As of 24 October, 50 states have ratified
the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). By its terms (Article
15), the treaty will enter into force in 90 days, becoming legally binding for
states that have joined the treaty.
The treaty was negotiated in 2017 and
adopted in New York on 7 July 2017 by 122 states voting in favor (one against
and one abstention), none of them possessors of nuclear arms. They took
responsibility for creating a path toward the global elimination of nuclear
weapons, essentially because the world’s most powerful states—all nuclear-armed—are
failing to do so despite the disarmament obligation set forth in Article VI of the
Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The central theme of the process leading to the
adoption of the treaty was the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of use of
nuclear weapons.
The TPNW robustly recognizes and
reinforces existing international law requiring the non-use and elimination of
nuclear weapons. That law applies to states whether or not they join the treaty,
as the treaty’s preamble recognizes.
- The preamble reaffirms the need
for all states at all times to comply with international humanitarian law
forbidding, inter alia, the infliction of indiscriminate harm and
unnecessary suffering, as well as with international human rights law, and
considers that any use of nuclear weapons would be contrary to international
humanitarian law.
- It also reaffirms the universal
obligation to pursue in good faith and conclude negotiations leading to nuclear
disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control.
This obligation was affirmed in a unanimous conclusion of the International
Court of Justice in the 1996 Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons.
In an innovation
in the nuclear weapons sphere reflecting the rise of human- and victim-centred
disarmament, the TPNW sets forth obligations of assistance to victims of
testing and use of nuclear weapons and of environmental remediation of areas
affected by testing and use (Article 6). It also requires states parties in a
position to do so to assist affected states parties with victim assistance and
environmental remediation (Article 7). These provisions are important because
they recognize and address concretely the unacceptable suffering and
devastation that have resulted from the use and testing of nuclear arms, and which
could result again if current trends in global affairs are not reversed.
China, France,
the Russian Federation, United Kingdom, and United States are the five states
acknowledged by the NPT to possess nuclear weapons pending their elimination in
accordance with its Article VI, and also the permanent members of the Security
Council. They have repeatedly and jointly stated their opposition to the TPNW
and their intention not to join the treaty. The United States reportedly has
gone so far as to press states that have ratified the TPNW to withdraw their
ratifications so that the treaty does not enter into force.
The Permanent
Five’s opposition to the TPNW is counterproductive to the cause of disarmament.
They instead should welcome the treaty as a reinforcement of obligations of
non-acquisition of nuclear weapons set out in the NPT and regional
nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties and as a powerful statement of the moral,
political, and legal principles that should guide the abolition of nuclear
arms.
IALANA welcomes
the ratification of the TPNW by 50 states triggering its entry into force in 90
days. We encourage other states to consider ratification in the near future.
IALANA is a partner of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Japanese Translation
