Nuclear arms are the most destructive, indiscriminate, inhumane and monstrous
weapons ever produced, but today is an historic one, that we can all celebrate as a major
milestone in the long march towards peace: The date 22 January marks a victory for humanity. That’s the day the
Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons enters into force, the day that
nuclear weapons become prohibited.
Efforts to outlaw nuclear weapons date back to the beginning of the nuclear age , they have always been immoral. Now, they are also classified
as illegal, just like chemical and biological weapons. This is a major
shift as it will bring about a change in the public perception of these
weapons. The TPNW is not symbolic.The Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons is the first globally applicable
multilateral agreement to prohibit nuclear weapons outright. It
prohibits their use, threat of use, development, production, testing and
stockpiling. It also commits States Parties to clearing contaminated
areas and helping victims. By providing pathways for the elimination of
nuclear weapons, the Treaty is an indispensable building block towards a
world free of nuclear weapons.
The dropping of two nuclear bombs 75 years ago, on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in Japan in August 1945, combined they resulted in the deaths of over 400,000 people. This is
exactly what these horrific weapons were designed to do-indiscriminately
kill vast amounts of people and clearly.demonstrated their enormous
destructive power. There is no doubt that if one was exploded again, in
war or accidentally, it would cause a humanitarian disaster. It is
argued that they are militarily unusable because of the destruction
their use would cause and many more people, even those who may not call themseles pacifists believe that using nuclear weapons is immoral, Now there is a further argument illegality.
A nuclear darkness has engulfed the world for seven decades, with only intermittent breakthroughs of light, after treaties had been repeatedly broken, but the gloom began to lift in July 2017 following international concerns about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons over a
hundred and twenty countries voted to adopt the Treaty on the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. On October 24, 2020 Honduras provided the 50th
ratification of the Treaty, which was required for
the 90-day countdown for the Treaty to enter into force to officially
begin. which means it will become international law on 22nd
January 2021. Not only does it prohibit the use of nuclear weapons but
also related activities such as developing, testing or manufacturing
nuclear weapons and assisting others with any prohibited activities.
Built on decades of nuclear disarmament advocacy, the treaty has been led by the true experts of nuclear weapons, the survivors of nuclear weapons use and testing. The treaty recognises nuclear weapons for what they are, unacceptable instruments of mass destruction, and acknowledges their disproportionate impact on indigenous communities.
As an
individual I am delighted that the Treaty has now
been ratified, it embodies the collective moral revulsion of the international community. The entry into force of the Treaty provides
Conscience with a new powerful argument: It provides added pressure to
change the law so no-one is forced to pay through their taxes for
nuclear weapons which are now illegal as well as immoral.
I also
recognise that possession of nuclear weapons ties up resources that
could be better used to tackle the problems that face the world,
including the causes of war as well as the current Covid-19 pandemic and
climate change.Conscience is clear that there are many
alternative ways to resolve conflict, ways other than war, and that
nuclear weapons have no place in conflict resolution.
And yet 22 January will not mark the end of the journey. In fact, the
banning of nuclear weapons should be seen as the beginning of multiple
efforts to realise the objectives of the Treaty and bring about a world
free from nuclear weapons. It is now crucial to make the Treaty come
to life as a new norm of international humanitarian law. The Treaty’s
success depends on the broadest possible adherence..
None of the 9 nuclear armed states,-China, France, India, Israel. North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, have signed the Treaty. They have
even tried, unsuccessfully, to block it. As long as they refuse to sign,
the Treaty does not apply to them directly – but it does make it much
harder for them to justify their opposition. They can expect to face
increasing international criticism, as well as internal political
pressure. who will continue to work for the treaties full universalization and implementation.
The Treaty will also have a significant impact on financial
institutions (pension funds and banks) because the Treaty also bans the
financing of nuclear weapons systems. By investing in nuclear arms,
these institutions have played a major role in the threat of a nuclear
Armageddon. They will now have to choose to endorse or reject this new
standard: if they decide to reject it, they run the risk of tarnishing
their image and becoming unpopular with their clients. Financial bodies
of countries (Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden, for example)
which do not support the TPNW have already made the decision to
disinvest, which demonstrates the extent of the Treaty’s impact.
Our key priority is to continue making the Treaty as universal as
possible by getting as many states to sign and ratify it, increasing its
legal influence. Monitoring its implementation will also be a very
important task as it is a means of demonstrating its effectiveness.
The Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament and many other peace organisations in the UK
will continue to campaign for the UK to honour its commitment to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to make tangible steps towards
disarmament. Until the UK does so, Conscience will argue that UK
taxpayers should not be forced to pay for nuclear weapons which are now
not only immoral but illegal.Now the UK must get in step with the rest of the world, acknowledge the foolishness
of continuing to threaten the world with mass destruction, join the
Treaty and disarm.
LINKS
UN Office for Disarmament Affairs - www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/ This includes a link to the treaty text.
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament - https://cnduk.org/resources/towards-world-without-nuclear-weapons/
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) - www.icanw.org/
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