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NPT Parties Criticized on Disarmament, Nonproliferation Compliance By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — A meeting of the parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty began this morning with some of the most forceful advocates of nuclear disarmament criticizing countries for failing to meet both the nonproliferation and disarmament obligations of the treaty (see GSN, April 23). “The achievement of nuclear disarmament is not an option, but a legal obligation” under the treaty, said Mexican Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba. New Zealand’s Minister for Disarmament, Marian Hobbs, said, “There is no scope for selective or deferred compliance” with the disarmament obligations. Speaking for the New Agenda, a coalition of seven countries that is promoting a nuclear disarmament agenda within the NPT framework, de Alba said, “We remain convinced that nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament are mutually reinforcing processes that require continuous and irreversible progress on both fronts.” The New Agenda countries are Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden. In an obvious reference to the U.S. strategic doctrine, he said plans to develop new nuclear weapons or “rationalizations for their use contradict the spirit of the NPT.” In addition, modernizing weapons would “raise concern that nuclear testing might resume,” which would be “a retrograde step,” said de Alba. On the nonproliferation side of the issue, de Alba said the New Agenda welcomed steps by Iran and Libya concerning their nuclear programs and called on North Korea to reverse its decision to leave the treaty. The New Agenda also called on India, Pakistan and Israel — the nuclear weapon states outside of the NPT — to join the treaty and open their nuclear sites to international inspection. Hobbs said “concern with nuclear proliferation is entirely proper” but “the cause of nonproliferation will be given its greatest multilateral boost through nuclear disarmament.” Nuclear weapon states’ refusal to pursue disarmament creates “a permissive attitude for proliferators,” she added. The five nuclear weapons states parties to the treaty — the United States, United Kingdom, China, France and Russia — are scheduled to address the meeting later during the two-day general debate. This annual two-week session is meant to lay the groundwork for next year’s review conference, which is held every five years to examine how well the parties are meeting their treaty obligations.
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