2015 NPT Review Conference
Every five years since 1970 member states of the Nuclear Non proliferation Treaty NPT meet at UN headquarter in New York to assess the implementation of the treaty, NPT Review Conference of 2015 hold from 27 April to 22 May 2015 at UN Headquarters in New York.
The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament, general and complete disarmament. The NPT represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States.
The 2015 Review Conference discussed a number of key issues, including: universality of the Treaty; nuclear disarmament, including specific practical measures; nuclear non-proliferation, including the promoting and strengthening of safeguards; measures to advance the peaceful use of nuclear energy, safety and security; regional disarmament and non-proliferation; implementation of the 1995 resolution on the Middle East; measures to address withdrawal from the Treaty; measures to further strengthen the review process; and ways to promote engagement with civil society in strengthening NPT norms and in promoting disarmament education.
One of the most significant challenges that faced the 2015 NPT review conference is the continued failure to implement the 1995 resolution on the Middle East Free zone of nuclear weapons and to uphold the decision from 2010 to convene a conference in 2012 on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) free zone in the Middle East . In December 2012 it became clear that the conference set for 2012 would be "postponed" and no new date was set.
The inability to hold a meeting on this topic reduce the confidence of many Middle Eastern states that remaining in the NPT is in their interests. It has facilitated a sense of mistrust and frustration that will only continue to escalate if progress is not made on this issue.
in this regards we saw the first walked out in the NPT's history of the 2013 NPT preparatory committee, when the Egyptian delegation said: "We cannot continue to attend meetings and agree on outcomes that do not get implemented, yet to be expected to abide by the concessions we gave for this outcome," , this attitude was evident of the mistrust of the Arab states.
The lack of any progress in implementing the 1995 resolution has caused great acrimony at NPT meetings and was one of the main reasons for the failure of the 2005 review conference. Therefore, the 2010 final document was a breakthrough, for the first time laying out concrete steps to be taken by the NPT depositaries and states in the region. That document mandated Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the UN secretary-general to convene in 2012 a conference to be attended by all states in the region on the establishment of a WMD-free zone in the Middle East, but as we mentioned before it was postponed to no date.
The Arab states and some of the other NPT parties have blamed the United States for the slow progress, accusing it of a lack of commitment to implementing the 1995 resolution and 2010 review conference decisions.
From the other hand , we found the 2015 conference regrets deeply that the conference on the establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction didn't take place in 2012 and reaffirms that it is necessary to double the efforts aimed at holding the conference at an early date.
In this regards we must highlight the actions that the review conference of 2015 agrees on it concerning the Middle East:
- Entrusts the Secretary General of the UN to convene the conference no later than 1 March 2016, to which all states of the Middle East will be invited. The conference will aim at launching a continuous process of negotiating and concluding a legally binding treaty establishing a MEFZ of nuclear weapons and all WMD on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at by the states of the region.
- The co sponsors will provide support for the preparatory process for the conference.
- The Secretary General of the UN, the Co-Sponsors of the 1995 resolution and all other states parties ensure that the conference will not be postponed.
- The conference urges all the states of the ME to engage in direct consultation through preparatory meetings, to reach a consensus on the agenda of the conference, and as soon as the agenda is agreed, the Secretary General of the UN will convene within 45 days.
- The conference shall define follow up steps leading to the establishment of a MEFZ
- The review conference further recognize the important role played by the civil society in contributing to the implementation of the 1995 resolution and encouraged all efforts in this regard.
Nuclear Security:
In this regard the conference reaffirms the central role of the International Agency of Atomic Energy in strengthening the nuclear security globally through controlling the nuclear materials, physical protection of nuclear and radioactive material.
Also the conference expresses concerns related to the threat of terrorism and the risk that non state actors might acquire nuclear weapons and their means of delivery, and encourages all states that haven't done to become parties to the international convention for the suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism as soon as possible.
As well as , the conference mention to the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a sharp reminder of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and the imminent danger to humanity posed by some 17300 bombs in the world today. And in this regards the conference reaffirms the importance of achieving nuclear disarmament.
Peaceful usage of nuclear energy:
The conference affirms the necessity to promote the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes (human health, society, and environment) without discrimination, and to facilitate transfer of nuclear technology and materials among states parties.
By :Christine Gamal- AAPSO