as a “solution’’ to climate change giventhe unsustainable nature of nuclear energy. Ourwork on “safe nuclear disarmament,” whichseeks to address the health and environmentalaspects of nuclear abolition, also continues.

The UN Office has also taken the lead in anew network on “Human Rights, Justice, andthe Rule of Law’’ which seeks to promote devel-opment of and adherence to just treaty law. Thisis a network in formation that combines researchand advocacy related to the NPT, the CTBT, theMine Ban Treaty, human rights and environ-mental treaties, and others, for the sake of fur-thering each of these campaigns while promot-ing the overall concept of a responsible rule oflaw society.

The UN Office has benefited greatly fromthe help of interns Pavla Humpolcova andMindy Karp, as well as volunteer lawyer NicoleDeller. !

IPPNW and PSR

at the UN

Peace and Health

(Left to right) IPPNW Regional Medical StudentRepresentatives Proochista Ariana (NorthAmerica-US) and Munanga Mwandila (Africa-Zambia). (Photo: Piji Protopsaltis-IPPNW)

Today my eight year old son and I learned agreat deal. I wanted to thank you.

My twin children (we have an eight-year-olddaughter also) were assigned an essay to writeover the weekend on a “peace hero.” I found agreat website on all Nobel Peace Prize winnersin recent years. As we read over the list, my sondecided he would write his essay on your orga-nization. I would like to share it with you:

Doctors Who Are Trying to StopNuclear Warfare

The International Physicians for thePrevention of Nuclear War are heroes becausefirst they are helping to stop nuclear war byspreading authoritative (true) information andby creating an awareness of the catastrophic(disaster) consequences of atomic warfare.

This group of doctors from the US andSoviet Union are spreading true informationabout the nuclear blasts and damage the radia-tion can do to bodies. Also by telling peoplethere is no cure once the damage is done. Weknow that the information is true because theyorganized a team that did medical research forthem based on the nuclear blasts in Hiroshimaand Nagasaki, Japan.

This group has helped millions of peoplebecome aware of the horrible consequencesfrom nuclear weapons and nuclear warfare.They made the public aware by writing well-researched books and articles in medical andpopular magazines and newspapers about thehorrible destruction of our health and environ-ment from nuclear bomb making, testing anduse. They also organized many protests to helpgovernments change laws to prevent the mak-ing of nuclear weapons. This group won the1985 Nobel Peace Prize.

The International Physicians for thePrevention of Nuclear War are peace heroesbecause they are trying to stop the making ofnuclear weapons which can destroy our planet.

This has affected me by making me very wor-ried about our lives and the Earth becausenuclear weapons can destroy them both. Myhope for the future is that the laws are changedto prevent the making of nuclear weapons.

Tonight you have also become my heroes.Although it saddens me that my son went tobed “worried about our lives and our environ-ment,” I believe that our children are our fu-ture. I know that tonight he also went to bed avery proud little boy who learned and under-stood the value of your work. I hope that by edu-cating our very young they will one day enjoy aworld free of nuclear and biological warfare.

A hopeful mom,Alina C.

Dear IPPNW. . .

IPPNW Vital Signs 14

On March 10-12, 2001, an unprecedentedmeeting took place at the Mount Sinai MedicalCenter in New York: IPPNW’s regional studentrepresentatives came together for the first timeto discuss the challenges and opportunities facedby IPPNW’s medical student movement today.Student regional representatives from aroundthe globe are responsible for communicatingwith students in their regions, coordinating theiractivities, and representing them on an interna-tional level.

This first meeting of regional reps wasattended by Proochista Ariana (US) representingNorth America, Ahmed Geneid (Egypt) rep-resenting the Middle East, Munanga Mwandila(Zambia) representing Africa, Ai Shinzato (Japan)representing Tomoko Inoue (Japan) for NorthAsia, as well as Caecilie Buhmann (Denmark)and Ernest Guevarra (Philippines) both studentrepresentatives to IPPNW’s Board of Directors,and Piji Protopsaltis of the Central Office. Theregional reps that could not make it to this meet-ing included Tom Clemens (Australia) for SouthAsia, Elske Hoornenborg (Netherlands) andRazvan Chereches (Romania) for Europe, andKarla Strassburger (Mexico) for Latin America.However, Caecilie and Ernest acted as spokes-people for Europe and South Asia, respectively.

