The multinational Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force today, meaning that its prohibitions against developing, testing, producing, acquiring, possessing, stockpiling, and using or threatening to use nuclear weapons have now become part of the body of international law. A coalition of the world’s largest health federations welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force…
NEW YORK: The UN celebrated a milestone on Friday as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) came into force. It is the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty in more than 50 years.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the moment as “an important step toward a world free of nuclear weapons.” He added that it reflects the global support for a multilateral approach to nuclear disarmament.
So far, however, none of the nine countries that are known or believed to have nuclear weapons the US, UK, Russia, China, France, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea have signed up to the new accord.
Have nuclear weapons really become illegal?
On Friday, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) officially enters into force. Adopted by 122 countries at the United Nations General Assembly in 2017, it has been signed by 86 states (not including Switzerland), of which 51 have ratified it. But will it be effective?
This content was published on January 22, 2021 - 11:52
January 22, 2021 - 11:52
Marc Finaud, head of arms proliferation at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy
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The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a coalition that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, is a civil society initiative that has been supported by a majority of countries, with the notable exception of those possessing nuclear arms and their allies. The TPNW’s critics say that because of this, the new treaty will have no impact on nuclear disarmament. Whatever the case, it is worth considering if and how banning nuclear weapons can promote thei
The White House says President Biden has proposed to Russia a five-year extension of a nuclear arms treaty that is set to expire in February.
As of Thursday, 61 countries had ratified the treaty, Fihn said, and “from Friday, nuclear weapons will be banned by international law” in all those countries.
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The treaty requires that ratifying countries “never under any circumstances . develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.” It also bans any transfer or use of nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices and the threat to use such weapons and requires parties to promote the treaty to other countries.