Humanitarian Law, Human Security: The Emerging Paradigm for Non-Use and Elimination of Nuclear Weapons Conference

February 9, 2011
Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Simon Fraser University
Vancouver, Canada
February 10-11, 2011
 
The Humanitarian Law, Human Security: the Emerging Paradigm for Non-Use and Elimination of Nuclear Weapons Conference is hosted by The Simons Foundation and co-convened by The Simons Foundation and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) in acknowledgement of the Simons Chairs in International Law and Human Security at Simon Fraser University.
 
A remarkable and welcome outcome of the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review was the Conference’s expression of “deep concern at the catastrophic human consequences of any use of nuclear weapons” and reaffirmation of “the need for all states at all times to comply with applicable international law, including international humanitarian law.”
 
The resurgence of international humanitarian law in the nuclear context presents an opportunity that must not be missed to demand that governments definitively rule out use and possession of nuclear weapons. Already, the International Committee of the Red Cross has stepped forward, stating in April 2010 that it “finds it difficult to envisage how any use of nuclear weapons could be compatible with the rules of international humanitarian law.” The establishment over the last decade of the International Criminal Court and the codification of IHL in its Statute adds another promising dimension.
 
This conference will bring together, from around the world, international lawyers, experts in humanitarian disarmament of landmines and cluster munitions, nuclear policy experts, and diplomats to develop and specify the emerging IHL and human security paradigm for non-use and elimination of nuclear weapons. The conference will produce a declaration laying out the governing principles with the aim of informing and catalyzing the campaign for abolition of nuclear weapons.

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