Criminality
of Nuclear Weapons
Cnw
A Call to Civil Society
Extracts from an address by Angie Zelter, December 2010 on the eve of the trial members of the Disarm Now Plowshare Group who entered a U.S. Navy Trident nuclear submarine base and nuclear weapons storage depot
In stating the case for strong engagement by civil society Angie said, I believe that the law is a powerful tool that, if respected and used with integrity, can deliver nuclear disarmament. However, as we know to our cost, powerful nations tend to act above the law and to abuse power, which is why there is a need for a strong civil society to keep track and pressure governments and law courts to uphold international law. This has been difficult as there is a great deal of official and public cynicism about law in general and
international law in particular, epitomised by views that the law serves the powerful in society, does not look after the interests of the poor or weak, and is the law of the victors over the vanquished.
…: Civil society acts in the belief that the strength and wisdom of a society lies with its people and that we get the governments and legal systems that we allow. We believe we are not completely powerless but are responsible individuals.
Thus, rather than staying silent when we see gross crimes being committed in our names, we act. Knowing that the deployment of weapons of mass destruction destroys our humanity and breaks the fundamental principles of humanitarian law, we take the spirit of the law seriously and call our institutions to account. We become part of the forces creating the evolution of our society, we help shape the law and ensure its implementation.
…It is clear …… that there is an increasing need in the modern world …….. for citizens to take a greater interest in international law and in the way their government fulfils its obligation in this regard. This is increasingly a matter for the citizenry of the world and if they do not rise to their obligations in this respect, future generations will pay dearly for this inaction.
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... the strength and wisdom of a society lies with its people and that we get the governments and legal systems that we allow.
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... the strength and wisdom of a society lies with its people and that we get the governments and legal systems that we allow.
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