The nuclear Non Proliferation treaty preparatory committee began in Vienna and goes until 12 May. PAX’s Susi Snyder is an NPT veteran and puts forward some food for thought for this meeting. Chaired by Ambassador Henk Cor van der Kwast (Netherlands), the NPT PrepCom got off to a solid start with all procedural decisions taken swiftly and efficiently. General debate will continue for a while, and then the meeting will move into focused discussions on the three areas of the treaty: nuclear disarmament, non proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear technology. .
Ideas to consider in the food for thought paper include:
- Recognise the nuclear weapon prohibition treaty as an effective measure that could catalyse action on the other plans to create and maintain a world without nuclear weapons;
- Restate commitment to the treaty as a whole, including the unequivocal undertaking, and encourage all states to undertake all types of effective measures in the direction of nuclear disarmament;
- Stop making nuclear weapons, stop helping nuclear weapons get made, demand a halt to the so called “modernisation” efforts in all nuclear armed countries;
- End contracts for new nuclear weapon production and new capability developments;
- Retain the moratorium on nuclear weapons testing;
- Consider setting up an independent task force under the auspices of the CTBTO, for on-site inspection;
- Start the accounting process for global fissile material stockpiles;
- Consider a new type of counting of nuclear weapons that is based on capabilities for production, instead of delivery system numbers;
- Call on the IPNDV to publish the results of its verification research;
- Encourage more unilateral reductions of nuclear weapons- and not in the way that would mean less missiles flying but more people dying (so no MIRVing warheads!);
- De-coupling is stronger than de-alerting, both are helpful;
- Explicitly reject the use of nuclear weapons, under any circumstances;
- If not willing to explicitly reject the use of nuclear weapons, explain under what circumstances use could possibly be justified;
- Recognise exercises with nuclear capable forces contribute to escalating tensions, halting these exercises is a good idea;
- Discuss the reports received from nuclear armed states in the last cycle, and NPDI should consider hosting some open events on this, and;
- Celebrate that the blocked forums on nuclear disarmament have been unblocked through the democratic efforts of the UNGA in establishing negotiations on a nuclear weapon prohibition and use this momentum to build for the future.
Download the full paper here.