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NUCLEAR BAN TREATY OPENS WAY FOR

PACIFIC NUCLEAR SURVIVORS

By Nic Maclellan made a strategic error and should withdraw your instrument
of ratification or accession.”
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, first
adopted by the UN General Assembly in July 2017, will enter Regional ratifications
into force on 22 January, after the 50th signatory deposited Despite historic support for nuclear disarmament, Papua
its ratification of the treaty with the United Nations. Nauru New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, RMI and FSM are yet to
became the 49th country to ratify the treaty on 23 October, sign or ratify the Treaty. As French colonies, New Caledonia
followed by Honduras the following day. and French Polynesia do not have the international standing
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the disar- to sign, even though France conducted 193 nuclear tests at
mament treaty “a very welcome initiative”, noting that the Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls and thousands of Maohi work-
50th ratification came on the very day that marked the 75th ers and neighbouring communities suffered significant health
anniversary of the ratification of the UN Charter. impacts.
Ten of the first 50 treaty ratifications or accessions came Unlike its ANZUS ally New Zealand, the Australian govern-
from members of the Pacific Islands Forum: New Zealand, ment has refused to sign or ratify the Treaty. As the TPNW
Vanuatu, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Samoa, Palau, Cook was negotiated, the Australian government expressed concern
Islands, and Niue. There are ten reasons why these ten Pacific it may undercut the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),
countries support the treaty: Bikini, Enewetak, Monte Bello, preferring verifiable, step-by-step measures rather than a
Maralinga, Emu Field, Johnston, Malden, Christmas, Moruroa, total ban on nuclear weapons. However none of the declared
Fangataufa. nuclear-armed states are engaged in negotiations for compre-
Civil society groups, including the Red Cross / Red Crescent hensive nuclear disarmament, despite their obligation to do
movement and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear so under Article 6 of the NPT.
Weapons (ICAN) – winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize – As the TPNW was first adopted in 2017, John Carlson – the
drove the campaign for ratification, with nuclear survivors former Director General of the Australian Safeguards and Non-
from the Pacific playing a key role. Proliferation Office – acknowledged: “Extolling a ‘step-by-
Unlike arms control agreements, which seek to limit the step’ approach to disarmament lacks credibility when there
size of nuclear arsenals, the TPNW is the first treaty to com- are no such steps under way, or even being contemplated.”
prehensively ban nuclear weapons and provide a pathway for
all nations to outlaw and eliminate nuclear weapons. ICAN Assistance to survivors
Executive Director Beatrice Fihn said: “It is a crucial piece The TPNW includes unprecedented provisions in a disar-
of international law that puts nuclear weapons in the same mament treaty, requiring parties to assist nuclear survivors.
illegal category as biological weapons, chemical weapons, These are vital clauses for the Pacific region, where tens of
anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions.” thousands of civilian and military personnel participated in
The treaty prohibits countries from “developing, testing, nuclear testing programs in Marshall Islands, Australia, Kiribati
producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpil- and French Polynesia. The treaty also sets out obligations for
ing, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons”. While states to take “necessary or appropriate measures” to reme-
no nuclear-armed state is likely to sign the Treaty soon, it diate environments contaminated by nuclear weapons testing.
establishes important international law that will constrain the In December 2018, NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hosted a
deployment of nuclear weapons. TPNW prohibits non-nuclear meeting of Pacific island states in Auckland, to discuss advanc-
weapon states from allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed ing the TPNW in the region. This process is likely to continue
on their territory. It also prohibits them from “assisting, after the recent election victory of NZ Labour.
encouraging or inducing” anyone to engage in any of these At last year’s Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu, leaders “ac-
activities, which is important for states like New Zealand that knowledged the importance of addressing the long-standing
are allies of nuclear-armed powers like the United States. issues of nuclear testing legacy in the Pacific.” They directed
In a last, desperate move to scuttle the treaty, the Trump the Forum Secretariat to work with other agencies in the
administration wrote to governments last month, asking them Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP), to ad-
to reverse their ratifications. The news agency Associated dress the ongoing impacts of nuclear testing on human rights,
Press reported on the letter sent from the US government to health and environmental contamination. A CROP Taskforce
treaty signatories, which stated: “Although we recognise your on Nuclear Legacy Issues has now been established, to begin
sovereign right to ratify or accede to the Treaty on the Prohi- evaluating the legacies of more than 310 nuclear tests across
bition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), we believe that you have the region.

nicmac3056@gmail.com

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