Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

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Preparatory conference for the 2010 NPT Review Conference (2008 in the Palace of Nations in Geneva)
Signatory states of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
  • Signed and ratified
  • Signed but not ratified
  • Just signed
  • Signature withdrawn
  • Not signed

    • The Non-Proliferation Treaty , including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons or Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ( NPT ), ( English Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons , short Non-Proliferation Treaty , or NPT ) is an international treaty that the prohibition of the distribution and the obligation on the disarmament of nuclear weapons and the right to the "peaceful use" of nuclear energy .

    The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was initiated by the five nuclear powers USA , France , PR China , Great Britain and the Soviet Union and meanwhile (2015) 191 signatory states signed or accepted. Only four states have not become members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: India , Israel , Pakistan and South Sudan . North Korea withdrew from the treaty in January 2003 and its final status has since been kept open by the NPT community.

    Provisions

    In the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the signatory states that are not in possession of nuclear weapons waive the acquisition of nuclear weapons (see Articles I to III). The five official nuclear powers, which achieved this status by detonating a nuclear weapon before January 1, 1967 (see Article IX), undertake in return to "negotiate in good faith [...] on a general treaty and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control ”(see Article VI). This is the only binding commitment to the complete disarmament of the nuclear-armed states in a multilateral treaty.

    In addition, according to the Treaty, each member state has the “inalienable right” to a civilian nuclear program. All signatories undertake to “facilitate the greatest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy” (see Article IV).

    Each state may terminate the contract, but must give three months' notice (see Article X).

    Verification of compliance with the contract

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitors compliance with the treaty, including through on-site inspections of nuclear facilities (see Article III). However, since these inspections are registered and, moreover, are only aimed at systems that the contracting states voluntarily offer for inspection, they hardly offer any opportunities to uncover breaches of the treaty. In order to obtain a more effective means of verification, the IAEA has therefore drawn up an Additional Protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows inspectors to carry out unannounced inspections in any facility. This protocol is currently in force in 139 countries (as of December 20, 2010). To ensure compliance with the NPT, member states hold a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference every five years (see Article VIII):

    1. Review Conference, 1975, 93 states
    2. Review Conference, 1980, 112 states
    3. Review Conference, 1985, 131 States
    4. Review Conference, 1990, 140 states
    5. Review Conference, April 17 - May 12, 1995
    6. Review Conference, April 24 - May 19, 2000 in New York
    7. Review conference, 2. – 27. May 2005 in New York, 188 states
    8. Review conference, 3. – 28. May 2010 in New York, 172 states (130 states were expected)
    9. Review Conference, April 27-22. May 2015 in New York

    history

    The treaty was signed by the United States , the Soviet Union, and Great Britain on July 1, 1968 and came into force on March 5, 1970. Also of Iran has under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi signed one of the first States Parties in 1968 and 1970 ratified . As of 2015, 191 (excluding North Korea 190) members have joined the treaty, including the People's Republic of China and France (both 1992). The Federal Republic of Germany signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on November 28, 1969. In addition to India and Pakistan , which have now developed and tested nuclear weapons, Israel , which also has nuclear weapons ( Vanunu affair ), does not confirm or confirm this denied. North Korea acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1985, but declared its withdrawal on January 10, 2003 and - according to its own statements - has successfully tested six nuclear weapons since October 29, 2006 ( see also: North Korean nuclear weapons program ).

    The NVV was initially valid for 25 years (see Article X). At the 1995 Geneva Review Conference, it was extended indefinitely. Under pressure from the New Agenda Coalition, a group of non-nuclear weapon states calling for rapid disarmament, 13 steps towards complete nuclear disarmament were decided in New York in 2000. The 2005 Review Conference in New York failed due to the USA's blockade and remained without result.

    In April 2010 the USA and Russia agreed in the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty to reduce their stocks of strategic nuclear warheads and delivery systems. In May 2010, the 189 member states of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty met again in New York for the five-year review conference. In June, experts discussed the treaty and the way to complete disarmament on the “26th Forum Global Issues ”at the Foreign Office in Berlin.