Over the course of three days, the regionalreps had the opportunity to look back and assessthe weaknesses and challenges facing IPPNW’sstudent body, but also to look forward and sharetheir vision of this body’s future. Students tack-led a number of critical issues facing their

Medical Students

regions, ranging from the gap in communicationand cooperation between doctors and students,the scarcity in funding, the difficulties in main-taining consistent communication, to the lack ofactive students and official student structures. Atthe same time, the regional reps acknowledgedthe unique strengths of the student movementand the opportunities available to students tocontribute to the IPPNW federation, and tosociety as a whole. By the end of the meeting,the regional reps produced a one-year workplanoutlining the major tasks ahead that includerecruitment, communication, fundraising, train-ing, meetings (including the 2002 WorldCongress in Washington, DC), the website, andthe exchange program MedEx. The meetinghelped build a sense of cohesion and teamworkand gave the regional reps a sense of commonpurpose and direction.

The regional reps’ meeting was scheduled tocoincide with the Student Physicians for SocialResponsibility (SPSR) Annual Meeting (March9-11), held at the same venue, in order to fostertheir interaction with US students. Indeed, theregional reps attended an SPSR conferencesession on “The Role of Health ProfessionsStudents and Health Professionals in theAdvance to a Just, Peaceful, and Healthy World,’’led by Dr. Victor Sidel (former IPPNW Co-President, US) and Herman Spanjaard (RegionalVice-President-Europe, The Netherlands) andalso had the opportunity to present their workto the SPSR students during a dinner-lecture onthe evening of March 10. Finally, on March 11,the Medical Student Board of Trustees, whichincludes Drs. Sidel and Spanjaard, met with theregional reps to discuss some of the key issuesidentified during their meeting and ways inwhich the Board can further their work andtheir goals. !

Piji ProtopsaltisProject Coordinator

Medical

Students

IPPNW International Student Representativesmeeting with IPPNW leaders Drs. Victor Sidel andHerman Spanjaard.(Photo: Piji Protopsaltis-IPPNW)

Regional Student Representatives with SPSRstudents in New York. (Photo: IPPNW)

First Meeting of

Regional Student

Representatives

More than 600 medical students fromalmost 80 countries met in Malta to take part inthe March meeting of the InternationalFederation of Medical Students’ Associations(IFMSA). Working committees gathered to dis-cuss issues related to public health, refugees andpeace, reproductive health, medical education,and professional and research exchange.

IPPNW’s student representative to IPPNW’sBoard of Directors, Caecilie Buhmann, met withIFMSA students and also gave a presentation onIPPNW to the Standing Committee on Refugeesand Peace (SCORP).

It was wonderful to see how the nationaland local collaboration between IFMSA andIPPNW is growing. In SCORP, almost all coun-try reports included collaboration with IPPNW.In Finland, for example, the students are workingtogether with PSR-Finland in preparations for theconference on small arms in September 2001. InCanada, students took an active part in spreadinginformation about IPPNW’s campaign to stopNational Missile Defense (NMD). (See relatedstory on page 4.)

The next European IPPNW student meet-ing will take place in Uppsala, Sweden, on April19-23, 2001. The overall theme will be peace-building in Europe, with special attention givento nuclear weapons, peace education, humanrights and health, conflict prevention, and socialawareness. More than 50 students from 12 coun-tries, many involved in IFMSA and IPPNWactivities, will take part in the meeting.

IPPNW and IFMSA continue to solidifytheir relationship, finding creative ways fornational and local collaboration on the work ofpeace-building and war prevention. !

Anna HellmanIFMSA Liaison Officer for IPPNW

Growing Links

Between

IPPNW &

IFMSA

IPPNW’s AnnualReport for the year 2000is now available in printand online. To order aprint copy or an IPPNWbumper sticker (left), pleasecontact Ltan@ippnw.org. !

Annual

Report 2000

IPPNW Responds

The US-led military coalition that foughtthe 1991 Gulf War used about 300 tons ofammunition containing depleted uranium (DU)against Iraqi tanks and other armored vehicles.During the 1999 war in the Balkans, NATOforces used about 11 tons of DU in missiles thatwere fired into the former Yugoslavia. In themonths and years following these conflicts,concerns about DU as a possible cause of re-ported increases in leukemia, other cancers, andreproductive health problems began to surface.

In February, IPPNW released an assessmentof DU weapons that took a cautious scientificapproach to claims about DU health effects, butthat condemned the use of DU as a probableviolation of the Geneva Conventions. IPPNWchallenged the blanket denials of DU healtheffects offered by US and NATO officials andcalled for comprehensive and independent studiesto resolve the medical uncertainties about DU.

