Read the heartwarming speech by Olga Karatch, Our House during the Martin Luther King anniversary in Berlin on September 13.
In her speech, Olga shared the real stories of struggle and solidarity among human rights activists, political prisoners, conscientious objectors, and their families in Belarus.
Today, more than ever, we need to support Belarusian and Russian conscientious objectors—men who refuse to take up arms and support Vladimir Putin in his war against Ukraine. This is the simplest thing we can do—to help our men avoid fighting in this war. This means fewer Ukrainian casualties and a quicker end to the war. Because even with the most modern technology, Putin and Lukashenko cannot fight if they don’t have soldiers. Let’s work together to ensure they don’t have soldiers.
A new joint publication by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the International Peace Bureau (IPB) and the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) is designed to provide parliamentarians around the world with a toolkit for prioritizing human security and common security as opposed to militarized state security.
With every passing month, our world becomes more violent and dangerous. After a decline in the 1990s and early 2000s, the number of conflicts around the world has been growing – and no region has been left untouched. These conflicts often involve multiple parties and are increasingly fuelled by transnational criminal activity. Some have been going on for decades and some remain unaddressed by the international community. Their cost is immense, however, and it is usually civilians who pay the heaviest price.
The future hardly looks encouraging. Disinformation, social media and artificial intelligence (AI) are spreading hate, division and mistrust. AI-powered weapons are making it easier than ever to kill, while cyberattacks on critical infrastructure are also taking their toll. Meanwhile, nuclear disarmament has come to a grinding halt and global tensions are distracting our leaders from the urgent – and sometimes existential – challenges that face us: climate change, pandemics, hunger and much, much more. We need multilateral collaboration to address and fix these challenges. But conflicts take us in the opposite direction.
Two alternative approaches offer new possibilities to get us all back on track. The first is human security, which is about engaging with and representing people, and implies contextualized and tailored legislation rooted in several dimensions relating to the well-being of the individual. The second is common security, which takes the principles of human security to a larger scale and enshrines the idea that dialogue, multilateralism and collaboration are key to any attempt to solve a problem.
This article was first published in Economic&Political Weekly (Vol. 59, Issue No. 30, 27 Jul, 2024), then IDN-InDepthNews, and is being republished with the author‘s permission.
NEW DELHI | 2 August 2024 (IDN) — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of 32 Western countries has formally declared its security interests to be global, despite its title and founding mandate as a transatlantic security alliance. The 75th anniversary summit held in Washington (10 July) conceptualised its security as a “360-degree approach”, indispensable and essential. The reason to extend its operations are because the threats to NATO are “global and interconnected”. (1) It is the instrument for the “rules-based order” which NATO demarcates from international law. NATO signals that it will operationalise its strategic reach globally anywhere any time and will likely be intolerant and indifferent to the security needs of those outside this exclusive club.
26.08.24 – Ukraine – Mauro Carlo Zanella | Pressenza International Press Agency
Changing the Narratives of War: An article based on Yurii Sheliazenko’s interview to read.
People should not be defined by wars they waged, wage or expect to wage. People must define their identity with collective imagination, knowledge, art, joy and happiness of togetherness and openness to embrace anyone and anything in this wonderful and good Universe. When we will walk in the light, not in the darkness, we will be brothers and sisters, equal and creative, not destructive. For that end, a great work of enlightenment must be done.
The International People’s Tribunal on the Responsibility of the U.S.A. for the 1945 Atomic Bombings and for Ensuring Redress (Apology) to the Korean Victims
On August 6, 2024, The International People’s Tribunal on the Responsibility of the U.S.A. for the 1945 Atomic Bombings and for Ensuring Redress to the Korean Victims announced the members of the Legal Review Team which will be leading a Tribunal seeking the following:
1. A legal decision as to whether the 1945 atomic bombings by the U.S. violated international law.
2. A legal decision that the current threat to use and the use of nuclear weapons are in violation of international law.
3. An official apology from the U.S. to the Korean victims for the atomic bombings of 1945.
A detailed Legal Review Paper is attached to this Press Release.
During the 1930s, approximately 1.2 million Koreans were forcibly removed by the Japanese from their homeland, and many were brought to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to work for the Japanese. The U.S. knowingly dropped the world’s first atomic bombs on these two civilian cities on August 6 and August 9, 1945, claiming over 700,000 victims in total, 70,000 of which were Korean nationals.
This International People’s Tribunal has established a powerful legal team with law professors and trial attorneys from around the world to present the evidence, argue the law, and hold the relevant parties accountable. A panel of international judges will deliberate on the evidence and render a verdict.
