Ban treaty adds more countries

From ICAN: Five more countries today signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and two more have deposited their ratification of the treaty. The seven nations that added their names are: Barbados (signed), Burkina Faso (signed), Dominican Republic (ratified), Democratic Republic of the Congo (ratified), Equatorial Guinea (signed), Haiti (signed) and Sierra Leone (signed.) This brings the total number of TPNW signatories to 91 and states parties to 68.

Beatrice Fihn, the executive director of ICAN, said at the signing event: “With more and more countries joining the nuclear ban treaty, we are taking significant steps towards the abolition of these weapons. As the number of countries signing and ratifying the TPNW grows, the pressure on the nine nuclear-armed states and their supporters to join the treaty grows.”

She added: “The strengthening of the treaty is particularly welcome at this time when the war in Ukraine has seen the risk of nuclear weapons use increase, and one of the world’s largest nuclear-armed states has made undisguised threats to use its arsenal with all the devastation that implies.”

Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said: “The comprehensive prohibition of nuclear weapons is a crucial step towards their elimination, which is a vital responsibility of the international community as a whole. I commend those states who have made the courageous choice to sign or ratify this landmark treaty today.”

(Photo by ICAN shows Malawi signing the Treaty in July 2017).

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