Edinburgh CND will be meeting on Tuesday 4th April 6pm in the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre to discuss our future activities including around the Ban talks. We will also be leafleting on Saturday 8th April 1230 East End of Princes Street

Support the Nuclear Ban Treaty gathering Saturday 1st April at 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2, United Kingdom
Here are some interesting updates:
1.A CASE FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPONS BAN
Clara Levin | Svenska Läkare mot Kärnvapen (Swedish Physicians against Nuclear Weapons)

Click to access NBD1.4.pdf

2.Kate Hudson’s piece on the ban talks and the Abolition 2000 poll in the Huff Post 75% Think UK Should Attend Nuclear Disarmament Talks At UN – So Why The Boycott? http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-kate-hudson/nuclear disarmament_b_15633172.html
3. United States and Allies Protest U.N. Talks to Ban Nuclear Weapons By SOMINI SENGUPTA and RICK GLADSTONE New York Times, MARCH 28, 2017
4.At the multilateral conference negotiating a Global Nuclear Weapons Ban treaty, which started at the United Nations in New York on Monday this week, the diplomatically progressive EU-State, Sweden, called for a reference to the “gendered impact” of nuclear weapons to be incorporated in the preamble of the treaty.
(http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/nuclear-weapon-ban/statements/28March_Sweden-T1.pdf}
In the words of Sweden’s Disarmament Ambassador, Eva Walder :
“Furthermore, we would like to see that the treaty recognizes the gender aspects of nuclear issues. We would also like to see references to the ever present danger of use of nuclear weapons by mistake. And finally, there should be references to the enormous waste of resources resulting from the production and modernization of nuclear weapons.”
This concern was raised by the American campaigner and researcher, Mary Olsen*, in an invited presentation she made to a big planning conference , hosted by the fellow diplomatically progressive EU state, Austria, in Vienna, in December 2014.
(https://www.bmeia.gv.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Zentrale/Aussenpolitik/Abruestung/HINW14/Presentations/HINW14_S1_Presentation_Mary_Olson.pdf).
5. plus on 31st: The UN’s Nuclear Weapon Talks May Be The Most Important Thing Nobody’s Paying Attention To
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/united-nations-nuclear-weapons_us_58dbcbe3e4b0cb23e65d5237
Top commander says banning nukes would make wars worse
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/john-hyten-nuclear-weapons-ban-united-nations-236751
and don’t forget:

Nuclear Ban Daily, Vol. 1, No. 5 now available
http://thebulletin.org/blog

There is planned for Scotland a Uranium Film Festival in 2017 and/or 2018, showing documentaries and movies about the risks of nuclaer power and nuclear weapons as we did already in several countries and cities. More details later

Original Post:

Today (27th) is an important day for the anti-nuclear movement. The following words offer a summary. There are many links to follow for more information.

The international community is gathering in New York for the start of negotiations on a nuclear weapons ban treaty. There is widespread support for the treaty, despite the UK and other nuclear weapons states continuing the boycott the talks. A recent poll found 75% of British public want our government to take part.
More than 120 countries supported the idea of a treaty when a vote took place last year, and since that time ideas for what the treaty might contain have been discussed. This week is just the first session of talks covering the process and general principles of the ban. Sessions run from 15:00 – 18:00 and 20:00 – 23:00 each day. You can keep up with the latest from the negotiations on CND social media and through daily updates on Kate Hudson’s blog
The details will be discussed at the next session, due to run from 14 June – 7 July. It is possible that a draft treaty may be published ahead of those talks.
CND is working with MPs and other allies to put maximum pressure on the UK government to attend the next round of talks. http://www.cnduk.org/ Last Saturday there was a page advert in the Guardian alerting the public to the UK position
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
“The hypocrisy of the government’s position is staggering. These are UN multilateral negotiations for a treaty to ban all nuclear weapons. The government says it supports multilateral nuclear disarmament, so why is it boycotting a serious attempt by the overwhelming majority of the international community to do just that?
“In July last year, when the government asked MPs to back the £205 billion plan to replace our own nuclear weapons system, the motion stated they would press ‘for key steps towards multilateral disarmament’. It’s now clear this was entirely false.

In December 2016, the UN General Assembly decided – by a vote of 113 in favour, 35 against and 13 abstaining – to commence negotiations on a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, regardless of whether or not the nuclear-armed and allied states join such a treaty. UNFOLD ZERO launched a series of consultation meetings see http://www.pnnd.org/event/consultation-meetings-un-initiatives-and-parliamentary-action for details of the meetings and other useful information

The International Campaign against Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has also been working hard around the Nuclear Ban and recently sent a letter to Boris Johnson, signed by many organisations (including Edinburgh CND) and individuals urging the UK government to take part in the http://uk.icanw.org/campaign-news/uk-ngos-government-is-on-wrong-side-of-history-boycotting-ban-negotiations/. ICAN issued a press release this morning and pointed out that The US ambassador will be making a statement to the press outside the conference room when the negotiations on the ban treaty start- at 10am New York time / 3pm in the UK – with UK expected to stand with them (though this is not confirmed). ICAN’s message is that this is a distraction, weak, and disrespectful to the process especially given that these states have been invited in – we will send round further messaging for the UK around this list if the UK does join this ‘protest’. ICANs new Ban Brief http://thebulletin.org/blog offers regular updates on the ban negotiations, their background, and their implications. It is written by Tim Wright, Asia-Pacific director of the http://www.icanw.org/ and Ray Acheson, director of Reaching Critical Will http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org%2Fabout-us%2Fwho-we-are
++++++BRITAIN was condemned for “boycotting” groundbreaking United Nations talks to ban nuclear weapons worldwide.

