International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons

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Resolution of the Nordic Network Against Uranium Weapons Conference, Stockholm, 15th November 2009

The Nordic Network's conference: Radioactive wars today: Uranium weapons in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkans, was held in Stockholm over the 14th and 15th of November 2009. Conference supported the following resolution and requested that it be submitted to the governments of the Nordic countries.
17 November 2009 - ICBUW

To the governments of the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden: Forby Uranium Wapens

RESOLUTION: NORDIC COOPERATION AGAINST URANIUM WEAPONS; Nordic Network Against Uranium Weapons Conference, Stockholm, 15th November 2009

The Nordic Network Against Uranium Weapons urgently requests the governments of the Nordic countries:

1. To submit updated reports on the potential effects of uranium weapons on human health and the environment, as required by United Nations General Assembly resolution A/C.1/63/L.26, passed on December 2nd 2008; where the United Nations invited: Member States and relevant international organisations, particularly those that have not yet done so, to communicate to the Secretary-General their views on the effects of the use of armaments and ammunitions containing depleted uranium. Complete text below.

2. To begin work as part of a coalition of the willing towards an international convention prohibiting the use of uranium in conventional weapons, in line with the European Parliament’s 2008 resolution: Global treaty to ban uranium weapons (P6_TA(2008)0233), which was supported by 94% of MEPs. Complete text below.

3. To cooperate within a Nordic context in the run up to the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2010, for a common Nordic ban on conventional uranium weapons and in doing so, follow the example of Belgium, whose 2007 law banning the use, transport, manufacture, stockpiling and sale of uranium weapons and armour, entered into force in June 2009. The Belgium ban was supported by additional legislation restricting the financing of uranium weapon manufacturers by Belgian financial institutions.

The Nordic Network Against Uranium Weapons is convinced that:

• It is important to welcome the role of civil society in confronting the use of inhumane and indiscriminate weapons such as anti-personnel landmines, cluster bombs and uranium weapons.

• Uranium weapons have the potential to cause severe and long-lasting effects on human health and the environment. While further research needs to be undertaken into the impact of uranium weapons on exposed civilian populations, a growing body of peer-reviewed cellular and animal studies indicate that the fine particles released by uranium munitions have the potential to cause a variety of health effects, through both their heavy metal chemical toxicity and radioactivity. Reports of a rise in cancers and birth malformations from health professionals, health ministries and the media in affected areas must be taken seriously.

• The use of uranium weapons violates several international conventions and agreements. This includes the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, the Geneva Protocol 1925, Article 23 of the Geneva Convention 1949, the Nuremberg laws of 1945 and the principle of precaution that is enshrined in International Humanitarian Law. The protection of civilians and the global ecosystem must be paramount in armed conflict.

• States must be guided by the Precautionary Principle when dealing with the threat from uranium weapons. In light of our increasing understanding of the impact of uranium weapons on human and animal health, the only morally justifiable approach to these weapons is a precautionary one.

The Nordic Network Against Uranium Weapons. Through:

• Anita Lilburn, Aktionsgruppen mot radioaktiv krigföring (ARK), Sweden.
• Susanne Urban, Internasional Kvinnelige for Fred og Frihet (IKFF-Bergen) Norway.
• Anna-Liisa Matsoff, Uraaniaseet kieltoon – verkotso, Finland.
• Gudrigur Sigurbjörnsdottir, Mennigar och Friedenssamtokin (MFIK), Iceland.
• Ida Harslof, Kvindernes Internationale Liga for Fred og Frihed (KILFF), Denmark.

Also: Miljörörelsens kärnavfallssekretariat (Milkas), Kvinnor för Fred, Transnational Foundation (TFF), Norges Fredslag, Den Norske Fredskomitéen, Nei til Atomvåpen Norge.

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