International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons

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EU/NATO members still abstaining at the UN - Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

Members of the influential EU/NATO bloc at the United Nations are still abstaining on a key resolution highlighting health concerns over the use of uranium weapons. If you are Danish, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish then we need your help!
21 November 2008 - ICBUW

Some time between the 1st and 3rd of December, the United Nations General Assembly will vote on a uranium weapons resolution - the same one that passed the First Committee by 126 to three on Halloween. As it stands some key states within the EU/NATO bloc are still abstaining, these are:

Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Sweden

If you are Danish, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish we really need you to write to your Foreign Ministry and politely request that they support this resolution. Not only because uranium weapons are indiscriminate and inhumane, but also because the European public has spoken and they want them banned - when 94% of MEPs vote for a uranium weapons treaty it's time for governments to take notice!

While this isn't all those who abstained (see below) we believe that these states are more likely to shift position.

Abstained
Abstained

Albania, Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Micronesia, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine

Below is a letter template for you to add to:

Send this to your local elected representative AND your Foreign Minister:
Dear_______

I am deeply concerned about the continued use of conventional weapons containing uranium. Because of their long-term impact on human health and the environment I believe they breach the basic norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions.

The United Nations General Assembly will vote on a resolution calling for further research on the issue at the start of December and I firmly believe that our country should support it. At the First Committee stage the majority of our European partners supported the text, why did our government abstain?

While detailed epidemiological evidence from areas where these weapons have been used is still being gathered, the vast majority of in-vitro studies suggest that uranium weapons constitute a long-term hazard to the military and civilians alike. The evidence is already strong enough to support swift action under the Precautionary Principle - if this was an issue of consumer or domestic environmental safety they would already be banned.

The weapons are already banned in Belgium and in May this year 94% of MEPs backed a resolution calling for a global moratorium on their use. Therefore I urge you to support A/C.1/63/L.26 ' Effects of the use of armaments and munitions containing depleted uranium' at the UN General Assembly in December.

For a full copy of the text visit: http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/docs/75.pdf


Yours sincerely,

Foreign Ministry Addresses:

Denmark
Dr. Per Stig Møller
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
2, Asiatisk Plads
DK-1448 Copenhagen K

Email: um@um.dk

Greece
Ms Dora Bakoyannis
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1st Vas. Sofias Av.,
106 71 Athens,

Portugal
Luís Amado
Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros
Palácio das Necessidades
Largo do Rilvas
1399-030 Lisboa Codex

Spain
Miguel Ángel Moratinos
Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperacion
Plaza de la Provincia,
1 - 28071 Madrid

Sweden
Carl Bildt
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Swedish Government Offices
SE-103 33 Stockholm,