LABRATS were represented by Alan and Mel Owen at the 3rd meeting of States Parties of the Treaty on The Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the UN in New York between the 3rd and 7th of March 2025.
The trip was partly funded by ICAN so that we could attend the meeting for the first time.
We were privileged to be asked to make a statement at the meeting to the Trusteeship Council, representing civil society, especially the communities impacted by British Nuclear Testing, including veterans, scientists, civilian contractors and the indigenous people of Australia and Kiribati.
Friday 28th February
We attended the UN to pick up our security passes to avoid the rush on Monday the 3rd.
Saturday 1st March
We attended a remembrance service organised by the Marshallese Education Initiative (MEI) at Riverside Church. It was a very emotional event with music by Matthew John and some incredible speakers, including the Marshallese Ambassador John Silk.
Sunday 2nd March
We attended the ICAN Campaigners Forum at the Riverside Church and met with fellow campaigners, many of whom we had met on Zoom at various meetings. It was fantastic to meet people in person. At a side event, we discussed the need for collaboration and inclusivity across the impacted communities. A picture was taken outside with hundreds of campaigners; the passion and energy were incredible.
Monday 3rd March
The day had arrived for our side event with ICMGLT and StillGlowing. In the morning, we attended a community hub organised by The Nuclear Truth Project and our great friends Dimity Hawkins, Pam Kingfisher and Benetick Maddison. We listened to a great speech by Karina Lester, who was accompanied by her son Will.
We then went into the UN for the first time and set up for our side event, which was very well received (a separate video will be made available shortly). The room filled up fast, and it was soon standing-room only. Introduced by Dr Yael Danieli, we listened to speeches from Marshallese Ambassador John M Silk, Sara Miyako Burkinshaw, Kathleen Burkinshaw, Keith Kiefer, Kathy Sinai, Alan Owen, Oksana Yakushko and Dr Yael Danieli.
A full PDF of the slides can be found here:
Tuesday 4th March
We were filmed by Melt for a new documentary. In the lobby, ICAN were presenting their interactive map, which features the late Doug Hern and LABRATS Director Eric Barton. The map can be viewed at https://www.nucleartestimpacts.org/.
We attended the sessions in the Trusteeship Council with NAAV Commander Keith Kiefer. In the evening, we attended the Nuclear Free Future Awards with Keith Keifer and Kathy Sinai and were delighted that the Uranium Film Festival won the Education award.
Wednesday 5th March
We attended the community hub for a screening of JARA - Radioactive Patriarchy by Aigerim Seitenova. It was a very emotional film, which showed the devastating effects of Nuclear testing. We also presented the Nuclear Truth Project with a painting by Victoria Moore in recognition of their work on protocols and nuclear secrecy. We were invited to a closed session of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) of the TPNW, which was very informative. It was the first time the SAG had met with Impacted Communities, and we ensured our voice was heard.
Thursday 6th March
We were invited by ICAN to speak at the main session as part of the Victim Assistance / Environmental Remediation discussions. Alan ensured that the diplomats at the event were aware of LABRATS work and ensured that the veterans are not forgotten. Watch his speech below:
Further filming with Melt was completed after an emotional day.
Friday 7th March
The final day at the UN started with further filming at the UN and the final session of the meeting. The session ended with positive messages with more work to do before the review conference in Nov - Dec 2026. In the evening, we attended the ICAN party for some downtime.
It was a very informative week, with many events, sessions and informal discussions with a lot of people. We are very thankful to ICAN for their grant, which enabled the trip to happen and to everyone who has supported us. It is an honour to represent the Nuclear Community, and we will continue to raise awareness. It was very special to meet Dimity Hawkins and Karina Lester in person and work alongside them.
It was very disappointing that the UK Government did not send any observer to this meeting, and the UK Mission in New York did not respond to our request for a meeting. This is the public statement from the UK Government:
Public Statement on The UK's Decision at the UN's TPNW
“The Government firmly believes the best way to achieve complete global nuclear disarmament is through a gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step-by-step approach which takes account of the international security environment and is under the framework of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The UK continues to work with partners towards an environment where further nuclear disarmament is possible.
The UK will not sign, ratify, or engage with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and will not send Observers to the Third Meeting of States Parties to that treaty. The Government does not believe the TPNW will bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons. It fails to address key issues which must first be overcome to achieve lasting global nuclear disarmament. It ignores the complex security environment we face and does nothing to increase trust and transparency between nuclear weapons possessor states. It offers no solutions to the technical challenges of verifying nuclear disarmament without proliferation of knowledge pertaining to nuclear weapons. Its safeguard standards are inadequate in comparison with those established under the NPT. Its restrictions on nuclear test explosions lack the rigour of this imposed by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. In sum, it fails to offer a realistic path to disarmament and risks undermining the effective non-proliferation architecture we already have in place”
It was mentioned at the meeting that "The Governments are not listening; they need to put their listening ears on." The UK Government certainly needs to listen to the Nuclear Community, and we will continue to raise awareness until they do.
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