Test ban delegates blockaded

Test ban delegates blockaded

GENEVA — On August 6, the 51st anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, about 100 Greenpeace protesters from Italy, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Germany blocked the exits of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva to protest against the delays in talks to achieve a ban on nuclear testing.

The activists formed a human chain in front of the gates of the Palais de Nations where negotiations for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty are being held. They said they would not let the diplomats leave until they had reached agreement on a treaty.

"Fifty-one years is too long to wait for an end to nuclear testing. Now is literally the last chance to finally achieve this ban and make it international law. It must not be allowed to slip by", said Michael Kuehn of Greenpeace.

Kuehn argues that delegates should adopt the text of a CTBT proposed by the chairperson at the end of June. "The draft treaty does the job", he said. "It would ban all nuclear test explosions anywhere, for all time. It's the first of a number of steps which must lead to the total elimination of nuclear weapons."

From GLW issue 242