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International Committee of the Red Cross calls for States to join UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

ICRC urgently appeals to States to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used, International Committee of the Red Cross, A statement by Helen Durham, Director of Law and Policy, ICRC, STATEMENT, 14 MARCH 2022,

Geneva (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is alarmed by recent statements made with respect to nuclear weapons.

Five years ago this month, as States were beginning the negotiations of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the ICRC recalled that “[n]uclear weapons are the most terrifying weapon ever invented. They are unique in their destructive power, in the unspeakable human suffering they cause, and in the impossibility of controlling their effects in space and time. They threaten irreversible harm to the environment and to future generations. Indeed, they threaten the very survival of humanity.”

The only way to guarantee that nuclear weapons are never used again is by prohibiting and eliminating them. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, of which the ICRC is a part, has repeatedly expressed its deep alarm at the increasing risk that nuclear weapons will again be used by intent, miscalculation or accident and stressed that any risk of use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable, given their catastrophic humanitarian consequences……

States must now heed the Movement’s call on all States to promptly sign, ratify or accede to, and faithfully implement the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Pending their elimination, all States and, in particular, the nuclear possessors and nuclear-allied States must take immediate steps to reduce the risk of intentional or accidental use of nuclear weapons, based on their existing international commitments.

In 2022, the first meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the 10th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will provide key opportunities, but also tests, for States to make tangible progress towards achieving nuclear disarmament, a legal obligation of the international community as a whole.

Seldom have collective action and concrete, meaningful steps to free the world of the dark shadow of nuclear weapons been more urgent. https://www.icrc.org/en/document/icrc-appeals-nuclear-weapons-never-used

March 17, 2022 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, politics international, weapons and war