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The following press release was issued on July 9, 1996
by From: medact@gn.apc.org(Medact) World Court Limits Use of Nuclear Weapons In a landmark decision (July 8) the International Court of Justice at the Hague has placed severe constraints on the use of nuclear weapons. It stated that they should only be used in accordance with the Hague and Geneva Conventions, ie should not cause unnecessary suffering to combatants, indiscriminate harm to civilians, severe damage to the environment, release poisons or other analogous materials (ie radioactive fallout), violate neutral states, or if used in retaliation, not disproportionately to the initial attack. However, the Court did not rule out the legality of the use of nuclear weapons 'in an extreme circumstance of self defence, in which the very survival of a state would be at stake'. The Court was responding to questions from the World Health Organisation and the UN General Assembly as to the legality of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. The question from the WHO concerning the legality of their use in view of the health and environmental consequences was disallowed on the grounds that the legality of nuclear weapons is not within the scope of WHO activities. Thousand of health workers in the UK, including GPs, hospital doctors, nurses, therapists and mental health professionals, have signed Declarations of Public Conscience on the need to prevent further use of nuclear weapons. These were delivered to the Court by representatives of Medical Action for Global Security (MEDACT), the UK affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War which has been active in persuading the WHO and UN member states to pursue the World Court Project. They also provided much of the medical and scientific evidence presented to the Court. The nuclear weapon states may try to bypass the opinion as only advisory and not binding. However, the Court concluded with a clear statement that majority world opinion, expressed in UN resolutions, nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties, and the renewed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, was now for abolition of nuclear weapons. It stressed the obligation of the nuclear-weapon states under Article VI of the NPT to undertake in good faith measures to achieve nuclear disarmament. Dr Douglas Holdstock, editor of the international journal Medicine, Conflict and Survival, who was present at the judgement, commented: 'The question to the Court was posed by the WHO in an effort to protect public health. The judgement goes a long way to preventing the human tragedy that would result were nuclear weapons to be used again. Health professionals in MEDACT will now join the international efforts to achieve a timebound treaty - similar to the Biological and Chemical Weapons Convention - for the total abolition of nuclear weapons.' For more information please contact MEDACT Press Officer Gillian Reeve on 0171 281 7434 ENDS medact (medact@gn.apc.org) |
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English | Innehåll | Om SLMK | Om IPPNW | Notiser Gästbok | Adresser | Svenska Läkaresällskapet 1997-02-09 |