NPT Review Conference opens in New York: Path toward nuclear disarmament to be explored
May 6, 2010
by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer, dispatched from New York
On May 3, the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, which is held every five years, opened at United Nations Headquarters in New York. During the four-week gathering, future road maps toward nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, among other matters, will be discussed. On the same day, an A-bomb exhibition organized by the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations opened in the lobby of the U.N. building as well. The exhibition appeals for the importance of eliminating nuclear weapons at the earliest possible date.
On the first day of the NPT Review Conference, Libran Cabactulan, the Philippine ambassador to the United Nations, was elected president of the conference. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon mounted the platform and strongly urged each nation to strive for nuclear abolition, saying, "The world's people look to you for action." Mr. Ban proposed five items, including reaffirmation of the "Thirteen Practical Steps toward Nuclear Disarmament," which were contained in the final agreement of the 2000 NPT Review Conference, as yardsticks to measure the success of the 2010 NPT Review Conference. Regarding his visit to Hiroshima in August, Mr. Ban clearly stated again: "There I will declare, once again, we stand for a world free of nuclear weapons."
The NPT Review Conference will be held until May 28. For the first three days of the conference, speeches by government representatives will continue. Afterward, discussions will be held in committees on the three pillars of the NPT: 1) nuclear disarmament, 2) nuclear non-proliferation, and 3) the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The conference will then seek to adopt a document of final agreement.
At the A-bomb exhibition, about 50 panels have been displayed in the lobby of U.N. Headquarters, the venue for the conference. A-bomb survivors (hibakusha) will be stationed almost all the time in the lobby and offer their A-bomb accounts through the final day of the conference, creating opportunities for visiting government officials and tourists to touch the reality of the atomic bombings.
Meanwhile, on May 2, according to the organizer, about 10,000 citizens who gathered in New York from various nations seeking the success of the conference staged a demonstration march through the heart of New York. The participants appealed for the elimination of nuclear weapons along the streets. About 2,000 people from Japan, too, took part in the march. At Times Square, the starting point of the march, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba called for nuclear weapons to be eliminated while the hibakusha are still alive. He received cheers and applause from the audience.
Keywords
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT)
The NPT, which took effect in 1970, is a multilateral treaty avowing the principle of nuclear abolition. In 1995, the treaty was extended indefinitely. About 190 nations are member states of the NPT. The de facto nuclear weapon states of Israel, India, and Pakistan are non-signatories of the NPT. North Korea declared its withdrawal from the treaty in 2003. While the treaty limits nuclear weapon states to the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China, imposing on them the obligation to hold negotiations for nuclear disarmament, it grants non-nuclear weapon states the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, prohibiting them from producing and acquiring nuclear weapons. The NPT Review Conference, which verifies the operating conditions of the treaty, is held every five years.
(Originally published on May 4, 2010)
On May 3, the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, which is held every five years, opened at United Nations Headquarters in New York. During the four-week gathering, future road maps toward nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, among other matters, will be discussed. On the same day, an A-bomb exhibition organized by the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations opened in the lobby of the U.N. building as well. The exhibition appeals for the importance of eliminating nuclear weapons at the earliest possible date.
On the first day of the NPT Review Conference, Libran Cabactulan, the Philippine ambassador to the United Nations, was elected president of the conference. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon mounted the platform and strongly urged each nation to strive for nuclear abolition, saying, "The world's people look to you for action." Mr. Ban proposed five items, including reaffirmation of the "Thirteen Practical Steps toward Nuclear Disarmament," which were contained in the final agreement of the 2000 NPT Review Conference, as yardsticks to measure the success of the 2010 NPT Review Conference. Regarding his visit to Hiroshima in August, Mr. Ban clearly stated again: "There I will declare, once again, we stand for a world free of nuclear weapons."
The NPT Review Conference will be held until May 28. For the first three days of the conference, speeches by government representatives will continue. Afterward, discussions will be held in committees on the three pillars of the NPT: 1) nuclear disarmament, 2) nuclear non-proliferation, and 3) the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The conference will then seek to adopt a document of final agreement.
At the A-bomb exhibition, about 50 panels have been displayed in the lobby of U.N. Headquarters, the venue for the conference. A-bomb survivors (hibakusha) will be stationed almost all the time in the lobby and offer their A-bomb accounts through the final day of the conference, creating opportunities for visiting government officials and tourists to touch the reality of the atomic bombings.
Meanwhile, on May 2, according to the organizer, about 10,000 citizens who gathered in New York from various nations seeking the success of the conference staged a demonstration march through the heart of New York. The participants appealed for the elimination of nuclear weapons along the streets. About 2,000 people from Japan, too, took part in the march. At Times Square, the starting point of the march, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba called for nuclear weapons to be eliminated while the hibakusha are still alive. He received cheers and applause from the audience.
Keywords
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT)
The NPT, which took effect in 1970, is a multilateral treaty avowing the principle of nuclear abolition. In 1995, the treaty was extended indefinitely. About 190 nations are member states of the NPT. The de facto nuclear weapon states of Israel, India, and Pakistan are non-signatories of the NPT. North Korea declared its withdrawal from the treaty in 2003. While the treaty limits nuclear weapon states to the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China, imposing on them the obligation to hold negotiations for nuclear disarmament, it grants non-nuclear weapon states the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, prohibiting them from producing and acquiring nuclear weapons. The NPT Review Conference, which verifies the operating conditions of the treaty, is held every five years.
(Originally published on May 4, 2010)
