To His Excellency
J. Chirac
President, French Republic
Dear Mr. President.
We are writing to you in our capacity as officers of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. Our Movement originated from the Russel-Einstein Manifesto issued in 1955 to warn humankind about dangers of the nuclear and thermonuclear weapons then being developed, and to appeal to the world scientific community to overcome ideological and political differences in order to avert the awesome risk that nuclear weapons ever again but used in anger, with catastrophic consequences.
Two years later, in July 1957, a small group of eminent and influential scientists met in a small Canadian village by the name of Pugwash; as of today, more than 200 such international meetings have been held, and they are widely credited as having significantly helped the progress that has hiterto been made in arms control, disarmement and conflict resolution, including the epoch-making end to the Cold War.
We are now appealing to you on the matter of nuclear testing. A resumption of nuclear-weapon tests can only be motivated by the intention to develop new nuclear weapons, as anuy independent expert, without a vested interest in the matter, will certainly confirm. Such a policy by France would be viewed as a veritable betrayal of her obligations, by all the countries of the world that have recently agreed to the indefinite extension of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It would be a heavy responsability for France to risk causing the collapse of the moratorium on nuclear-weapon testing now observed by the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia; and it would be hard for world public opinion to understand how this could be justified in the present world cotext. Who are the enemies of France? And how can a nuclear-weapon non-proliferation regime survive, when a country without enemies and situated in a conflict-free part of the world, decides nevertheless to engage in the further development of its nuclear arsenal -- just weeks after undertaking international commitments that call instead for progress in nuclear disarmament and towards the elimination of nuclear weaponry.
Mr. President, in little over a month our Annual Conference will meet in Hiroshima, to seek ways to prevent nuclear-weapon proliferation and promote nuclear disarmament, and also to mourn the 50th anniversary of the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We hope that by then you will have announced a reversal of your decision to resume nuclear testing, and you will instead proclaim the willingness of France to agree immediatly to a Comprehensive Treaty banning forever nuclear-weapon testing.
Please accept our best regards.
Peace.
Prof. Francesco Calogero
Secretary-General of Pugwash
Prof. John P. Holdren
Chairman, Pugwash Executive Committee
Prof. Maciej Nalecz
Chairman, Pugwash Council