Anti-nuclear draft bills launched

Press, 12 June 1984, Page 4

Anti-nuclear draft bills launched

By

OLIVER RIDDELL,

in Wellington

Two draft bills for Parliament that would prohibit the presence of nuclear weapons in New Zealand and make the use of nuclear weapons a war crime, were launched at a public meeting in Wellington last evening. The bills were prepared by the New Zealand branch of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Because the branch is non-partisan, no members of Parliament have been approached to sponsor the introduction of either bill. Instead, the branch b‘>pes that individual mergers

will be encouraged to introduce the bills as private members bills without party support. Passing the two bills —the Nuclear Arms Bill and the Use of Nuclear Arms Bill—- — give teeth and substance to the status of New Zealand as a “non-nuclear” country, said the branch secretary, Dr I. Prior. They had been framed so that any breach of their provisions was a matter of individual criminal responsibility rather than the responsibility of any State agency or State direction. The two bills provide the machinery for enforcing certain treaties and conventions by which New Zealand is already bound. For example, the Geneva

Convention imposes on a belligerent the obligation to discriminate between military and non-military objectives, between combatants and non-combatants, and to respect the safety of neutrals. Dr Prior said this clearly outlawed the use of thermonuclear weapons, which could not even discriminate against the present and future generations. The Geneva protocol of 1925 prohibited the use of asphyxiating, poisonous and other gases, and so clearly outlawed nuclear radiation. The bills make it a criminal offence for any person, group, organisation or government, to wilfully do any .of seven things. The? f 'are the import into

or export from New Zealand any nuclear weapon; develop, produce, manufacture, test, deploy or distribute any nuclear weapon; sell, give, supply or offer to sell, give or supply any nuclear weapon; procure, receive, store or have in their possession a nuclear weapon. Permit any premises, ships, submarines, planes or other vehicles to be used for the purpose of the commission of an offence against the act; otherwise facilitate the commission of an offence against the act; and engage in any activity with the purpose of facilitating the deployment or use of a nuclear weapon. Dr Prior said the branch had limited itself to dicing rf

with nuclear weapons. It was not concerned with peaceful uses of nuclear power. Providing the machinery to enforce compliance with these international agreements was an important step towards complete nuclear disarmament. Enactment of these bills by New Zealand, he said, would encourage other nonnuclear nations to do the same, and would remind the nuclear powers that the rest of humanity regarded the nuclear arms race as an illegal activity. The New Zealand branch hoped the two draft bills would stimulate public discussions outside and within Parliament.