Mongolian NGO Greets 50th Ratification of TPNW

ULAANBAATAR (IDN) – Blue Banner, Mongolian NGO and a partner organization of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), welcomes the 50th ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on October 24 as a major political impulse and a step in making this most dangerous weapon of mass destruction illegal under international law. [2020-10-28]

Soon Nuclear Weapons Will Be Prohibited

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is President of Pugwash. Former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The 50th instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was deposited on October 24 – coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Charter. In accordance with its Article 15, the Treaty will enter automatically into force 90 days after that date. When in force, the TPNW will become part of the corpus of positive international law as the first multilateral agreement that comprehensively prohibits nuclear weapons and also addresses the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapon use and testing, including assistance to victims. Besides, it is the first treaty that explicitly forbids its members from hosting nuclear weapons belonging to other states. [2020-10-27]

Nuclear Ban Treaty Is Based on Common Sense

The following is the text of a statement by Sergio Duarte, President, and Paolo Cotta Ramusino, Secretary-General of the 1995 Nobel Peace Laureate Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs on the Ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by 50 States. [2020-10-26]

Towards Banning the Bomb

The following is the text of a statement by Mr Hirotsugu Terasaki, Director General, Peace and Global Issues of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) on the Ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by 50 States.

Source: ICAN

TOKYO (IDN) – We wish to wholeheartedly welcome the ratification, on October 24, 2020, UN Day, of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) by Honduras, meeting the 50-state minimum necessary for the entry into force. Three years and three months have passed since the treaty was adopted at the United Nations on July 7, 2017, with the support of 122 countries. March to Ban the Bomb. [2020-10-26]

Nuclear-armed States Panic as Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty Becomes International Law

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf *

“Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat,

Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad,

Evil appears as good in the minds of those whom gods lead to destruction.” [2020-10-26]

The Promise of the Treaty on Prevention of Nuclear Weapons

Viewpoint by Dr Joseph Gerson*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Treaty on the Prevention of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) has received its 50th ratification and will go into force in 90 days – January 22, 2021. Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bomb survivors, activists from ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) and the diplomats are celebrating this contribution to the long struggle for a nuclear-weapons-free world. [2020-10-25 |17]  JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SWEDISH

Precarious Multilateralism Seizes CTBTO Nuclear-Test-Ban Organization

By Stephanie Liechtenstein*, Passblue

VIENNA (IDN) – For the first time in its 24-year history, state parties to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, a multilateral agreement that bans all nuclear testing worldwide, have taken a controversial decision by a two-thirds majority. Decisions in the treaty’s body are usually taken by consensus. [2020-10-24]

2045: A New Rallying Call for Nuclear Abolition

Viewpoint by Alyn Ware, Vanda Proskova and Saber Chowdhury*

NEW YORK (IDN) – On October 2, 2020, 77 Heads of State and Government Ministers addressed a United Nations High-Level meeting on the elimination of nuclear weapons, along with the UN Secretary-General, the President of the UN General Assembly and two representatives of civil society.

One of the proposals highlighted by some of the governments and supported by the two civil society representatives was an appeal to UN member states to commit to the elimination of nuclear weapons by 2045, the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations. [2020-10-22 |16] CHINESE | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

Forum Calls for New Approach to NE Asian Denuclearization and Economic Development

By Alan Gua

Photo: Virtual International Forum

ULAANBAATAR (IDN) – Former Mongolian Ambassador to the United Nations and Chairman of Blue Banner NGO of Mongolia Dr Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan believes that “establishing a Northeast Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone (NEA-NWFZ) and providing North Korea with a joint, credible mini-Marshall Plan might be a win-win solution for the Korean Peninsula as well as for overall regional security and development”. [2020-10-02 | 15] BHASA | GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN

UN Chief Concerned About Standstill in Arms Control Talks

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – "We need a strengthened, inclusive and renewed multilateralism built on trust and based on international law that can guide us to our shared goal of a world free of nuclear weapons," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, commemorating the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26.

He was reiterating the resolve adoption of the General Assembly resolution in 1946, which committed the UN to the goal of ridding the planet of nuclear weapons. Because of these, "the world continues to live in the shadow of nuclear catastrophe". [2020–09-27 | 14]  ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | RUSSIAN