A/HRC/27/51 B. The sword of Damocles and nuclear annihilation 16. Since the invention of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, mankind has possessed the capacity to annihilate itself many times over.26 Winston Churchill was one of many alerting us to the grave dangers inherent in weapons of mass destruction, noting that “the Stone Age may return on the gleaming wings of science, and what might now shower immeasurable material blessings upon mankind may even bring about its total destruction”.27 More recently, this has been echoed by senior statesmen, including Vaclav Havel, Ricardo Lagos, Fernando Cardoso, Yasuo Fukuda, Ruud Lubbers and Helmut Schmidt, who launched the Global Zero campaign28 to advocate total nuclear disarmament. 17. Eminent figures like Mikhail Gorbachev29 have pointed out the constant danger that nuclear weapons pose for humanity and the consequent necessity to eliminate this danger, because nuclear destruction may occur not only as a result of a deliberate first strike by an aggressor but also by human, electronic or technical error. In view of numerous “close calls” since 1945, it is fortunate that a technological glitch has not ushered in the end of humanity.30 18. The General Assembly has adopted many resolutions concerning the nuclear threat, most recently resolution 68/40 in 2013, in which it urged States to take the measures necessary to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons in all its aspects and to promote nuclear disarmament, with the objective of eliminating nuclear weapon, requested the Secretary-General to intensify efforts and support initiatives that would contribute towards the full implementation of the seven recommendations identified in the report of the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters that would significantly reduce the risk of nuclear war and urged States to convene an international conference, as proposed in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers. 19. Disarmament is not just an idle promise; it is also a commitment under article 26 of the Charter of the United Nations, which stipulates: “In order to promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources, the Security Council shall be responsible for formulating plans to be submitted to the Members of the United Nations for the establishment of a system for the regulation of armaments.” The world is waiting for an effective system of disarmament that will ensure human security without warfare. 26 27 28 29 30 See www.nuclearsecurityproject.org/publications/next-steps-in-reducing-nuclear-risks-the-pace-ofnonproliferation-work-today-doesnt-match-the-urgency-of-the-threat. See “The Sinews of Peace” Fulton, Missouri, 5 March 1946, available from www.historyguide.org/europe/churchill.html. See www.globalzero.org/ and www.globalzero.org/get-the-facts/cost-of-nukes. Mikhail Gorbachev, “Resetting the Nuclear Disarmament Agenda”, Geneva lecture, 5 October 2009, available from www.unitar.org/gls/third-edition. See also www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/qa-25-years-on-gorbachev-recalls-nuclearmilestone/472644.html; and www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-Lk9m-Wqy0. See Chatham House, Too Close for Comfort. Cases of Near Nuclear Use and Options for Policy (London, 2014), available from www.chathamhouse.org/publications/papers/view/199200. See also http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/document-friday-narrative-summaries-of-accidentsinvolving-nuclear-weapons/; www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/sep/20/goldsboro-revisited-declassified-document; www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2013/09/30/130930crbo_books_menand?currentPage=all; and Eric Schlosser, Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety (The Penguin Press HC, 2013). 9