Science and International Humanitarian Law:
Scientific Program (as of September 8, 2005)
Tuesday 20 September, 2005
Session 1. The International Humanitarian Law; disarmament in the international law
- International Humanitarian Law : main treaties and conventions
- Aspects linked to the use of science
- Disarmament in the international law : general situation
Daniel IAGOLNITZER, physicist, President of ADIF, France
Francois RIVASSEAU, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France in the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva
Géraud de la PRADELLE, jurist, Emeritus Professor at the university Paris X-Nanterre, France
Session 2. Conventional weapons and various projects
- new classical weapons (planes, missiles, bombs, optronics, ...)
- their use in recent wars (including Uranium weapons)
- weaponisation of space
- control of the international arms trade
- International Law and conventional weapons
Sylvie BRIGOT, Advocacy Director, International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), former ICBL's Government Relations Officier ; former campagner Handicap International, France
Michel IAGOLNITZER, French representative of the National Director of Armament to NATO
Xavier PASCO, Director of Research, Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS), France
Jean-Paul POCHOLLE, physicist, senior scientist, Thales, France, former Head of the Laboratory "Sources for Optronics"
Armin TENNER, Emeritus Professor of Physics, President of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsability (INES), and member of the Steering Committee of the Middle Powers Initiative (MPI), Netherlands
Session 3. Scientists and the military
- the 'social' contract between scientists and the military
- historical aspects and new approaches
Chris LANGLEY, Research Officer, Military Influence Project, SGR (Scientists for Global Responsibility), UK, author of "Soldiers in the Laboratory : Military Involvement in Science and Technology - and some alternatives", a SGR report
Dominique PESTRE, historian of sciences, Director of research at Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), director of Centre Alexandre Koyré, France
Round Table - Part 1 : Perspectives and the Responsibility of scientists and their Institutions
Jean-Patrick CONNERADE, Professor of physics, Imperial College, London, UK; President of Euroscience
Georges RIPKA, physicist, Honorary President of Pugwash-France, France
Annick SUZOR-WEINER, Professor, vice-president in charge of the International Relations, University of Paris- Sud 11, Member of the Steering Committee of the PEACE (Palestinian European Academic Cooperation for Education) Programme under aegis of UNESCO, France
Armin TENNER, Emeritus Professor of Physics, President of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsability (INES), and member of the Steering Committee of the Middle Powers Initiative (MPI), Netherlands
Edoardo VESENTINI, Professor of Mathematics, Academia dei Lincei, and Conferences Amaldi, Italy
Wednesday 21, 2005
Session 4. Nuclear weapons
- Hiroshima-Nagasaki, historical aspects, attitude of scientists, Einstein
and the atomic bomb
- the development of nuclear arsenals since 1945 ; the Non Proliferation Treaty, its article VI : its goal of nuclear disarmament, difficulties of its implementation
- new nuclear weapons
- how science can contribute in practice to nuclear disarmament
Victor GILINSKY, Energy Consultant, formerly Commissioner US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Director Physics Department, Rand Corporation, USA
Georges LE GUELTE, Director of research, IRIS, Institut de Relations
Internationales et Stratégiques, France
Georges RIPKA, physicist, Honorary president, french group of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, France
Session 5. Chemical and Bacteriological weapons
- the use of chemical weapons in History
- the agent orange in Indochina : present estimates of its consequences and current requests for new scientific studies
- the biological weapons
- conventions on the prohibition and destruction of chemical and biological weapons: present situation and perspectives
Francis GENDREAU, Director of research, IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement), France
Henri KORN, biologist, Professor at the Insitut Pasteur and Director of Research at the INSERM, member of the French Academie des Sciences, President of its Committee on "Science and Security"
Armand LATTES, President of the French Chemical Society, France
Session 6. Biosciences, Neurosciences and War
- uses of biosciences and neurosciences in war
- ethics and responsibility of scientists in life sciences
- "scientific" or "medicalized" torture
- experiments on human beings
Jean-Claude AMEISEN, physician, professor of immunology at the University Paris 7, researcher at Institut national de la sante et de la recherche medicale (INSERM), president of the Ethics Committee of INSERM, France
Dr Peter HALL, Physician, Chair, Doctors for Human Rights, UK
Dr Moncef MARZOUKI, Professor of medicine, former president of the Tunisian League for Human rights, Tunisia
Steven ROSE, Professor of biology, Open University, UK
Session 6. Scientific Evaluation of Some Aspects of the War in Iraq
- scientific evaluation of the civilian deaths in the Iraq war
- weapons used in Iraq and their consequences on environment and populations
Les ROBERTS, Professor, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA, author of the report published in "The Lancet", October 2004, on civilian victims in the recent Irak war
Ayse ERZAN, physicist, member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences, member of the Jury of conscience of the World Tribunal for Iraq, Turkey
Round Table. Part 2 - Perspectives and the Responsibility of scientists and
their Institutions
Ayse ERZAN, physicist, member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences, member of the Jury of conscience of the World Tribunal for Iraq, Turkey
Geneviève SCHMEDER, professor, CNAM (Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers), Centre Science, Technology and Society and Institute of Political Sciences, France
Gérard TOULOUSE, physicist, Director of research, ENS, France
discussion