MOOREA DECLARATION
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ABOLITION 2000 FOUNDING STATEMENT
Adopted at the Abolition 2000 Conference
Moorea, Te Ao Maohi - 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
colonized peoples as a result of the production and testing of (nuclear weapons.
The anger and tears of colonized peoples arise from the fact that there was no
consultation, no consent and: no involvement in the decision when their lands,
air; and waters were taken for the nuclear buildup, from the very start of the
nuclear era.
Colonized 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 NGOs in planning and monitoring the abolition of nuclear weapons is vital". We reaffirm this, in spirit and action but also state that indigenous and colonized peoples must be central to this process. This can only happen if and when they are able to participate in the 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.
For more information on the Abolition 2000 Statement, the Moorea
Declaration, or about the Abolition 2000 Network contact:
Pamela Meidell, Facilitator
Abolition 2000 Global Network Office
P.O. Box 220
Port Hueneme, CA, 93044
805-985-5073/ e-mail pmeidell @igc.org