Presenting this evidence and establishing these precedent-setting legal rulings will have a positive influence on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the bringing of a lasting peace to that area and to a world without nuclear weapons.
The Tribunal Legal Team consists of the following members:
· Daniel Rietiker, Adjunct Professor of International Law and Human Rights at Lausanne University, Switzerland; Co-President of IALANA
· Toshinori Yamada, Professor at Meiji University Law School, Japan
· Okubo Kenichi, President of Japan Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, Japan
· Manfred Mohr, Professor of International Law and Co-chair of International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, Germany
· Monique Cormier, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Monash University, Australia
· Anna Hood, Associate Professor of the Auckland Faculty of Law, New Zealand
· John Kierulf, Former Diplomat of the Denmark Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Tribunal also announced that the official Co-Chairs of the International People’s Tribunal are the Honorable Former Bishop Kang Uil (Peter) from the Catholic Diocese of Jeju; and the former Mayor of Hiroshima, the Honorable Hiraoka Takashi. Both individuals were in attendance in June 2024 in Hiroshima during the second forum to establish the Tribunal. Their long work in this field, their legacy and voice, provide a deep moral authority to the Tribunal.
The Tribunal will spend the next two years assembling evidence, witness testimony, and forming its legal arguments. The Tribunal will hold its oral proceedings in New York City in 2026, a year which will mark the convening of the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
SPARK (Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea), a peace NGO based in South Korea, and Brad Wolf, lawyer and former prosecutor serve as co-coordinators.
The following organizations have endorsed this Tribunal and are serving as partner organizations: Environmentalists Against War, World BEYOND War, Peace Action, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, International Peace Bureau, International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Japan Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, Korean American Peace Fund, Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal, Peace Action New York State, STOP the War Coalition Philippines, The International League of Peoples’ Struggle, Veterans for Peace, The United Methodist Church,
We are SPARK, a peace organization based in South Korea. Collaborating with Korean atomic bomb victims, we are currently undertaking a project to organize the International People’s Tribunal on 1945 US Atomic Bombings (scheduled in 2026). We are reaching out to request your organization’s participation as a partner.
The International People’s Tribunal is a significant endeavor to hold the United States accountable for the dropping of atomic bombs. To ensure the success of the A-Bomb Tribunal, collaboration from various organizations is essential. Any non-governmental organization is eligible to become a partner organization for the International People’s Tribunal. No joining fee or annual subscription is required, although financial and other relevant contributions are welcome. PartnersEnvironmentalists Against War, World BEYOND War, Peace Action, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, International Peace Bureau, International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Japan Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, Korean American Peace Fund, Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal, Peace Action New York State, STOP the War Coalition Philippines, The International League of Peoples’ Struggle, Veterans for Peace, The United Methodist Church – To be added
SPARK(Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea) is a grassroots movement organization established in 1994, during a time of heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula, following the spirit of the Korean peace movement. SPARK, which leads the A-Bomb Tribunal alongside Korean atomic bomb victims, is committed to five core values: sovereignty, peace, reunification, denuclearization, and disarmament.
August 4, 2024, Japan – The participants of the 2024 World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs concluded the event by adopting a declaration at the Closing Session. As next year marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings, the Hibakusha, who survived and have fought for the abolition of nuclear weapons, are calling on both A-bomb survivors and the younger generation to turn the tide toward a peaceful and just world without nuclear weapons.
4 August, Belarus – Olga Karatch from Our House organization recently led a peace wave action in Belarus to commemorate the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to advocate against nuclear weapons. She is pleased to share photos from the event, which saw a larger turnout than anticipated.
Karatch emphasizes the importance of unity and collective effort in the fight for nuclear disarmament and the right to be conscientious objectors. This action reflects their commitment to a world free from weapons and war.
As we remember the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Karatch encourages continued advocacy for a peaceful future and nuclear-free world.
Read the Statement by Olga Karach in memory of the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and on the use of nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Olga Karatch is a Belarusian activist, political scientist and head of the human rights organization “Our House” (Nash Dom), founded in 2002 as a self-financed newspaper. The 45-year-old Nobel Peace Prize candidate is active in the human and civil rights network, which is repressed in her country by the Lukashenko regime. She has been detained several times and also tortured; the KGB website publishes her name on the list of terrorists. Today she lives in exile in Vilnius, Lithuania, from where she continues her important non-violent work.
