HomeCubaCuba is committed to the first legally binding multilateral mechanism for disarmament

Cuba is committed to the first legally binding multilateral mechanism for disarmament

On January 22, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force
Author: Milagros Pichardo | internacional@granma.cu
January 24, 2021
On January 22, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPAN) entered into force. This instrument, after reaching the necessary ratifications, prohibits the 51 signatory states from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, acquiring, possessing, deploying, using or threatening nuclear weapons, as well as assisting or encouraging such acts.
Adopted on July 7, 2017, at a United Nations (UN) conference, with 122 votes in favor, the agreement represents the first legally binding multilateral mechanism for disarmament. It makes it clear that nuclear weapons are not only inhumane, immoral, and ethically indefensible, but also illegal.
The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, celebrated the implementation of the agreement and congratulated the nations that have already ratified it. He highlighted the role of the survivors of explosions and nuclear tests, who offered tragic testimonies, becoming “the moral force of the Treaty.”
Among the successes of the TPAN stand out the prohibition of nuclear weapons as a norm of International Law; that aspires to be universal in scope, stigmatizes the use of such weapons and generates political pressure to achieve disarmament; It introduces new issues by forcing States Parties to assist victims and undertake environmental reparation.
This treaty, negotiated by more than 120 nations, was a response to the prolonged breach of the provisions of Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and is not intended to undermine the integrity of the latter, but will contribute to the fulfillment of its objectives.
The prohibition agreement represents a fundamental step on the way to the total and irreversible elimination of these weapons.
The TPAN does not violate the current international security architecture, but rather contributes effectively to the maintenance of international peace and security, by outlawing the use of weapons of mass destruction with indiscriminate effects on life and the environment.

Commitment of Cuba
The Biggest of the Antilles has on numerous occasions ratified its commitment in favor of the elimination of this weaponry. Among the principles of the foreign policy of the Republic of Cuba, included in the Constitution, it is reaffirmed that: “It promotes general and complete disarmament and rejects the existence, proliferation or use of nuclear weapons, mass extermination or other similar effects, as well as the development and use of new weapons and new forms of warfare, such as cyberwarfare, that violate International Law.
At the initiative of Cuba, and with the support of the NAM, on September 26, 2013 the UN General Assembly held a High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament. At this meeting it was decided to convene an open-ended group that would address specific legal measures and binding provisions to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.
The Island signed the TPAN the same day it was opened for signature at the United Nations.
The region’s commitment to nuclear disarmament has been manifested in the Special Declarations of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and in the adoption of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco) .
Cuba’s position is based on the humanist thought of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz
• In this supreme and decisive hour for all peoples, it is precisely imperialism and not socialism that refuses to put an end to nuclear tests.

• I really think that no country in the world should have nuclear weapons, and that this energy should be put at the service of the human species.

• The noise of weapons, threatening language, and arrogance on the international scene must stop.

• In a nuclear war the collateral damage would be the life of humanity.

• Enough of the illusion that the world’s problems can be solved with nuclear weapons.

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