“While peer-reviewed studies of health effectsfrom natural uranium exposure are weightedagainst the probability that DU exposure, in andof itself, is likely to have caused an increase inleukemia or other cancers in the relatively shorttime since it has been dispersed in the Balkansenvironment, the science is controversial and thepossibility cannot be ruled out,” said the groupof physicians who produced the assessment.

The physicians noted that impurities such asplutonium, actinides, and the highly radioactivemanufactured uranium isotope U-236 had foundtheir way into the DU munitions used in theGulf and the Balkans and that exposure to thesemore dangerous substances, along with manyother toxic chemicals released during the con-flicts, could pose “serious health threats.”

Studies conducted over several decades thathave discounted acute health effects from ura-nium ingestion do not account for new experi-mental data suggesting a role for dust toxicity inthe lung. The aerosol particles generated by DUweapons are in a very hard “ceramic” state andare likely to be retained in the lung and regionallymph nodes for a prolonged period, increasingthe risk of cellular damage from alpha radiation.

“DU weapons indiscriminately contaminatethe places in which they are used, and the cont-amination persists long after the conclusion ofhostilities,” said the authors of the statement.

The complete IPPNW assessment is publishedon IPPNW’s website (www.ippnw.org) and in theApril issue of Medicine & Global Survival. !

Depleted

Uranium

IPPNW Assesses

Health Effects of

DU Weapons

IPPNW Vital Signs15

IIPPPPNNWW

NNoommiinnaatteess

FFoorroo ddee EErrmmuuaa

ffoorr NNoobbeell PPrriizzee

MAPW

Condemns

Bombing

of Iraq

From MAPW

Press Release

Since 1959, the separatist group ETA(Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna ---- Basque Fatherland andLiberty) has waged a campaign of escalating terrorin pursuit of independence in the Basque auto-nomous regions of northern Spain and south-western France. Hundreds have been murderedand thousands more injured as a result of ETAviolence.

In February 1998, a group of 300 commu-nity leaders in Bilbao organized a non-violentresistance to the ETA. Known as Foro de Ermua,the association supports the promotion ofpreservation of human rights, democracy, andfree speech in the Basque country. Members andsupporters of Foro de Ermua have become pri-ority targets for assassination by the ETA.

IPPNW and its affiliates ---- concerned overdeath threats to IPPNW members Drs. AuroraBilbao Soto and Paco Donnate Oliver and mem-bers of Foro de Ermua ---- have been urging swiftaction by the European Parliament to addressthis situation (see Vital Signs issue 13.2). TheEuropean Parliament in November 2000 issueda written declaration on terrorism in Spain con-demning the criminal attacks committed by theETA against individuals and human rights orga-nizations. The declaration has received the sup-port of two-thirds of the European Parliament.

This January, IPPNW nominated the Forode Ermua for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for itscourageous work in promoting non-violent conflictresolution, even at the risk of personal safety. !

IPPNW’s Australian affiliate, the MedicalAssociation for Prevention of War (MAPW),strongly condemned the February 16 UnitedStates and British joint bombing of Iraq with thisstatement to the press.

“‘These bombings are illegal and highlydestabilizing,’ said MAPW National PresidentDr. Susan Wareham. ‘Unfortunately, the bomb-ings continue a long pattern of regular bombattacks since December 1998. Many civilianshave been killed or injured in these attacks.’

The bombing was the largest sinceOperation Desert Fox in December 1998. TheUS and UK justified the attack as ‘self-defense’claiming that Iraq has been firing shots atUS/UK planes flying in so-called no-fly zones.

There is no formal Security Council resolu-tion authorizing the bombings and thereforethey are in breach of international law.

‘How can we preach to the Iraqi Govern-ment about respect for international law while atthe same time the US and UK breach it, withAustralian support?’ asked Dr Wareham.

The bombings have been condemned byFrance, China, Russia, Norway, Iran, and Jordan.

MAPW believes that the Australian govern-ment should also condemn the bombings andtake an active role within the United Nations toresolve the current impasse in regard to Iraq.Specifically, action is needed to ensure that:

! the economic sanctions are lifted;! weapons inspectors are able to return to

Iraq; and! the problem of weapons of mass destruction

in the whole Middle East region, includingIsrael, is addressed.

‘The US and UK are displaying no concernfor international law or human rights. Civiliansare killed by these bombings. Young childrencontinue to die each day as a result of the on-going economic blockade of Iraq,’ said DrWareham. ‘It’s time for a change of policy whichachieves real outcomes in humanitarian andglobal security goals.’” !

