Category: GLOBAL ISSUES

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The ‘International Hibakusha Appeal Signature Campaign’, launched early 2016, aims to collect hundreds of millions of signatures by 2020 in the hope that a treaty to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons will be achieved in their lifetime. As of October 1, 2016, the Campaign had gathered 564,260 signatures in Japan and in several other countries around the world.

The Campaign was initiated on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers’ Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo).

Analysis by Ramesh Jaura

NEW YORK (IDN) – One day ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the opening for signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the United Nations Security Council adopted a Resolution reinforcing the de facto global ban on nuclear weapons testing established 20 years ago.

The 15-member body – comprising the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France as permanent (P5) members with the right to veto and 10 non-permanent members elected by rotation for a period of two years – adopted the Resolution after extensive discussions on September 23 by a vote of 14 in favour and none against but one abstention by Egypt on the ground that the text of the Resolution did not stress on the need for nuclear disarmament.

Analysis by Tariq Rauf

Tariq Rauf is Director of the Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), formerly the Head of Verification and Security Policy Coordination at the International Atomic Energy Agency.

STOCKHOLM (IDN) – On September 21, three days before the 20th anniversary of the opening for signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty’s (CTBT), several foreign ministers and other high-level representatives of UN Member States met in New York and united in a call for the prompt entry-into-force of the treaty.

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Spurred by North Korea’s fifth nuclear weapon test explosion on September 9, the UN Security Council is expected to adopt before the end of September a resolution reinforcing the de facto global ban on nuclear weapons testing established 20 years ago by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

According to the Washington-based Arms Control Association, the Council’s five permanent members (P5) – the United States, UK, France, Russia and China – would complement the resolution by a separate political statement reiterating their support for the object and purpose of the CTBT.

Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne

BANGKOK (IDN) – Even before the ink dried up on a statement issued in the Laotian capital Vientiane by the East Asia Summit (EAS) on nuclear proliferation, North Korea announced the successful testing of a nuclear bomb that has focused attention in the region on increasing militarization.

Pyongyang’s latest weapons testing came less than a day after the EAS leaders adopted a statement urging it to give up its nuclear and missile programs. It was the first time that the 18-member regional body, which also includes the United States, China, Russia and Japan, adopted a single-issue statement other than the chairman’s statement.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – North Korea’s fifth nuclear test explosion is yet another unpleasant reminder that the threat posed by its nuclear program continues to grow, according to Arms Control Association Executive Director Daryl G. Kimball and Director for Nonproliferation Policy Kelsey Davenport.

In a statement on September 9, they warn: “Current international efforts to constrain Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile activities are woefully inadequate. Tough international sanctions and condemnation has failed to prevent North Korea from conducting nuclear tests and has failed to constrain its ballistic missile program.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF) deplores the continued testing of nuclear weapons and the provocative statements by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). September 9 nuclear test – the fifth by North Korea – makes apparent the growing nuclear dangers in the Northeast Asian region, and generally throughout the world.

The world’s other eight nuclear-armed nations have tested a great deal. Over 2,000 nuclear tests have been conducted worldwide, and the United States alone has conducted over 1,000 nuclear tests.

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf*

STOCKHOLM (IDN) – The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has reported that at 00:30 UTC, a seismic event magnitude 5.3 was detected in North Korea that possibly could be the second nuclear test carried out this year by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK/North Korea). The DPRK carried out its fourth nuclear test in January this year, following earlier tests in 2013, 2009 and 2006. Early speculative estimates put the yield close to that of the Hiroshima bomb (10-15 kilotons), which makes it the most powerful DPRK test to date.