IPB attended the first week of this year’s NPT Preparatory Committee in Geneva. From July 22nd to the 26th, the International Peace Bureau hosted two side events, and further participated in two thought-provoking roundtable discussions created by our partners.
Our first event, occurring on Monday, was oriented on the vitality of Nuclear Weapon Free Zones (NWFZs). Our speakers covered a variety of pressing issues, from the legal loopholes existing in many NFWZ treaties to how civil society organizations could collaborate to remedy them. The panel featured Reiner Braun, former Executive Director of IPB; Alain Ponce Blancas, Research and Communication Officer of Agency Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL); Enobot Agboraw, Executive Secretary of African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE); Enkhsaikhan Jargalsaikhan, Chairman of Blue Banner and Board Member of IPB, and Leonardo Bandarra from the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO). At the end of their remarks, a Q&A session ensued, capping off what was a strong start to the week.
Our second event took place the day after in collaboration with METO, and was centered on the prospect of denuclearization in the most volatile region in the world: the Middle East. Just like our event prior, our panel featured a stacked roster of experts, including, Sharon Dolev, Founder and Executive Director of METO and Council Member of IPB; Tariq Rauf, Former Head of Verification & Security Policy, Alt Head of NPT Delegation; Emad Kiyaei, Director of METO; Emily Molinari, IPB Deputy Executive Director; and Sean Conner, Executive Director of IPB Executive Director. The experts touched on key elements that will be integral for securing a future peace in the Middle East, such as the fulfillment of the Arab Peace Initiative and the necessity of a multilateral disarmament across the land. Perhaps most importantly, the hour-long discussion ended on an optimistic note, with the general consensus being that hope is required, even during the bleakest moments, in order to truthfully vie for peace.
The rest of the week presented several duly appreciated opportunities for IPB to learn about other organizations’ goals through their own events. On Wednesday, for instance, the team had the pleasure to partake in an open discussion led by SCRAP Weapons and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) on how civil society organizations can effectively advocate for a Fourth Special Session on Disarmament. Conversations on disarmament and security continued as METO invited guests to their own roundtable, which was a relevant extension of our joint side event on Tuesday. The room was filled with brilliant discourse on the vitality of increasing communication within civil society and the potential of a renewed Arab Peace Initiative. And then on Friday, members of IPB’s staff finished off our participation in the NPT PrepCom after attending side events held by the delegations of the Philippines, Finland, and Germany.
Overall, the continuation of activism and diplomacy through the annual PrepCom serves as a critical foundation upon which real progress can be built from. IPB remains hopeful about the future, and looks forward to the day when nuclear weapons become relics of the past, as they should be.
The International Peace Bureau (IPB) expresses deep concern over the recent targeted killings in West Asia, including the deaths of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukur, in Beirut. These actions are a violation of international law and pose a serious risk of escalating the conflict to a regional level. Such escalations not only endanger regional stability but also have global consequences, as they increase the risk of a wider conflict that could involve the use of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), leading to catastrophic outcomes worldwide.
These attacks have severely set back efforts towards achieving a ceasefire and a long-term resolution to the conflict, including the return of Israeli hostages. The timing and nature of these actions suggest a deliberate attempt to undermine diplomatic efforts, prolonging the suffering of civilians and obstructing peace processes.
Recent statements by Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and various international responses underscore the fragile state of affairs. IPB urges all stakeholders, including regional and global powers, to work towards a peaceful resolution and avoid actions that could lead to uncontrollable escalation.
IPB emphasizes the critical importance of using diplomatic channels to de-escalate the situation. Resorting to violence only exacerbates the suffering of innocent civilians and brings the region closer to widespread conflict. We call on all states and non-state actors, both within the region and those with direct or indirect involvement, to prioritize peace and stability, respecting international law principles.
We urgently call for a ceasefire and comprehensive negotiations that address the root causes of the longstanding conflict, cycle of violence, and oppression in Palestine and Israel, and throughout West Asia. Long-term peace can only be achieved through dialogue, mutual understanding, and trust-building, ensuring the common security and dignity of all people involved.
Lithuania should protect Belarusian conscientious objectors and deserters, grant adequate legal protection and prevent their deportation!
The undersigned organizations are genuinely concerned by the threat of the Lithuanian authorities to immediately deport the Belarusian conscientious objector Vitali Dvarashyn and deserter Mikita Sviryd to Belarus where they are at risk of persecution, imprisonment, and death penalty. We demand immediate action from the Lithuanian authorities to prevent the deportation of conscientious objectors back to Belarus and grant asylum in Lithuania where they have been seeking protection.