Ad by IPPNW Germany protesting the use ofDU ammunition.

Last October, IPPNW Co-President Dr.Mary-Wynne Ashford toured several cities inJapan, meeting with the Physicians’ ForumAgainst Nuclear War and for the Elimination ofNuclear Weapons in Osaka, members of theJapanese government, the media, and the med-ical community.

In Okinawa, Dr. Ashford revisited thehorrors of the 1945 invasion as presented infilm and images by the Prefectural Museum.Doctors in both Osaka and Okinawa spoke ofthe need for Japan to acknowledge its history ofatrocities so that it can move forward.

In Tokyo, Dr. Ashford, along with Dr.Kenjiro Yokoro and members of IPPNW’sJapanese affiliate, met with Japan’s DeputyDirector General for Arms Control andScientific Affairs to discuss hopes that Japanwould join the New Agenda Group.

The doctors met in Tokyo with thePresident of Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s lead-ing newspapers and a very strong supporter ofnuclear disarmament. The magazine ItsudemoGenki (Always in Good Health) ran a feature onDr. Ashford and two young medical residents,Drs. Ohasi and Tanaka, who attended the Tokyomeeting.

During a visit to Wakayama City, Dr.Ashford gave a lecture to a large audience of doc-tors and medical students. She noted thatalthough medical student response in Japan hasbeen very positive, there are major obstacles toactivist work, and she urged continuingexchanges among medical students in Japan,Europe, and North America. !

IPPNW

IPPNW Vital Signs 16

IPPNW

Co-President

Visits Japan

Gorbachev meeting for Nobel Peace Prizelaureates to discuss Third World debt and themedia’s role in presenting global issues,November 2000. (Left to right): Dr. SergeiKolesnikov, Duma member and former IPPNWCo-President; Mikhail Gorbachev, former SovietPresident; and IPPNW Co-Presidents Drs. Mary-Wynne Ashford and Sergei Gratchev.

On the organization’s 50th Anniversary,Medact’s President June Crown urged USPresident George W. Bush not to make a $65 bil-lion albatross the hallmark of his presidency.

She called on the new administration, in theinterests of public health,! not to go ahead with the proposed US

National Missile Defense (NMD) systemwhich will destabilize global security and maystart a new arms race;

! to put in place instead genuine measures tocurb nuclear proliferation ---- such as ratifyingthe Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; and

! to spend the $65 billion saved from discon-tinuing NMD on debt relief and aid to poorcountries, and on action to prevent globalwarming. Medact, the UK affiliate of IPPNW, is an

organization of British doctors, nurses, andother health professionals concerned aboutmajor threats to health such as violent conflict,poverty, and environmental degradation. !

New Projects

& Partnerships

at SatelLife

SatelLife, together with SatelLife Healthnet-Kenya, has successfully launched the RegionalInformation Technology Training Center(RITTC) in Nairobi and trained more than 100East African health care workers to use the toolsof electronic information exchange. The projectwas funded by a grant from the World Bank’sInfoDev Initiative.

A new partnership between SatelLife andthe WorldSpace Foundation has led to a suc-cessful trial of a digital radio system that enablesthe transfer of large volumes of information toreceivers all over Africa and allows downloading,storage, and retrieval of years worth of criticalinformation.

SatelLife has also entered into a partnershipwith the non-profit organization Volunteers inTechnical Assistance (VITA) and the corporationWAVIX that will result in a return to the use oflow-earth-orbit satellites in bringing affordablecommunications to health professionals in themost remote areas. New, smaller, cheaper, andmore user-friendly ground-stations are in pro-duction and may be deployed within the comingyear. !

IPPNW Board members Drs. Liz Waterston andMonika Brodmann. (Photo: Lynn Martin-IPPNW)

IPPNW-Israel, participants from Arab and Israeli cities, and members of the Arab and Israeli youth move-ments under the “The Tent of Peace” signifying fraternity, friendship, co-existence, and tolerance.(Photo: Lacko-Kertesz)

After much labor and many adjustments, theMedact Global Health Studies Curriculum isnow ready. It consists of 15 units and threecase studies on the health aspects of poverty,environmental degradation, and conflictworld-wide. It is available now in black onlyfrom the Medact Office, price £20. The finaltwo-color printed version will be on sale laterin the year.

To order a copy, please contact mikerowson@medact.org or call 020-7272-2020.

Now Available

Global Health

Curriculum

Medact’s

50th

Anniversary

Sustainer Profile

Like many IPPNW supporters, Lawrence Egbert is a medical doc-tor. He is an anesthesiologist from Maryland who, with his wife,Ellen Barfield, is an enthusiastic supporter of peace and socialjustice activism.

