Moratorium no substitute for ratifying treaty banning nuclear tests – UN officials

The current international moratorium on testing nuclear weapons, while respected by almost all States, should not delay the full implementation of the treaty calling for a comprehensive ban on such tests, two senior United Nations officials stressed today.

“I urge the international community to undertake all necessary efforts to achieve the universal adoption of the [Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban] Treaty and pursue all necessary ratifications for it,” said Joseph Deiss, the President of the General Assembly.

“Nuclear tests imply the acceptance of huge possible costs for populations and contradict some fundamental principles of the United Nations,” Mr. Deiss said during the Assembly’s informal plenary meeting to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests and the 20th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear tests complex in Kazakhstan.

The Assembly in 2009 proclaimed 29 August as the International Day against Nuclear Tests and it was first observed last year.

Noting that the voluntary moratoriums on tests by nuclear-weapon States are welcome, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said they should not be seen as the alternative for the legal prohibition of such tests.

“I therefore urge all States that have not yet signed or ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to do so. It is time for this treaty to enter into force.

“Achievement of this goal would further reinforce the growing opposition to nuclear weapons throughout the world,” said Ms. Migiro.

She recalled that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had pledged his full commitment to liberating humanity from the terror of weapons of mass destruction.

So far 182 States have signed the treaty and 154 have ratified it. For the treaty to enter into force ratification is required from the so-called Annex 2 States. Of these China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and the United States have yet to ratify it.