Chair, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings that killed hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, boys and girls and obliterated large parts of the two cities. With the vast majority of hospitals destroyed and medical personnel killed or injured, assisting those who initially survived was nearly impossible.
We must not only remember the past but learn from it and take urgent action to prevent the unspeakable from happening again.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), along with the other components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, has been calling for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons since 1945, when we witnessed first-hand their horrific impact.
Fifty-five years after the entry into force of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the existence of nuclear weapons continues to cast its dark shadow over the future of humanity. Despite hard-won progress over the past few decades, the world now seems to be walking backwards and away from the goal of nuclear disarmament.
Instead of arsenal reductions, we see their ongoing modernization. Instead of new bilateral nuclear disarmament arrangements, we see the erosion of existing ones. Instead of concrete risk-reduction measures, nuclear-armed States are changing their doctrines to lower the threshold for such use. Instead of serious non-proliferation efforts, we hear unbridled rhetoric and visions of extended nuclear deterrence and expanded nuclear umbrellas.
Nuclear threats have become commonplace. Such threats are abhorrent to the principles of humanity and the dictates of public conscience. They also have a strong destabilizing effect: they fuel the arms race and incentivize proliferation, leading States to consider extended deterrence arrangements or even the development or acquisition of nuclear weapons. We are already seeing these consequences play out in several parts of the world.
Taking place against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions and ongoing armed conflicts, these alarming developments have significantly increased the risk that nuclear weapons may be used deliberately or accidentally. History and science both show that any use of nuclear weapons would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences to which no State or international organization is capable of responding, and it is extremely doubtful that they could ever be used in accordance with international humanitarian law (IHL).
Chair,
We are on a collision course the consequences of which may be irreversible.
So what do we do to change direction?
First, take urgent risk-reduction measures to prevent the deliberate or unintentional use of nuclear weapons. This requires not only following through with a plethora of commitments and undertakings under the NPT – progress on which is so far sorely lacking – but also reversing in words and in deeds all of the recent trends that run counter to the goal of nuclear disarmament.
Second, condemn and stigmatize nuclear threats. Nuclear threats are inconsistent with the object and purpose of the NPT, undermine nuclear disarmament and are now expressly prohibited under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Consistent and unified condemnation by the international community discourages nuclear threats, lowers the risk of escalation and strengthens the nuclear taboo, thus effectively reducing the risk of nuclear-weapon use.
Third, further strengthen the evidence-base by conducting, supporting and prioritizing research into the various immediate and long-term impacts of nuclear-weapon use and testing. Such continued research provides a crucial basis for humanitarian preparedness and response, for upholding the rights of affected individuals and communities, and for assessing whether nuclear weapons could ever be used in compliance with IHL. A good step in this direction is the recently adopted United Nations General Assembly resolution establishing a panel of experts to examine the climatic, environmental and radiological effects of nuclear war, and their impacts on public health, global socio-economic systems, agriculture and ecosystems.
And last, continue raising awareness of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and using such knowledge to inform debates and decision-making. This can in itself be an effective risk-reduction measure. When governments, the media and the general public understand the immediate and long-term consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, it inspires caution and builds support for progress on disarmament.
Chair,
We cannot let humankind go any further down the current disastrous path. There is no more time to lose, and I urge all the States party to the NPT to work in unison to urgently achieve meaningful progress in the implementation of this treaty.
The ICRC and the entire International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement stand ready to support you in this effort. Together we must take a decisive step towards a world free from nuclear weapons.
Thank you.
We acknowledge Source link for the information.
