Benetick Kabua Maddison delivers the Affected Communities Joint Statement at 2MSP to the TPNW скачать в хорошем качестве

Benetick Kabua Maddison delivers the Affected Communities Joint Statement at 2MSP to the TPNW

Benetick Kabua Maddison delivers the Affected Communities Joint Statement at the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. "Distinguished delegates, I am Benetick Kabua Maddison, from the Marshall Islands. I am pleased to present to you excerpts from a statement crafted over the last month by representatives of communities affected by nuclear weapons use, testing and development. It reads; We are people bound together by what nuclear weapons have inflicted. Our lives, our lands, our waters, and our communities were permanently changed by the development, testing and use of nuclear weapons. Our struggles against radioactive violence have continued for many decades, throughout the generations. We have the right and responsibility to speak about what nuclear weapons really do. War rages around us. It’s heartbreaking that nuclear weapons still exist in the 21st Century. Are we adding to life or are we adding to death? Our common humanity is undermined by the existential threat hanging over us, that nuclear weapons will again unleash mass terror, contaminating our homes and our bodies, again. Nuclear weapons do harm every day. From the mining of uranium to the creation of the bomb and the everlasting radioactive waste, our planet carries the scars of so many nuclear sacrifice zones. Nuclear colonialism has disproportionately impacted Indigenous Peoples and marginalised communities. Indigenous Peoples lands were taken. Bodies were used, people were bombed. Indigenous Peoples carry responsibility and share connections to the lands, air, oceans, and waters, acting as guardians of life. This includes all living creatures, animals, and plants, some of which are sacred and others of which are food and medicine. Environmental violence impacts all of Mother Earth. Our sacred cultural heritage has been under attack, creating displacement for many survivors. We feel as though governments are waiting for us to vanish, hoping their responsibilities will die with us. But the effects continue for our children and grandchildren and beyond. We are anxious about the future. How much longer will we suffer? As affected communities, we acknowledge the initial and robust advocacy of our predecessors and Elders. We have rights and dignity to firmly reclaim the life force that nuclear weapons attempted to take away. With the next generations, there is not only hope but also an assurance of continued advocacy for justice, as long as nuclear colonialism is not ended, and justice is not granted to our communities. Together with the global community, we have banned nuclear weapons. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons holds great potential and is the first of its kind to take into account communities affected by nuclear weapons. Healing comes through action. We call for all states to do everything in their conscious power to implement Articles 6 and 7. We call for the clean-up of our contaminated lands and waters. We call for assistance for victims and survivors, whether we are Indigenous Peoples, hibakusha, hibakunisei, nuclear veterans, test survivors, downwinders, or anyone whose lives are scarred by the intergenerational harms caused by the development and production of these weapons of mass destruction. We deserve recognition, respect, and reparations. States, institutions, and companies that are enabling and funding nuclear destruction must stop. We call for the nuclear-armed states to join the Treaty and be accountable for their actions. We call on States Parties to the TPNW to push relentlessly for its universalisation. We hope that governments of the day recognise that Indigenous Peoples rights matter, as do the rights of all victims of nuclear bombs everywhere. Finally, let us all commit to put an end to the possession, development, testing, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, so that not one more person will suffer as we have." The statement can be downloaded here: https://icanw.org.au/wp-content/uploa...