ICBUW: The Campaign

http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/a/152.html

*UN General Assembly Passes DU Resolution*

The United Nations General Assembly has passed, by a landslide, a
resolution calling for further research into the health effects from DU.

5 December 2007 – ICBUW <mailto:info@bandepleteduranium.org>;

On December 5th, 136 countries voted in favour of a resolution
highlighting serious health concerns over the use of depleted uranium
weapons at the UN General Assembly.

The vote was the second hearing for a resolution which was originally
passed by the UN First Committee on November 2nd 2007. The passage of
this vote ensures that the issue of DU will be high on the United
Nation’s agenda next year.

Voting at the GA

The resolution’s previous hearing at the First Committee had seen it
pass by 122 votes to six with 35 abstentions. The General Assembly vote
saw it pass by 136 to five with 36 abstentions. The five who voted
against were the UK, USA, Netherlands, Israel and the Czech Republic.

„This is fantastic news,“ said ICBUW Coordinator Doug Weir. „The sheer
strength of feeling on this issue at the UN is a reflection of the
concerns of individuals and NGOs worldwide. We are disappointed that
several NATO members couldn’t support the resolution, despite the fact
that their service personnel are being exposed to DU in Iraq and
elsewhere, but this is a clear mandate for action from the UN.“

ICBUW welcomed the support from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, their
support ensured that all states that have suffered from military DU
pollution voted in favour of the resolution. Curiously, and in spite of
being present for the entire day’s voting, France, a user and producer
of DU weapons, refused to vote on the resolution. They were one of the
six that had voted against it in November.

Elsewhere, the stance of the Netherlands had caused some disquiet.
Following the first vote in November where they had joined Israel and
the US in opposing the resolution, opposition politicians called upon
the Dutch government to vote in favour. The night before the General
Assembly vote, an emergency resolution was pushed through parliament,
the government responded by announcing that it would only support the
resolution if the word ‚potential‘ was changed to ‚possible‘, by which
time it was too late to change the Indonesian-sponsored text.

Voting at the UN GA

The resolution was drafted by the Movement of Non Aligned States and
submitted by Indonesia. It requests that states and international bodies
submit information on DU to the Secretary General, who will then produce
a report on DU for next year’s session of the General Assembly; depleted
uranium weapons will also feature on the Assembly’s agenda.

Watch the video of it happening:

http://www.nodu-hiroshima.org/mov/un/ungeneralassembly.html

See below for the full text of the resolution:

‚Effects of the use of armaments and ammunitions containing depleted
uranium‘ A/C.1/62/L.18/Rev.1

Full text (select your language of choice):
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/C.1/62/L.18/rev.1

*In favour:* Afghanistan, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina,
Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados,
Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia,
Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia,
Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Germany,
Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti,
Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan,
Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon,
Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia,
Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico,
Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru,
Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama,
Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint
Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa,
San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra
Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka,
Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Togo, Tonga,
Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United
Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen,
Zambia, Zimbabwe.

*Against:* Czech Republic, Israel, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United
States.

*Abstain:* Albania, Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada,
Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Micronesia (Federated
States of), Moldova, Norway, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea,
Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine.

*Absent:* Angola, Chad, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, France, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Monaco,
Seychelles, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu.

See also

* ICBUW

*UN First Committee Passes DU Resolution in Landslide Vote
<http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/a/144.html>; *

Late last night the UN First Committee passed, by an overwhelming
majority, a resolution highlighting concerns over the military use of
uranium.

1 November 2007 – ICBUW