Dear All, Sixty-nine years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, we need to remind the world of THE UNKEPT PROMISE to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide. THE STORY: Landmark lawsuits were filed on April 24, 2014 against all nine nuclear weapon states in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and, on the same day, against the United States in U.S. Federal District Court. At the heart of the lawsuits is this: holding these nations accountable for their breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), specifically Article VI of the treaty. This is the first time the United States been sued in U.S. court for breach of an international treaty. A BRIEF HISTORY: The NPT was opened for signature in 1968 and entered into force in 1970. Article VI obligates signatories to pursue negotiations in good faith for an end to the nuclear arms race at an early date and for nuclear disarmament. The NPT nuclear weapon states (U.S., UK, Russia, France and China) are in violation of their treaty obligations by continuing to modernize their nuclear forces and by failing to negotiate in good faith for nuclear disarmament (44 years since entry into force of the treaty does not meet the definition of at an early date). For the same reasons, the four nuclear weapon states not party to the NPT (Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea) are in violation of customary international law. THE LAWSUIT: The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has filed these lawsuits in the ICJ and in U.S. court. RMI is a small island nation in the Pacific whose people suffered greatly at the hands of U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests in the 1940s and 1950s. Their filings are a bold form of peaceful, non-violent action aimed at making substantial changes to the status quo on an issue that threatens the security and future of all generations. That's why we created a petition to The United States Senate and President Barack Obama, which says: "Nuclear weapons threaten everything we love and treasure in this world. To protect humanity’s future, we support the Marshall Islands, a small island nation courageously seeking to enforce the Nuclear Zero promise - a world free of nuclear weapons. " Will you sign our petition? Click here to add your name:  http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/support-the-marshall?source=c.fwd&r_by=404397 Thanks for all you do. Power to the peaceful, Judith LeBlanc Field Director Peace Action PS:  Help me collect more signatures.  Please forward this email to your friends. For more information, click here. Sign our petition: "Nuclear weapons threaten everything we love and treasure in this world." CONNECT TO US:  Find us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter  Read our blog  Contact us You are subscribed to Peace Action's Action Alert Network. You can unsubscribe here.

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