ICAN representatives set to meet members of the Spanish Congress as President Trump pushes the doomsday clock closer to midnight.
“Today’s announcement by US President Donald Trump to de-certify the JCPOA (the Iran Deal) raises tensions even higher and threatens to push the doomsday clock even closer to midnight,” said ICAN regional coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, Carlos Umaña today from Spain which he is visiting for meetings with Spanish Congress members and to participate in the European Humanist Forum 2018.
The forum will witness the gathering of anti-nuclear activists and disarmament experts in the Spanish capital as they exchange information and strategies for “achieving a world without nuclear weapons” in the light of last year’s historic approval at the UN of a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, which is currently in the process of ratification and entry into force. Forum organisers hope that raising this issue in the Forum will be a way to create awareness in Spain and other European countries and push governments to sign the TPNW.
2017 Nobel Peace Prize winning organisation, ICAN (The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) released a statement saying, “Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran deal is greatly irresponsible. Not only does it blow up a functioning agreement, it deals a significant hit to the credibility of the United States as a partner in contract and to the credibility of diplomacy more generally.”
Umaña, added, “The United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the Iran Deal could have serious implications for the security situation in the Middle East. International peace and security cannot be enforced unilaterally. Sustainable peace and security can only be achieved through the cultivation of shared norms and institutions. On Thursday we will be urging Spanish members of Congress to support ICAN’s parliamentary pledge as a vital step towards ratifying the treat.”
Carlos Umaña and other speakers at the opening ceremony and during the three days of the European Humanist forum, will participate in a Press Conference on Friday 11th May at 11:00am at (C/Embajadores, 26). Also in attendance will be Sabine Rubin – member of the French national assembly with France Insoumise; Nicole Ndongala, recently elected president of the Karibu Association; and Tomás Hirsch, member of the Chilean National Congress for the Humanist Party, among others.
For the media
About Carlos Umaña: Doctor, president of IPPNW in Costa Rica, At Large Director of the IPPNW Board, and ICAN coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean.
About ICAN: The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations in one hundred countries promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty. This landmark global agreement was adopted in New York on 7 July 2017. For their efforts, ICAN received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
About the European Humanist Forum: The EHF, is a gathering of humanist activists from Europe and around the world who are meeting in Madrid on the 11th, 12th and 13th of May under the slogan “What unites us towards the Universal Human Nation”.
For more information, or for interviews, please contact Juana Perez: press@humanistforum.org