Dr. Egbert first became affiliated with IPPNW in 1989 becauseof his deep concern about the nuclear threat. As he has said, “hav-ing nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert is the state of being readyto kill massive numbers of people for what the nuclear establish-ment perceives as social good. It’s immoral and nuclear weaponsmust be banned.”

In words and deeds, Dr. Egbert applies the definitions of“peace” and “social justice” as seen in the work done by IPPNWand its affiliates to that done by the National Coalition to Abolishthe Death Penalty. As an anesthesiologist, Dr. Egbert was horrifiedto learn that the State of Texas was using the very same anestheticagents he used to help save lives to execute criminals, just as themilitary uses scientific and medical knowledge ---- once sought forlife-saving purposes ---- to develop weapons of mass destruction.Changes must be made, and Dr. Egbert knows they are bestachieved by channeling outrage into action.

An insurance salesman once recommended to Dr. Egbert, “Whynot invest a good portion of your income today so that you cando good work in your retirement years?” This got the Egberts think-ing, “Why not do good work today?” IPPNW quickly became oneof many worthy organizations that have benefited from this con-

viction. In addition totheir support for IPPNW,the pair have devoted timeand money to organiza-tions like Voices in theWilderness, Veterans forPeace, and the Women’s International League for Peace andFreedom. Dr. Egbert has worked for Doctors Without Borders inSri Lanka, Lebanon, and Kosovo, and for Physicians for HumanRights. Last year, he and Ellen were awarded the “Wilton PeacePrize,” an honor given annually by the Unitarian UniversalistAssociation to individuals or groups in recognition of their contri-bution to peace and human progress.

As a member of IPPNW’s Circle of Sustainers, Dr. Egbert con-tributes through a monthly electronic donation that is easilyprocessed by credit card or electronic funds transfer. IPPNW ispleased to provide for Dr. Egbert, and all IPPNW Sustainers,IPPNW action alerts, special publications, and the IPPNW news-letter Vital Signs. IPPNW Sustainers save time, postage, and paperwhile helping to reduce administrative costs. Most importantly, Dr.Egbert and others help enable IPPNW to concentrate on ourshared concerns: the work of promoting peace through health.

IPPNW is proud to have Dr. Egbert as a member of our Circleof Sustainers and pleased to recognize physician-activists like himfor their good work, today and everyday.

Making A Difference

IPPNW Vital Signs17

IPPNW Circle of Sustainers

Become a Member of IPPNW’s Circle of Sustainers!

Why Support IPPNW Each Month?

! You save time, postage, and paper when your gift is transferred automatically each month.

! You help allocate more of IPPNW resources towards vital programs by reducing administrative gift processing costs.

A number of IPPNW supporters have simplified their gift givingby authorizing their bank or credit card to automatically transfertheir gift each month.

You can make a difference in our success by making aregular contribution of $10, $15, $25 or more each month. Thismonthly commitment ensures that IPPNW’s vital work to elim-inate nuclear weapons and prevent war will continue.

You may, of course, increase, decrease, or cancel your gift at anytime.

If you have any questions about monthly giving or would like acopy of IPPNW’s Annual Report, please contact:

Allison Howard617-868-5050, ext. 203E-mail: ahoward@ippnw.org

Yes! You can count on my monthly support to IPPNW.Here is my pledge of:

# $25 # $20 # $15 # $10 # Other_____________

********************************************************************************#"Option 1: Bank account: (I’ve enclosed a check for my first month’s contribution)I authorize my bank to transfer to IPPNW each month the amount shownabove. I understand that a record of each donation will be included on mymonthly bank statement and will serve as my receipt.

Signature Date********************************************************************************#"Option 2: Please charge my: #Visa #MasterCard

/Card # Expiration date

Signature

Print name as it appears on card

Mail to: IPPNW Development Department727 Massachusetts Ave.Cambridge, MA 02139USA

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

$

Dr. Lawrence Egbert and family.

Publications

IPPNW Vital Signs 18

Volume 17, No 1, fea-tures a discussion on civil-ians and war ---- both theextent of civilian war casual-ties and indirect effects suchas refugee crises and lack ofbasic health care. Also included is a look at the stateof the UN and a report on the leukemia cluster roundthe UK’s main nuclear bomb-making facility.

Vol. 17, No 2, due out in May, considers indepth the health problems of asylum-seekers andrefugees and the aftermath of conflict in Cambodiaand Northern Ireland. Vol. 17, No. 3, due in August,will examine “non-lethal weapons.”

