Abolition 2000 Newsletter

Abolition 2000 to Nihon Hidankyo

In Abolition 2000’s Congratulatory Message to Nihon Hidankyo, the recipient of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, we noted that “This year’s Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony falls on Human Rights Day.” Pointing to findings of the UN Human Rights Committee in 2018 and a statement submitted by 39 countries to the UN Human Rights Council in 2023, our Message declares: “Nuclear weapons are irreconcilable with human rights…. According to the UN, ‘This year’s [Human Rights Day] theme is a call to acknowledge the importance and relevance of human rights in our everyday lives…. This is the time to mobilize action to reinvigorate a global movement for human rights.’ As so powerfully advocated by Nihon Hidankyo, this movement must include an urgent demand for the global abolition of nuclear weapons.”

We can think of no better way to prepare for the coming landmark year, than to encourage everyone to watch the recording of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony held in Oslo on December 10. You can watch the entire ceremony here. (It’s a little over an hour.) If you don’t have that much time, be sure to watch the powerful Presentation speech by the Chair of the Nobel Committee Jørgen Watne Frydnes, which begins around 7:00. He concludes: “It is naive to believe our civilisation can survive a world order in which global security depends on nuclear weapons. The world is not meant to be a prison in which we await collective annihilation. No matter how long and difficult the path, we should learn from Nihon Hidankyo: We must never give up.”

And don’t miss Nihon Hidankyo Secretary-General Terumi Tanaka’s inspiring acceptance speech, which begins around 33:00. Harking back to Abolition 2000’s original vision, Tanaka-san concludes with a call for “further universalization of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the formulation of an international convention which will abolish nuclear weapons.” You can read the texts of both speeches here.

In the run-up to the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August 6 and 9, 2025, Abolition 2000 plans to participate in the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, March 3 – 7 at UN Headquarters in New York. 

We have begun making plans to celebrate our 30th anniversary during the Third Preparatory Committee Meeting for the 2026 Review of the NPT, April 28 – May 9, in New York. We will also convene an international on-line Annual General Meeting, as we have done since the pandemic, to make it possible for abolitionists around the globe to participate.

On October 1, Abolition 2000 co-hosted a webinar, From the Summit of the Future to a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World. Watch the recording here. On December 5, we organized a webinar on the new U.S. mid-range weapons in Germany, featuring international experts and activists. Link to recording coming soon. With your support we plan to conduct a series of timely webinars in the coming months.

Finally, Abolition 2000 is engaged in consultations to re-launch our Youth Fusion Network. Stay tuned for details.

Your Support Matters – Thank you!

Abolition 2000, with an all-volunteer international Coordinating Committee, has a tiny bare-bones budget of under $5,000 – enough to pay a small stipend to our Secretary, Ivan Siluianov, and to cover the costs of Zoom services and printing. Your donation, in any amount, will make a real difference, and will meaningfully contribute to the urgent cause of nuclear abolition. Please give as generously as you can!

Best wishes for Peace on Earth and in space and Goodwill to people of all genders, ethnicities and nationalities, as well as to all other inhabitants of Mother Earth,

The Abolition 2000 Coordinating Committee: Jackie Cabasso, USA; Joshua Cooper, USA; Regina Hagen, Germany; Andrew Lichterman, USA; Alyn Ware, Czech Republic and Aotearoa/New Zealand; Yosuke Watanabe, Japan; Dave Webb, United Kingdom; Vanessa Lanteigne, Canada

Abolition 2000 – Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons. No Nukes No War