Moorea Declaration
Adopted at the Abolition 2000 Conference,
Moorea, Te Ao Maohi
(French
Occupied Polynesia),
25 January 1997
This conference reaffirms the commitments and the vision of the
Abolition
2000 Founding Statement initiated in 1995 - the 50th anniversary
of the
atomic bombing of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - to work
for the
definite and unconditional abolition of nuclear weapons, and
redress the
environmental degradation and human suffering that is the legacy
of fifty two
years of nuclear weapons usage, testing and production.
However, this meeting, held in Te Ao Maohi a year after the end
of French
nuclear testing, has highlighted the particular suffering of
indigenous and
colonised peoples as a result of the production and testing of
nuclear
weapons. The anger and tears of colonised peoples arise from the
fact that
there was no consultation, no consent, no involvement in the
decision when
their lands, air and waters were taken for the nuclear build-up,
from the
very start of the nuclear era.
Colonised and indigenous peoples have, in the large part, borne
the brunt of
this nuclear devastation - from the mining of uranium and the
testing of
nuclear weapons on indigenous peoples land, to the dumping,
storage and
transport of plutonium and nuclear wastes, and the theft of land
for nuclear
infrastructure.
The founding statement of Abolition 2000 states that "the
participation of
citizens and NGO's in planning and monitoring the abolition of
nuclear
weapons is vital ". We reaffirm this, in spirit and action, but
also state
that indigenous and colonised peoples must be central to this
process. This
can only happen if and when they are able to participate in
decisions
relating to the nuclear weapons cycle - and especially in the
abolition of
nuclear weapons in all aspects. The inalienable right to
self-determination,
sovereignty and independence is crucial in allowing all peoples
of the world
to join in the common struggle to rid the planet forever of
nuclear weapons.
Therefore this conference agrees that this Moorea Declaration
becomes a
supplement to the Abolition 2000 Founding Statement.