MCS is available at a generous discount to allIPPNW members (33%, US$30 or £20 for first year,and 25% US$33.50 or £22.50 thereafter). Please senddollar or sterling checks payable to Lionel PenroseTrust, to Editorial Assistant, MCS, 601 HollowayRoad, London N19 4DJ, phone +44 20 7272 2020;fax: +44-20-7281 5717; email: info@medact.org. !

Nuclear Weapons ConventionMonitorBy IPPNW in Consultation with LCNP

The second issue ofthe Nuclear Weapons Con-vention Monitor continuesto follow the debate aboutthe most effective path tocomplete nuclear disarma-ment under a verifiableinternational regime. TheN WC Monitor builds onthe discussion initiated bythe Model NWC, originallydrafted by an international team of lawyers, scientists,and disarmament specialists and now a UN discus-sion document. A revised version of the ModelNWC is contained in Security and Survival: TheCase for a Nuclear Weapons Convention publishedby IPPNW, the International Association of LawyersAgainst Nuclear Arms (IALANA), and the Inter-national Network of Engineers and Scientists AgainstProliferation (INESAP).

Contributors to this issue, including JozefGoldblat, Penelope Simons, Martin Butcher, HuiZhang, Kathleen Sullivan, Dan Plesch, OliverMeier, and Kevin Martin, address nuclear choices,national missile defense, law, verification, health,energy, and environmental considerations. TheN WC Monitor is produced by the UN Office ofIPPNW and PSR (USA). This issue is made possi-ble with the support of SLMK (Svenska Läkare motKärnvapen - IPPNW Sweden). !

New

Publications

War and Public Health Edited by Barry S.Levy, MD, and VictorW. Sidel, MD

War and Public Health,published by Oxford Uni-versity Press in coopera-tion with the AmericanPublic Health Association in 1997, was the firstbook that comprehensively documented theimpact of war on public health and described whathealth professionals can do to minimize the con-sequences of war and to help prevent war.

The book has now been reissued in a moreaffordable paperback edition. Many of the chap-ters are written by IPPNW leaders throughout theworld, among them Drs. Mary-Wynne Ashford(Canada), H. Jack Geiger (US), Robert Gould (US),Ernesto Kahan (Israel), Alan Lockwood (US),Joanna Santa Barbara (Canada), and KenjiroYokoro (Japan). The foreword is written by formerUS President Jimmy Carter. This updated editioncontains a new epilogue covering discussions onthe war in Kosovo, “Africa’s First World War,” andupdates on the conflicts in Sudan and SierraLeone.

The effects of war on health, human rights,and the environment are covered in 26 meticu-lously researched chapters. The chapters on thehealth effects of nuclear, chemical, and biologicalweapons discuss public health consequences andthe methods by which public health professionalscan work for the abolition of weapons of massdestruction. The book deals with both the directconsequences of the use of conventional weaponsand the role of the international arms trade,including the diversion of resources that couldotherwise be used for health and human welfare.Separate chapters cover especially vulnerable pop-ulations, including women, children, and refugees.

W ar and Public Health is priced at US$23.50plus postage and handling. For orders, pleasecall APHA at (301) 893-1894 or email:apha@tascol.com !

War or Health ---- International ReaderBy IPPNW-Finland

W ar or Health ---- International Reader, a new bookfrom IPPNW-Finland due out autumn 2001, willfeature articles on the indirect and long-termhealth consequences of war caused by overpopula-tion, poor public health care, and the collapse ofeconomic and social structures. Specific issuesaddressed will include the problems of rebuildingthe health care system in former Yugoslavia andthe environmental effects of the war on Kosovoand Serbia. Latest information on work conductedby forensic medical teams on location in Kosovowill also be provided. Attention will be given to thearms race issue, the effects of war preparations oncivilians, and the health effects of nuclear radia-tion. IPPNW’s work in the areas of nuclear aboli-tion and the World Court Project will also be dis-cussed. Please contact editorial assistant HannaTapanainen at hanna.tapanainen@helsinki.fi formore information. !.

The April 2001 issue ofMedicine & Global Survival---- the first as a fully ownedjournal of IPPNW ---- leadsoff with a feature article byUniversity of Texas professorLloyd J. (Jeff) Dumas on the potential for fatal mis-takes when fallible people and error-prone nuclearweapon systems mix. Japanese scholar NaokiKamimura explores the evolution of Japanese civilsociety during the 1990s and the ways in which part-nerships between NGOs and local governments havefended off US nuclear domination.

