70 years later - It’s time to finally ban nuclear weapons! – An Opinion Piece
70 years ago today an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Three days later, Nagasaki met the same fate. The horror stories of the immediate, mid- and long-term effects on the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki must always serve as a reminder of the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences of the use of nuclear weapons. It is time to act. It is time to act. Lest we forget the use or threat or use of nuclear weapons constitutes a crime against humanity and a violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and the Charter of the United Nations, and recall that the International Court of Justice unanimously confirmed this in its Advisory Opinion of 1996.
The international disarmament community has succeeded in banning both biological and chemical weapons on the basis of humanitarianism. Why should nuclear weapons - the deadliest WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) - be treated differently? We cannot condemn the existence of some weapons of mass destruction while allowing the existence of others. Although the NPT (Non-Proliferation-Treaty (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons)) remains to be the cornerstone of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, the Treaty’s indefinite extension established at the 1995 Review Conference should not be viewed as justifying indefinite possession.
Since the NPT’s entry into force, the world has not been able to reduce the nuclear threat. The NPT continues to face many challenges in its promise to achieve nuclear disarmament. The “step-by-step” method has failed to meet the objectives of the full implementation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), starting negotiations for a fissile material cut off treaty (FMCT), let alone the requirement of elimination of nuclear weapons. The 2015 NPT Review Conference resulted in major disappointment, reinforcing the challenges the NPT continues to face. The pressure on NPT Review Conferences to produce fruitful results has been high since 1995. Nevertheless, all subsequent conferences have also left State Parties disappointed with the outcome. The failure to adopt the 2015 draft outcome document, despite intensive consultations, ended the conference on a discouraging note. The continuous failure in progress on the establishment of the Middle East Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (MENWFZ), largely influenced by Israel (a non-state party), only deepens this pessimism.
It is time for nuclear weapon states to stop relying on the out-dated concept of deterrence for security, stop modernizing their nuclear arsenal (often at the expense of social welfare and other programs), stop hiding behind the NPT’s step-by-step approach, and finally take concrete steps towards a world free of nuclear weapons. The reliance on nuclear weapons for security and deterrence purposes must be altered and the rejection of nuclear weapons must be reinforced. The humanitarian focus on the impact of nuclear weapons must the main driving force behind disarmament efforts. The impacts of nuclear testing, as were seen in the Marshall Islands and Central Asia, further strengthen the need for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and more importantly, the need for the total elimination of these weapons.
A nuclear weapon does not respect recognized national borders. The catastrophic immediate as well as long-term effects would be an issue to all. Radiation produced by such an attack would have detrimental effects on populations in many parts of the world. The Conferences on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons, held in Oslo in March 2013, in Nayarit in February 2014, and most recently in Vienna in December 2014, demonstrate the will and efforts of 113 governments in filling the legal gap by establishing a legally-binding document banning nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the increasing size of these conferences with 158 countries attending in Vienna, including the United Kingdom and United States, signifies the strong efforts of a considerable amount of the international community and civil society to push for change. Although this progress continues to be met with significant opposition, the established momentum of the Humanitarian Pledge must continue. It's time to say goodbye to nukes once and for all.
Photo Credtit: Flickr User MAPW Australia
