1987

January 12
Twenty German judges are arrested for blocking the road in front of the American Air Force base at Mutlangen, West Germany. Judge Ulf Panzer states, "Fifty years ago, during the time of Nazi fascism, we judges and prosecutors allegedly 'did not know anything.' By closing our eyes and ears, our hearts and minds, we became a docile instrument of suppression, and many judges committed cruel crimes under the cloak of the law. We have been guilty of complicity. Today we are on the way to becoming guilty again, to being abused again. By our passivity, but also by applying laws, we legitimize terror: nuclear terror. Today we do know. We know that it needs only the push of a button and all Germany, Europe, the whole world, will be a radiating desert without human life. It is because we know this that we have to act. Many of us judges have organized 'Judges and Prosecutors for Peace.' We have raised our voices in warning against nuclear death. We have worked with local peace groups, advertised against nuclear armaments, demonstrated and submitted resolutions to our parliament...Our warnings have died away unheard. That is the reason why we today block the U.S. air base in Mutlangen. We hope that such an action will be heard more loudly than all our words before."

February 8
The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials enters into force. [see March 3, 1980]

February 26
The Soviet Union ends an eighteen-month unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, announcing its willingness to resume the moratorium if the United States will do the same.

June
The New Zealand parliament passes the Nuclear Free Zone Arms Control and Disarmament Act. The legislation formalizes New Zealand's ban from its ports of nuclear powered ships and vessels believed to be carrying nuclear explosives. The New Zealand government refuses to accept the long-standing practice the U.S. Navy to "neither confirm nor deny" whether a ship is carrying nuclear weapons.

June 8
The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act comes into force, establishing the first unilateral nuclear weapons free zone in history. It is the first instance of a country embodying its nuclear policy in law. The Act implements in New Zealand a number of important treaties and conventions relating to weapons of mass destruction including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and bans the country’s involvement with biological weapons. The Act applies to:

(a) All of the land, territory, and inland waters [lakes and rivers] within the territorial limits of New Zealand; and
(b) The internal waters of New Zealand; [the harbours essentially] and
(c) The territorial sea of New Zealand; [extending 12 nautical miles offshore] and
(d) The airspace above the areas specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of this section [of the Act].

September 15
Secretary of State George Schultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardmadze sign the Agreement on Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers at the White House Rose Garden. The accord sets up a second Moscow-Washington direct communications link for exchange of information on ballistic missile tests and other matters.

November 17
Iraqi warplanes attack Iran's Bushehr nuclear power complex for the fourth time.

November 18
Iraqi planes attack the construction site of a nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran.

December 8
The Soviet Union and the United States sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty at Washington. The Treaty eliminates all land-based missiles held by the two states with ranges between 300-3,400 miles, the first time an entire class of nuclear weapons has been eliminated.