Canadian researchers Wendy Cukier and AntoineChapdelaine review the massive damage to health andsociety worldwide from the unrestrained proliferationof military-style light weapons and domestic firearms.The ICRC’s Robin Coupland offers a theoreticalframework for reducing the impact of armed violenceby prohibiting entire classes of especially lethal weaponsystems. The continuing devastation caused in Russiaand the former Soviet Union by one such weapon ----antipersonnel landmines ---- is documented by RomanDolgov (RPPNW).

IPPNW’s assessment of the potential healtheffects of depleted uranium weapons is published infull, along with critical commentaries from Frank vonHippel, Steve Fetter, and Gunnar Westberg.

For information on how to subscribe toIPPNW’s journal, contact the Central Office or sende-mail to Ltan@ippnw.org. M&GS is also availableonline at www.ippnw.org/MGS !

Medicine andGlobal Survival

Journals

Peaceful Caucasus ---- A FutureWithout LandminesEdited by IPPNW

The English versionof the Report on theSecond International Con-ference on Landmines inRussia and the FormerSoviet Union (the printedition), originally pub-lished by Russian Phy-sicians for the Preventionof Nuclear War (RPPNW),is now available only onlineat www.ippnw.org !

Medicine, Conflict, and Survival

For single copies of publications:Price plus shipping ($4.00 US and Canada and $10.00 International) Return this form, plus your check to IPPNW 727 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

Name

Address

City State Zip Code

Country

Phone E-mail

For two or more copies or for express mailingsof any book: Please contact IPPNW for informationon cost and billing.Discounts: A 5% discount is available for anyorders of 10 or more books.# Please send a free inspection copy of Medicine and Global Survival, IPPNW’s journal.# Please send a free IPPNW nuclear abolition bumper sticker with my publication order.# Please send article on Bombs Away Campaign.

Ordering Information

IPPNW Vital Signs19

IPPNW Resources

Nuclear Weapons Convention Monitor (April 2000), (April 2001) $5.00Security and Survival: The Case for a Nuclear Weapons Convention (1999) $10.00Bombing Bombay? Effects of Nuclear Weapons and a Case Studyof a Hypothetical Explosion (1999) $10.00Is Everything Secure: Myths and Realities of Nuclear Disarmament (1998) $10.00Fast Track to Zero Nuclear Weapons: The Middle Powers Initiative (1999) $10.00Crude Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and the Terrorist Threat (1996) $10.00Nuclear Wastelands (1995) New Paperback Edition (696 pp) $35.00Abolition 2000: Handbook for a World Without Nuclear Weapons (1995) $10.00Plutonium: Deadly Gold of the Nuclear Age (1992) $10.00Radioactive Heaven and Earth: Effects of Nuclear Weapons Testing (1991) $10.00Atom Bomb Injuries (Revised 1995) $10.00Drs. Testimonies of Hiroshima (1995) $10.00Medicine & Global Survival: Why Mistakes Happen Even When the Stakes Are High:The Many Dimensions of Human Fallibility (2001) $10.00

Medicine & Global Survival: Medical First Response to Bioterrorism (2000) $10.00Medicine & Global Survival: Safe Nuclear Disarmament (1999) $10.00Medicine & Global Survival: Special Report on the South Asian Bomb (1998) $10.00Medicine & Global Survival: False Alarm or Public Health Hazard? Low-Dose External Radiation Exposure (1998) $10.00

Accidental Nuclear War: A Post-Cold War Assessment (1998)Reprint from the New England Journal of Medicine $2.00

Medicine and Nuclear War: From Hiroshima to Mutual Assured Destruction to Abolition 2000 (1998) — JAMA $2.00

Primary Care of Landmine Injuries in Africa (2000) $10.00Landmines: A Global Health Crisis (1997) $10.00New Steps for a Mine-Free Future: Report on 1st International Landmine Conference in Russia and the CIS (1999) $5.00

Molly Rush and the Plowshares Eight (1989) $10.00The Sredmash Archipelago (2000) $10.00Nukes Are Not Forever (1999) $10.00The Bombs That Shook Nairobi & Dar (1999) $10.00

QTY

IPPNW has been selected as a subject for a television documen-tary to be produced by an independent film company and broad-cast in the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the US and inter-nationally through our affiliate network in 65 countries. The pro-gram will air (tentative air date is April 2002) on hundreds of PBSstations throughout the US with access to 80 million viewers.

