International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons – 2018-05-20 23:03:46
http://www.icanw.org
155 Nations Call for Global Denuclearization:
US and 34 Other Nations Refuse
Positions on the Treaty
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
On 7 July 2017, an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations voted to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — a landmark international agreement that outlaws the ultimate weapons of mass destruction and establishes a pathway to their elimination.
Which countries have nuclear weapons and how many?
Which states voted in favor of a nuclear weapons ban?
What are their effects on health and the environment?
New Research:
35 States Are Sabotaging the NPT
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
(April 23, 2018) — Research shows that the five nuclear-armed states parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are not taking action to fulfill their nuclear disarmament obligations. This directly undermines and threatens the future success of the NPT. 30 more states, the so-called nuclear umbrella states, are enabling nuclear-armed states to retain and upgrade their weapons of mass destruction.
ICAN’s new briefing paper on this issue can be downloaded here.
The majority of the world is rejecting nuclear weapons. Approximately 80 per cent of the world’s states have rejected nuclear weapons as an option in their military strategy. Nuclear-free security strategies are the norm, not the exception.
“All nuclear-armed states are modernising or expanding their nuclear arsenals. They are planning to keep nuclear weapons for longer than the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has existed, showing few signs of being serious about nuclear disarmament,” says Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of ICAN. Nuclear-armed states have adopted dangerous and escalatory policies, some issuing explicit threats to use weapons of mass destruction to indiscriminately kill civilians.
This behaviour contradicts the objectives of the NPT and stands in direct conflict with Article VI on disarmament. Certain parties’ unwillingness to implement commitments made by consensus at the review conferences in 1995, 2000, and 2010 undermines the credibility of the Treaty.
The CTBT is not yet in force, negotiations on an FMCT have not commenced, the bilateral US — Russian arms control process has ground to a halt, and meaningful risk reduction measures are nowhere in sight.
Nuclear-weapons-endorsing States and the NPT
A considerable number of non-nuclear-weapon states enable the nuclear arms race and undermine the NPT by continuing to support “extended nuclear deterrence”.
* 30 non-nuclear-weapon states enable nuclear arms races and threats by explicitly basing their national defence partly on the potential use of nuclear weapons by allies. They are undermining the NPT.
* 5 of the 30 states referred to above host the nuclear weapons of another state on their territories.
* Many of these states routinely take part in war exercises simulating the use of nuclear weapons.
* In addition, a number of private companies, including some with headquarters in non-nuclear-armed states such as Italy and the Netherlands, are involved in the design and production of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear-armed and nuclear umbrella states’ continued and increased reliance on nuclear weapons contradicts the commitment made under Action 5 in the 2010 NPT Action Plan to “further diminish the role and significance of nuclear weapons in all military and security concepts, doctrines and policies”.
Nuclear-weapons-endorsing states carry a huge responsibility for the current state of the new nuclear arms race. Their policies are blocking progress towards the elimination of nuclear weapons. These states are complicit in the increased risk of use of nuclear weapons.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Since the last meeting of the NPT review cycle, 122 states have concluded and adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), an inspiring effort at implementing Article VI of the NPT.
However, the nuclear-armed states and some of their allies have worked to undermine and discredit the historic new agreement, dissuading allies and partners from signing the treaty and implementing Article VI of the NPT.
154 of the world’s 195 states — approximately 80 per cent — maintain policies consistent with the TPNW’s core prohibitions, as well as the obligations and objectives of the NPT. About 40 states — approximately 20 percent — maintain policies or are engaged in practices that conflict with one or more of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW. These practices are undermining the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons and the implementation of the NPT.
“States that have not yet done so should sign and ratify the TPNW to show their commitment to the NPT. A strong norm against nuclear weapons — not just against use but also against possession — is necessary to counteract the new nuclear arms race and indefinite retention of nuclear weapons by certain states.” says Beatrice Fihn.
Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor on the Way
ICAN
(April 30, 2018) — In support of ICAN, Norwegian People’s Aid is now establishing the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor, which will be a de facto monitoring regime for the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
The research programme will monitor and advance universalization and faithful implementation of the TPNW and progress towards a world free of nuclear weapons.
The establishment of such a monitoring regime for the TPNW is urgent and crucial in order to protect and promote it, at a time when the taboo around the use of nuclear weapons is diminishing and nuclear war is a real possibility.
Norwegian People’s Aid has many years of experience from similar civil-society based monitoring mechanisms, like the Landmine Monitor and the Cluster Munition Monitor, says secretary general Henriette Westhrin in Norwegian People’s Aid.
The Monitor will reinforce the legitimacy of the TPNW as a legal and political tool and end-point in nuclear disarmament efforts, towards which all states must move. It will strengthen the efforts of the majority of states that reject nuclear weapons, and contribute to the stigmatization of continued reliance on nuclear deterrence and actions that prevent progress in nuclear disarmament.
The programme will be managed by Norwegian People’s Aid, which is a central organization in ICAN’s International Steering Group, in support of ICAN and its objectives. It will form an important part of the knowledge base upon which ICAN carries out its global advocacy. Data collection and analysis will be assisted by a number of research institutes.
The Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor will measure progress related to signature, ratification, entry into force and universalization of the TPNW. It will also assess the performance of all states (signatories, States party and States not party) in relation to the provisions and norms of the TPNW, including each of the specific prohibitions contained in Article 1, the positive obligations on victim assistance and environmental remediation in Article 6, and the reporting obligations.
A comprehensive report synthesizing key developments of the adoption of the TPNW will be launched later in 2018, but preliminary findings are already available, and can be downloaded below.
The Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor will provide governments, parliamentarians, the media, think-tanks, the academic community and civil society with an accessible and trusted long-term source of well-documented information on progress made and analysis of the key challenges.
Norwegian People’s Aid’s Grethe Lauglo Østern will head up the work with the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor.
Read: Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor Preliminary Research April 2018
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations in one hundred countries promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty. This landmark global agreement was adopted in New York on 7 July 2017.