    At the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it was decided that an international conference should discuss the possibility of a general ban on weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. “This increased the pressure on Israel at the end of the follow-up conference to review the lock-up treaty, which takes place every five years. It is believed to be the only state in the region with nuclear weapons. ”Due to Israel's refusal to attend such a conference, this mandate was not implemented.

    criticism

    Criticism of the content of the contract

    Critics complain that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty stipulates an inequality between the official nuclear powers and the nuclear-weapon-free states: While the latter is prohibited from possessing these weapons, the nuclear powers make no efforts to implement their disarmament obligations. This inequality is reinforced by the fact that the nuclear weapon states specified in the treaty are also permanent members of the UN Security Council , who have a veto right there and can block attempts under international law to induce them to disarm. It is questioned whether the nuclear powers, which have all waged wars of aggression, have the moral justification to impose regulations on other states regarding their armament.

    It is also criticized that the treaty could not comprehensively limit the spread of nuclear weapons. It has been assumed for some time that Israel - presumably as early as 1967 - has nuclear weapons, although this is neither confirmed nor denied by the Israeli side. India and Pakistan have officially approved and tested such weapons. North Korea tested several atomic bombs, most recently a hydrogen bomb, through September 2017, before the country announced the end of tests on April 21, 2018. Even South Africa has during the apartheid pursuing a nuclear weapons program, this early 1990 but voluntarily revealed and finished. Therefore, South Africa is a prime example of how UN - embargo can be undermined by states. The Iranian nuclear program is also a point of criticism. Some politicians are even calling for nuclear weapons to be abolished.

    Criticism of the implementation of the contract

    • Many critics accuse the official nuclear powers of failing to fulfill their obligation to disarm under Article VI. Some nuclear powers are modernizing their arsenals and developing new weapons and delivery systems instead of disarming them. For example, For example, under George W. Bush, the United States in smaller, more targeted nuclear weapons, so-called mini-nukes and bunker breakers , which could actually have been used and thus blurred the line between conventional and nuclear weapons. Various non-governmental organizations are calling for the complete disarmament of all nuclear weapons through a nuclear weapons convention .
    • Proposals for a nuclear weapons ban treaty as a first step towards this came after an NPT review conference in 2010, at which the five official nuclear powers rejected calls to start negotiations on a comprehensive nuclear weapons convention. Disarmament advocates then proposed the Prohibition Treaty as an alternative way forward. On March 27, 2017, negotiations on a prohibition treaty began following a resolution by the UN General Assembly; 123 states voted in favor, 38 against, 16 abstained. So far, neither the states with nuclear weapons nor most of the NATO states, including Germany, have taken part in the negotiations themselves.
    • Some observers see the nuclear participation in the framework of which US nuclear weapons are stationed in European NATO countries, including Germany , as a violation of the treaty's prohibition on transferring these weapons to non-nuclear weapon states.
    • Every member state has the right to civil use (according to the text of the treaty: " peaceful use ") of nuclear energy. In the conflict over the Iranian nuclear program , Iran invokes this right and defends itself against the demand to stop uranium enrichment. In Article III of the treaty, every non-nuclear weapon state undertakes to take precautionary measures for fissile material and for raw material for the production of fissile material; production per se is not prohibited for civil purposes.
    • Each “contracting party is entitled to withdraw from this contract in the exercise of its national sovereignty” (Article X), sanctioning instruments are not part of the contract. North Korea made use of this article and terminated the contract in a letter dated January 10, 2003 to the UN Security Council. Critics accuse North Korea of ​​not having adhered to the provisions of Article X, which stipulates that the withdrawing state must not only notify the United Nations Security Council of its termination, but also all other states. North Korea did not; From this it is now unclear to critics under international law whether the country is still a contract member or not.
    • The examples of Iran and North Korea make it clear that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty does not have its own sanctioning instruments to act against breaches of the treaty or termination. The only option is for the IAEA to discover a breach of contract and refer the relevant case to the United Nations Security Council in accordance with Article XII.7.B of its Statute. It did this in the case of Iran in 2006. In the case of North Korea, the Security Council acted independently.
    • It is speculated that violations of the ban on the transfer of nuclear weapons technology have not been detected. One case in particular has become known: Abdul Qadir Khan , the father of the Pakistani atomic bomb, has admitted that he had passed on secret information about the construction of atomic bombs, which he got while working for a uranium enrichment company in the Netherlands, to Pakistan and later also sold to Iran. At least the Pakistani government has confirmed this. Accordingly, the signatory state Iran would have been guilty of a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    See also

