By Ramesh Jaura
BERLIN | 2 August 2024 (IDN) — As the spectre of a Nuclear Armageddon haunts our planet, the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan is joining hands with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) to organize a workshop—first in five years—to bolster the five Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ) treaties. States-parties to the five NWFZ treaties, international organizations, and several other interested parties will gather on August 27-28 in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, to discuss ways and means to overcome menacing hurdles.
Interestingly, August 29 marks the International Day against Nuclear Tests—one of Kazakhstan’s major initiatives in this field. The United Nations supported it in its resolution in December 2009. August 29 marks both the day of the first Soviet nuclear weapons test in 1949 at the Semipalatinsk site, and the day the site was officially closed in 1991.
In the past, Kazakhstan was home to one of the world’s largest nuclear test sites, the Semipalatinsk test site, where the Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan voluntarily gave up its nuclear arsenal, becoming a non-nuclear-weapon state and a staunch supporter of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament efforts.
Five NWFZs
The following treaties form the basis for the existing five NWFZs:
- Treaty of Tlatelolco — Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean
- Treaty of Rarotonga — South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty
- Treaty of Bangkok — Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone
- Treaty of Pelindaba — African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty
- Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia
Mongolia’s self-declared nuclear-weapon-free status has been recognized internationally through the adoption of UN General Assembly resolution 55/33S on “Mongolia’s international security and nuclear weapon free status”.
“Mongolia’s nuclear-weapon-free status is not only a political understanding and arrangement with the P5. It is based on its national interest and national legislation,” said Mongolian Ambassador to the UN and Blue Banner NGO, Dr. Jargalsaikhan Enkhsaikan. Subsequently, in the year 2000, Mongolia adopted a legislation that defined the status at the national level and criminalized acts that would violate the status. The Government regularly informs the Parliament on its implementation. Based on such reports, in 2015 the Parliament passed a resolution aimed at making the status an integral part of a regional security arrangement, he said in an article for IDN.
Other treaties that also deal with the denuclearization of certain areas are:
- Antarctic Treaty
- Outer Space Treaty — Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies
- Moon Agreement — Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies
- Seabed Treaty — Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof.
Regional approach
The establishment of NWFZs is a regional approach to strengthen global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament norms and consolidate international efforts towards peace and security. Article VII of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) states: “Nothing in this Treaty affects the right of any group of States to conclude regional treaties in order to assure the total absence of nuclear weapons in their respective territories”.
General Assembly resolution 3472 (XXX) B defines a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone as
…any zone recognized as such by the General Assembly of the United Nations, which any group of States, in the free exercises of their sovereignty, has established by virtue of a treaty or convention whereby:
(a) The statute of total absence of nuclear weapons to which the zone shall be subject, including the procedure for the delimitation of the zone, is defined;
(b) An international system of verification and control is established to guarantee compliance with the obligations deriving from that statute.
According to the organizers’ planning document, the workshop participants will explore ways and means of advancing nuclear-free-zone-related issues including “fostering cooperation and enhancing consultation mechanisms” among the existing zones, according to the organizers’ planning document.
Despite “today’s fragile geostrategic context, finding ways to fully implement the security benefits due to member states in light of the commitments they have made as parties to [the zones] must be a top priority,” adds the document.
The United States remains the only NPT nuclear-armed state that has yet to ratify the protocols to the zone treaties covering the South Pacific (Treaty of Rarotonga), Africa (Treaty of Pelindaba), and Central Asia. Discussions are ongoing among members of Congress and the U.S. State Department on advancing the ratification process. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Image credit: UNODA
