The Non-Proliferation
Treaty Crisis
January 2000
The global nuclear weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty
is in jeopardy due to the continued failure of the nuclear weapons
states to fulfill their obligations under the Treaty.
Background
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT) was signed on July 1, 1968 and remains the foundation
of the post-World War II global nuclear nonproliferation. 187
nations signed the treaty; four did not -- Cuba, Israel, India
and Pakistan. The signers agreed to convene a special conference
in 25 years to decide on whether or not to continue the treaty.
And in 1997 at the UN headquarters in New York, 174 nations agreed
to strengthen the treaty's review process, i.e., to continue to
hold more review conferences in the years to come.
The latest treaty review conference -- the year
2000 NPT Review Conference -- will be held at United Nations Headquarters
in New York from April 24 to May 19, 2000. The central issue for
that conference is if this treaty will continue to be the centerpiece
for global efforts to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons,
or if the Treaty will begin to unravel.
The upcoming Review Conference has crucial implications
not only for NPT member states, but also for non-member states,
especially India, Pakistan and Israel. The upcoming conference
presents a tremendous opportunity to make substantive progress
towards nuclear disarmament. Crucial to the outcome of this Review
Conference will be the extent to which the nuclear weapon states
are able to demonstrate any progress made toward fulfilling obligations
under Article VI of the NPT, which states:
"Each of the parties to the treaty undertakes
to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating
to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to
nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament
under strict and effective international control."
In its 1996 Advisory Opinion, the International
Court of Justice concluded unanimously that:
"There exists an obligation to pursue in good
faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear
disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international
control.’
While the number of nuclear weapons possessed by
the nuclear weapon states has decreased, the status of Article
VI obligations is in a state of impasse. Parties of the NPT must
take nuclear responsibility and avoid further attempts to weaken
non-proliferation efforts.
Challenges to the NPT
The following developments represent the growing
peril that challenges international and human security:
Though the Cold War ended more than ten years ago,
more than 30,000 nuclear weapons remain worldwide.
Since the 1995 NPT review and extension conference,
two additional countries, India and Pakistan, have tested nuclear
weapons.
US and Russian nuclear arsenals remain in permanent,
24 hour, "launch on warning" status in spite of recommendations
to de-alert nuclear weapons made by the Canberra Commission (1996),
two resolutions passed by massive majorities in the UN General
Assembly in 1998, another two in 1999, and a unanimous resolution
of the European Parliament (1999).
The US Senate has failed to ratify the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in spite of nearly unanimous endorsement
of the treaty by the international community and massive US public
support for nuclear disarmament. In addition, the US and Russia,
continue to conduct "subcritical" nuclear tests, undermining
the spirit and purpose of the CTBT. The clear aim of the CTBT
is to restrain weapons development, yet the US, Russia, and other
weapons states proceed to develop new nuclear weapons in computer-simulated
"virtual reality", with the aid of subcritical underground
nuclear testing.
NATO has jeopardized the NPT by declaring in April
1999 that nuclear weapons are "essential" to its security.
US efforts to deploy a National Missile Defense
(NMD) system and circumvent the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty,
have increased tensions with Russia and China and threaten a new
arms race.
The irresponsibility of the nuclear weapons states
to pursue good faith negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons
is unacceptable. Failure to make progress on Article VI obligations
provides incentive for non-nuclear states to acquire nuclear weapons,
thereby increasing the nuclear danger.
Nuclear tests by India and Pakistan have undermined
the international norm of nonproliferation established by the
treaty.
medium range missile tests in India, Pakistan,
Iran, and North Korea have undermined the NPT
Iraq's defiance of UN Security Council Resolutions
requiring it to complete its disclosure of efforts to acquire
weapons of mass destruction have threatened the stability of the
NPT
Nuclear weapons states are not strongly supporting
the treaty's review process. For example, the US Senate failed
to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1999 sending a
message to the world that nuclear nonproliferation was not a critical
issue according to the US Senate.
Sharing peaceful uses of nuclear energy has
become a contentious issue
"Additional threats to the regime's [NPT's]
stability came in 1999 from the erosion of American relations
with both China and Russia resulting from NATO's 1999 bombing
of Yugoslavia -- with additional harm to relations with China
resulting from US accusations of Chinese nuclear espionage and
Taiwan's announcement that it was a state separate from China
despite its earlier acceptance of a US-Chinese 'one China' agreement.
Major threats to the regime also came from the continued stalemate
on arms control treaties in the Russian Duma and the US Senate,
from a change in US policy to favor building a national missile
defense against missile attack and from a Russian decision to
develop a new generation of small nuclear weapons for defense
against conventional attack." Ambassador George Bunn, former
US Ambassador to the Geneva Disarmament Conference and a negotiator
of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
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Action Alert!
Write to your Head of State and urge him/her to
attend the 2000 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review and Extension
Conference at the United Nations in New York from April 24-May
19. Here is a sample letter:
Date
Your Excellency :
I am writing to you concerning the 2000 Review and Extension Conference
of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. As a matter of highest priority
and urgency, as well as a clear legal obligation, I urge you to
attend the NPT Rev Con. You can also take a leadership role by
calling upon the leaders of the nuclear weapons states and all
other participants in the NPT Review Conference to take responsibility
to reduce the nuclear danger by beginning negotiations on a treaty
to eliminate nuclear weapons and immediately fulfill commitments
made in the NPT. As a world leader, the fate of the world will
be in your hands during these discussions. By attending this review
conference, you have the ability to alter the course of history
and leave a legacy of a more secure future for this generation
and generations to come.
Signed,
Tips
Letters are always best hand written. You may also
wish to Fax or email your letter. Addresses of all World Leaders
For More Information
If you would like to receive further information
about action you can take for the upcoming NPT Rev Con, please
email Carah Ong, the Abolition 2000 Network Coordinator at A2000@silcom.com
In the United States
Choose peace and a human future and make sure that
your voice is heard. Send a message to your US representative
and tell them about the importance of a renewed US committment
to the disarmament goals of the NonProliferation Treaty which
will be reviewed by world leaders during April 2000.
Open Letter to the Leaders of All Non-Nuclear Weapons
States from David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace
Foundation, January 2000. Krieger writes, "The nuclear perils
to humanity are not sufficiently widely recognized nor appreciated.
In the words of writer Jonathan Schell, 'we have been given the
gift of time but that gift is running out.' For this reason vision
and bold action are called for."
Links
Visit the following informative websites to obtain
information about the Non-Proliferation Treaty
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment
http://www.gracelinks.org
United Nations http://www.un.org
NGO Committee on Disarmament http://www.peacenet.org/disarm/
Abolition 2000: A Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear
Weapons http://www.abolition2000.org
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