The timing couldn’t be better, but we must work quickly. As thenational and international debate on NMD heats up, the voice ofthe global movement to ban nuclear weapons must be loudlyheard. We must convince the public and policy-makers that mis-sile defense is as bad an idea now as it was when it was calledStar Wars in the 1980s. Our work is cut out for us because thewell-funded public relations machine of the pro-nuclear forces iswinning the PR battle. A February 2001 Newsweek poll found that60 percent of the American public polled support building a mis-sile defense system.

IPPNW will use this program to educate and activate the largesegments of the population that don’t know the facts aboutnuclear weapons in the world today. Our physician-activists willcommunicate the grim realities of nuclear warfare and convincethe public and policy-makers that the world will only be saferwhen nuclear weapons are banned. IPPNW’s core medical message---- that there has never been and will never be a meaningful med-ical response to a nuclear explosion and that the only cure isprevention ---- will be the central message of this documentary.

IPPNW’s Swedish affiliate has generously contributed seed fund-ing for this project. Other major sponsors will receive prominentcredit during the beginning and ending of the film and in printadvertising in major magazines. To find out how you can supportthis important project, please check the box below and we willsend you sponsorship information. Please help by sponsoringthis important documentary.

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A New IPPNW/Independent PBS DocumentaryWe need your help to reach the public with the truth about nuclear weapons.

Help us produce and distribute

# Please send sponsorship information onIPPNW’s PBS documentary project.

You will be recognized in the film’s credit as a sponsor.

9-20 June 2001

9-10 July 2001

4-12 August 2001

September 2001

6-8 September 2001

11-18 September 2001

18 September 2001

27-30 September 2001

On the calendar

VITAL SIGNS

Non-Profit Org.US Postage

PAIDBurlington, MAPermit No. 145International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

727 Massachusetts AvenueCambridge, MA 02139USA

Vital Signs is published by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.Editorial coordination, layout, and design by Liling Tan, Communications Associate, and Lynn Martin, Communications Director.Editorial assistance by John Loretz, Program Director.© IPPNW 2001. Excerpts may be reprinted with proper credit to IPPNW. Please send us copies.Please direct correspondence to Vital Signs, IPPNW Central Office, 727 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 USATel: 617-868-5050; Fax: 617-868-2560; E-mail: ippnwbos@ippnw.org; http://www.ippnw.org

IPPNW is a non-partisan international federation of physicians’ organizations dedicated to research, education, and advocacy relevant to the prevention of nuclear war. To this end, IPPNW seeks to prevent all wars, to promote non-violent conflict

resolution, and to reduce the effects of war on health, development, and the environment.

Global Day of Action. Events to be held byIANSA members worldwide. Contact: BrianRawson at brawson@ippnw.org

UN Conference on Illicit Traffic in Small Armsand Light Weapons in All Its Aspects at theUN in New York. Contact Brian Rawson atbrawson@ippnw.org

IFMSA General Assembly in Aalborg,Denmark. Contact: Anna Hellman at annahellman_esq@hotmail.com.

Children’s Summit ---- Children and ArmedConflict

IPPNW Latin America Regional Meeting inCuba. Contact: Dr. Carlos Pazos atpazos@infomed.sld.cu

Third Meeting of State Parties to the Mine BanTreaty in Maragua, Nicaragua.Contact: Liz Bernstein at banemnow@icbl.org

United Nations General Assembly opens.Contact: Merav Datan at mdatan@ippnw.org

Safe Nuclear Disarmament.Contact: Medact and ORG

Aiming For Prevention: IPPNW InternationalMedical Conference on Small Arms, GunViolence, and Injury in Helsinki, Finland.Contact: Brian Rawson at brawson@ippnw.org

IPPNW Board Meeting at Arlie House.Contact: Naidene Waller at nwaller@ippnw.orgCelebration of the 21st Anniversary of theFounding of IPPNW

PSR Board MeetingContact: Alyson Michael at alysonm@psr.org

IPPNW/PSR 15th World Congress.Contact: Naidene Waller at nwaller@ippnw.org

28-30 September 2001

12-14 November 2001

15-18 November 2001

1-5 May 2002

Visit our website atwww.ippnw.org

16 July 2001

7 August 2001

3 December 2001

10 December 2001

Anniversaries

56th Anniversary of the first nuclear explosion, the“Trinity” test at Alamogordo, New Mexico

56th Anniversary of the atomic bombing ofHiroshima and Nagasaki

Fourth Anniversary of the Opening for Signatureof the 1997 Landmines Convention

Human Rights Day