"We should all remember the terrible toll of nuclear tests" - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

New York, 5 September 2013 - Secretary-General's message to the Fourth Observance of the International Day against Nuclear Tests

I am pleased to convey my greetings to this fourth annual observance of the International Day against Nuclear Tests. 

Eighteen years after the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution declaring 29 August as the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

This event offers the world community an opportunity to reflect on the dangers posed by such tests and on the urgent need for additional efforts to prohibit them everywhere. This Day also provides a moment to recognize the contributions of the government and people of Kazakhstan in seeking to outlaw all such tests and to advance global nuclear disarmament.

We should all remember the terrible toll of nuclear tests. A total of 456 nuclear tests were carried at Semipalatinsk since the first explosion there more than 64 years ago. Nearly one and a half million people were affected by the consequences of nuclear testing, and an immense territory has been contaminated with radiation.

(SEE: French nuclear tests 'showered vast area of Polynesia with radioactivity'  - OTR)  

With the adoption of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963, the international community completed its first step towards putting an end to all nuclear weapon test explosions. This objective remains a serious matter of unfinished business on the disarmament agenda.

Today, 183 countries have signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and 159 have ratified it. I once again urge all States to sign and ratify the CTBT without further delay.Eight States whose ratifications are necessary for the Treaty to enter into force have a special responsibility: China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States. None should wait for others to act first. In the meantime, all States should maintain or implement moratoria on nuclear explosions. 

There are no justifiable grounds for further delay in achieving this great goal. It is time to address the horrific human and environmental effects of nuclear tests through a global ban, the most reliable means to meet these challenges. 

Throughout its history, efforts have also been underway at the United Nations to achieve an even bolder goal: a world free from nuclear weapons. This is one of my highest priorities and one that is shared by virtually all our Member States and that has broad public support.

Kazakhstan has shown through its actions what a determined people and a committed government can accomplish in eliminating grave nuclear threats. On this International Day against Nuclear Tests, let us resolve to build on that commitment to outlaw all nuclear tests, everywhere, for all time. Let us continue our historic journey to a world free of nuclear tests and nuclear weapons.

Thank you for your support for this vital effort.

*****

Report of the 2013 U.N. Special Committee on Decolonisation

"Requests the Secretary-General, in cooperation with relevant specialized agencies of the United Nations, to compile a report on the environmental, ecological, health and other impacts as a consequence of the thirty-year period of nuclear testing in the Territory (of French Polynesia)."

See the following articles on the contemporary effects of decades of nuclear testing in the Pacific region:

French nuclear fallout far worse than previously admitted, United Nations Committee calls for study of effects of nuclear testing

  French Polynesia/Ma'ohi Nui President Addresses Non Aligned Movement on territory's U.N. re-inscription as dependency

 Zones for nuclear compensation in Tahiti must change - Tuheiava

French Nuclear Test Site Mururoa Atoll in Danger of Collapse

Marshall Islands Displacement from Nuclear Contamination a concern of United Nations Special Rapporteur

Maohi Nui/Fr. Polynesia Veterans say compensation for victims of French nuclear testing inadequate

Marshall Islands criticizes U.S. over nuclear compensation

France urged to clean up deadly waste from its nuclear tests in (French) Polynesia (Maohi Nui)

Call Made To Declassify French Polynesia Nuclear Test Papers

Are we about to sell our birthright? - Turks and Caicos Islands

Patti Forbes in TCI News Now Tell me it isn’t so. Having read the coded language of the Minister of Finance that the European Community is giving the TCI some $15 million dollars but that we in the TCI must open up our business licensing procedures completely is troubling. The policy, unwritten unstated and coded, is that we must open the reserve category of business licensing as a free for all.  Here is the coded language: “The government is already working on the system of business regulation, particularly covering work permits and business licenses. The system must be made workable, transparent and efficient.” I must say, real troubling.  Now most countries of the world still maintain some form of protectionist legislation and policy to protect its people, despite the mandates of the World Trade Organisation. Why should the TCI be any different?  It is taken from the coded words of the minister that the reserve category of business licensing, that restricts certain licences for Belongers only must be opened up as a free for all. Ironically, this speech and possible suggestion is coming on the heels of the visit and short stint to the islands of the former economist of the TCI Richard Stoneman.  Lest we forget, and lest the Hon C. Washington Misick forgets, Stoneman was one of the authors of the policy in 1991-1995, the PNP government of Washington Misick, to downsize the TCI public service. That caused the PNP to lose the government in 1995 and for them to be in the wilderness for an extended nine years until they found a way to steal the government in 2003.  They need to remember that not everything is money. What price our people and what price our future? Are we worth $15 million? Is this a Jacob and Esau moment, where we sell out birthright for a "mess of pottage"? If this is a bad rumour, an apology will follow! Now in 2013 -- some ten years later -- not only will the PNP lose the faith and trust of the TCI people if this measure materialises, it will be also the TCI people who will lose out in the short- and long-term. TCI Belongers, former expats, our Caribbean brothers and sisters who are Turks and Caicos Islanders are now all under threat if this rumoured policy is made law. Our futures will be doomed and our status in the TCI threatened. It seems that every time people drop their guard, give the PNP a chance, the first thing they do is sell the people out.  One can blame the British for the support of the rip off of the hospital scam and some $3 billion taken from our people over 25 years. One can blame the governor for supporting the unnecessary Conch Farm lawsuit, on personal petty grounds, exposing us to over $100 million in liability and higher taxes. One can blame the British for covering up corruption and the attorney general declaring himself the government of the TCI. Yet one cannot but blame and keep the finger on the PNP for selling the people out for even considering this bad, bad, and highly ridiculous idea. If the minister or the government denies this, an apology will be forth coming.  The minister of finance had better take note of history and look out for his people. History will be kind to him if he does. This is time to stand up and represent your people. $15 million is a small sum of money to sell our people out for. If we let this economy grow, something which the governor and the AG are preventing, there will be far more the $15 million added to the revenues of the TCI. Let us not be so short sighted.  If this measure becomes law, no minister, no elected member of parliament should remain silent. It would be time to call for a no-confidence motion in the government and send this issue back to the people. Yes, let the people of the TCI tell the European Union and Richard Stoneman, no. TCI people need a chance to run their economy, their business and their futures.  This is such a bad, bad, bad idea. It cannot make sense here in the TCI or in any other country. Why would they in the PNP government even consider this? Will you now pass this, make this law, keep your mouths shut, refuse to lift a finger and blame the British for making you do something that you can prevent?