April, 28 2010, 01:44pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Joseph Gerson, AFSC,
Judith Le Blanc, Peace Action, jleblanc@peace-action.org
Nuclear Abolition Conference Draws Thousands
Gathering Presses Obama, UN, for Treaty Now on Nuclear Weapons Abolition
WASHINGTON
Thousands of nuclear abolitionists from the U.S., Japan, Europe
and other nations are coming here for a historic conference at New
York's Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive, urging the world's leaders
to start talks to eliminate the world's nuclear arsenals immediately.
The
conference "For A Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World"
begins Friday, April 30, 2010, in advance of May's Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the UN. UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon will speak Saturday May 1 at Riverside Church.
"The
double standard in which nations possess nuclear weapons and threaten
attacks while others are forbidden weapons no longer works. It promotes
proliferation. We've come to New York to press the NPT Review Conference
to fulfill the treaty's promise of negotiations for an abolition
convention," said Joseph Gerson, Disarmament Director for the American
Friends Service Committee and a conference organizer.
WHAT:
International Conference "For A
Nuclear Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World." Hundreds of
activists, scholars and political figures from more than 20 countries
gather to plan activities during the month-long NPT Review Conference
and for the future. More information and live streaming available at:https://peaceandjusticenow.org
WHEN:
6 p.m. - 9 p.m. Friday April 30 10
a.m. - 8 p.m. Saturday May 1
WHERE:
Riverside Church 490
Riverside Drive New York, NY 10027-5788 (120th
Street & Riverside Drive)
WHO:
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary
General
Tadatoshi Akiba, Hiroshima Mayor
John
Burroughs, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy
Jackie
Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation
Joseph Gerson,
American Friends Service Committee
Zia Mian, Princeton
University's Program on Science and Global Security
Natalia
Mironova, Movement for Nuclear Safety
Terumi Tanaka,
Japan Confederation of A- & H-Bomb Sufferers Organization
The
event is organized by the 2010 NPT Review Organizing Committee, a
network of 25 U.S., Japanese, European and Israeli nuclear weapons
abolition and peace organizations. For more information, visit www.peaceandjusticenow.org
Peace Action is the United States' largest peace and disarmament organization with over 100,000 members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights.
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