The Los Alamos Study Group can also be recommended for updates: http://www.lasg.org/press/2017/press_release_27Mar2017.html
ALSO:
OpenDemocracy has just published an article about the UN negotiations. Find this and more here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/towards-nuclear-non-proliferation
Dr Philip Webber, SGR, outlines the key scientific and technological information on the threat from these weapons of mass destruction.Nuclear weapons: a beginner’s guide to the threats | Promoting ethical science, design and technology
Five UK Churches have issued a statement to support and encourage those meeting in New York to negotiate a treaty banning nuclear weapons. They have also expressed their shared disappointment that the UK Government has refused to take part in these talks, despite its longstanding international commitments to work towards a nuclear weapon free world. http://www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/
++++ The UK has quietly revoked the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ over issues relating to nuclear weapons, making direct reference to the Marshall Islands case.

The German Peace Mouvement is starting a campaign of 50 groupes and organizations against the 20 US nuclear bombs still deployed in Germany (air force base in Büchel.) Messages of support appreciated and all are invited to take part of the International Action Camp Germany in July.

Two survivors of the US atomic bomb attack on the Japanese city of Hiroshima will visit Scotland as the critical UN negotiations for a nuclear ban treaty enter their third day.

Reiko Yamada and Midori Yamada will visit Scotland next week as part of the Hibakusha 2017 tour. The tour is timed to coincide with the start of the United Nations negotiations on putting a Global Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty in place. These important talks take place after a historic vote in favour of a treaty at the United Nations General Assembly by 123 countries at the end of last year.
These two women were direct witnesses to the horrific consequences of nuclear weapons and their visit to Scotland is very welcome.
Wed 29th of March The survivors will meet Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and have a tour of the Scottish Parliament.
++++++They will also visit the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre (contact them for details)
Thu 30th of March They will travel to Faslane and Coulport to observe the nuclear bases and will visit Faslane Peace Camp. Members and supporters can join them at the Peace Camp at 3 pm for some tea at the cherry tree planted by a previous Hibakusha visitor thirty years ago.

Scottish CND http://banthebomb.org is sponsoring working group on the Ban Treaty
It is an open group and anyone can join. They are working on web section dedicated to the ban where you will find updates, events, resources and news, particularly relevant to Scotland. They hope to launch this next week.
Next meeting of the working group is 3rd April 11am
++++++On Tuesday SCND issued a statement: see their website or Facebook

N B Signatures are still needed for the e-petition:
http://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175096
And you can write direct to your MP (see previous posts more details)

Other News:
1.Still open: Petition to appoint Ministers for Peace and Disarmament to avoid the dangers of history repeating itself.Click this link to sign petition … https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/178703
APPOINT MINISTERS FOR PEACE AND DISARMAMENT
2.Creative Training Day Campaigning against Arms trade in Scotland
Saturday, 15 April . Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh.
CAAT training with external facilitators to explore creative campaigning and develop strategy for campaigning against the arms trade in Scotland. Free and open to activists from across Scotland, regardless of organisational affiliation or none, that wish to take part in a variety of actions in locations across Scotland.Spaces are limited to 20. To register interest,or for more information, email Mark at eventscaatedin@gmail.com
3. From Scotland with Shame Wednesday 19 April Outside Scottish ParliamentRaising the profile of the arms made in Scotland currently being used against Yemen by Saudi Arabia. To Register your interest in attending part or all of this action, or for more information, please email Mark at eventscaatedin@gmail.com .Organised Jointly by EP&JC and Edinburgh Campaign Against Arms Trade.
4.Conscientious Objectors Day Vigil 5 – 6pm. Monday 15 May The Mound, by the National Gallery of Scotland With Singing, readings of poems and the names of COs from Edinburgh and across Scotland, as well as contemporary COs. This year Sweden has resumed conscription. We will stand in solidarity with all COs, past, present and future. Organised by EP&JC. 4th annual CO Day Vigil in Edinburgh. All welcome.
5.140,000 Origami Cranes Workshop: Remembering Hiroshima
2 – 4pm. Saturdays at Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre
5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JN
Sat 25 March the Origami Cranes workshop will be on the Meadows at the Fly Kites Not Drones event.
6. Saturday 27 May is a possible date for an open meeting on military recruitment in schools: watch this space.
7. And in Australia they continue:For the latest news: https://walkingforcountry.