    literature

    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty about to fail. On the history and current situation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty for Nuclear Weapons . From: Analyze + kritik No. 496 from June 17, 2005
    • Oliver Thränert: Would we really miss the nuclear nonproliferation treaty? , in: International Journal (Toronto), Spring 2008, pp. 327-340.
    • Matthias van der Minde: Put down nuclear weapons! Ways of nuclear disarmament under international law and civil society , Hamburg: VSA: Verlag, 2010, pp. 51–60.
    • Peter Hoeres : Foreign Policy and the Public. Mass media, opinion polls and arcane politics in German-American relations from Erhard to Brandt. (= Studies on International History , Vol. 32), De Gruyter Oldenbourg , Munich 2013.

    Web links

    Wikisource: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty  - sources and full texts (English)
    Wiktionary: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

    Individual evidence

    1. ^ Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Federal Foreign Office , accessed on May 5, 2019 .
    2. ^ 1995 NPT Review Conference Package of Decisions. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, archived from the original on January 19, 2012 ; Retrieved March 3, 2013 .
    3. ↑ 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons April 17 - May 12, 1995, New York - Official Documents ( Memento from April 16, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
    4. ↑ Antje Wunderlich: Success or lost love? , FF4 / 2000 ( Network Peace Cooperative ).
    5. ^ Speech by Federal Foreign Minister Fischer on May 2, 2005 at the 7th Review Conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York AG Peace Research at the University of Kassel
    6. ^ 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 2. – 27. May 2005
    7. ↑ 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Part_I ( Memento of November 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
    8. ^ Laying the Groundwork for the 2010 NPT Review Conference , IAEA.org, April 30, 2007
    9. ↑ 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons UN.org
    10. ↑ Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Atomwaffen A-Z , March 2015, accessed July 6, 2016 .
    11. ↑ Manjana Pecht: European disunity in New York. Heinrich Böll Foundation V., May 22, 2015, accessed on July 6, 2016 .
    12. ^ The Promises of the 2000 NPT Review Conference. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, archived from the original on March 25, 2012 ; Retrieved March 3, 2013 .
    13. ↑ Joseph Cirincione: Failure in New York ( Memento of 17 October 2008 at the Internet Archive ) (as of 5 March 2008)
    14. ^ Hauke ​​Friedrichs : The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - believed dead and revived. In: zeit.de. June 15, 2010, accessed March 1, 2014 .
    15. ↑ New nuclear consensus increases pressure on Israel. In: The time . May 29, 2010, accessed March 15, 2011 .
    16. ↑ Andreas Zumach: Nuclear weapons remain in service. In: taz.de . May 25, 2015, accessed June 11, 2019 .
    17. ↑ Background: The North Korean nuclear program ( Memento from May 1, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) on stuttgarter-nachrichten.de from April 21, 2018, accessed on May 1, 2018.
    18. ↑ Frank M. Rauch: Plutonium, Iran and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty , in Friday on February 14, 2014
    19. ↑ Christian Ultsch: Kurz calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons in Die Presse on September 26, 2018
    20. ↑ Tim Wright, "Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference 2010: towards nuclear abolition" , June 2010.
    21. ↑ taz of March 27, 2017, accessed on March 31, 2017.
    22. ↑ Result of the vote on UN Resolution L.41, adopted on October 27, 2016.
    23. ↑ See United Nations publication , accessed March 27, 2011
    24. ↑ See John Simpson: The Future of the NPT. In: Nathan E. Busch, Daniel H. Joyner: Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction. The Future of International Nonproliferation Policy. Georgia University Press, Athens (GA) 2009, p. 60.
    25. ↑ A comprehensive criticism of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty can be found in Matthias van der Minde: Die atomwaffen down! Ways of nuclear disarmament under international law and civil society , Hamburg: VSA Verlag, 2010, pp. 51–60.
    26. ↑ The Netherlands ran nuclear spies , Zeit Online, August 9, 2005
    27. ^ Der Spiegel, February 9, 2004