Letter to CTBT Signers and CTBT Hold-Outs from NGOs

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

LETTER TO CTBT SIGNERS AND CTBT HOLD-OUTS FROM NGOS

THIS LETTER IS ADDRESSED TO THE CTBT SIGNERs:

Dear Head of State/Foreign Minister/Ambassador,

As you know, the Second Conference on Accelerating CTBT Entry into Force will be held in New York, September 25-27, 2001.

We, the below signed representatives of non-governmental organisations and world civil society, urge you to use this opportunity to express your support for this vital nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation tool and to take action to secure the ratifications necessary for CTBT entry into force.

Five years after it opened for signature, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has not entered into force. While 160 states have signed the Treaty and 76 have ratified, the Treaty specifies that the 44 nuclear capable states must ratify before the Treaty enters into force. There are 13 states that must still sign and/or ratify, including: Algeria, China, Colombia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel, Pakistan, United States of America, Viet Nam.

We urge you to speak at the conference on behalf of your government and, at every appropriate opportunity, we respectfully urge you to call on the remaining CTBT hold-out states to take prompt action toward ratification. The political opportunity presented by the Conference should also be used to urge those states with active nuclear weapon research programmes and test sites to take actions that would reinforce the CTBT and support its goals, such as maintaining their existing test moratoria pending CTBT entry into force, refraining from activities at test sites that might be construed as CTBT violations, halting research, development and production of new nuclear warheads or modifying of existing bomb designs to give them new military capabilities.

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation in Vienna has made significant progress in setting up the International Monitoring System and International Data Center so that the CTBT's verification system is ready for the entry into force of the treaty. The IMS, together with national technical means and ten of thousands of civilian monitoring stations, will effectively detect and deter would-be testers, and therefore, will build confidence between all nations that nuclear testing has stopped.

Ms/r. ___________, public opinion polls conducted around the world indicate overwhelming support for the CTBT and the total elimination of all nuclear weapons. Indeed, 182 non-nuclear weapon states parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty welcomed the unequivocal commitment to this end by the nuclear weapon states at the 2000 NPT Review Conference. The CTBT has long been held as the first crucial step towards the nuclear disarmament goal. Should the CTBT not enter into force, all the enormous efforts on the part of governments and NGOs would be lost, and international security will be severely diminished.

Sincerely,

THIS LETTER IS ADDRESSED TO THE CTBT HOLD-OUTs:

Dear Head of State/Foreign Minister/Ambassador,

As you know, the Second Conference on Accelerating CTBT Entry into Force will be held in New York, September 25-27, 2001.

We, the below signed representatives of non-governmental organisations and world civil society, urge you to use this opportunity to express your support for this vital nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation tool and to take action toward ratification of this vital disarmament and non-proliferation tool.

Five years after it opened for signature, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has unfortunately not entered into force. While 160 states have signed the Treaty and 76 have ratified, the Treaty specifies that the 44 nuclear capable states must ratify before the Treaty enters into force. There are 13 states that must still sign and/or ratify including yours: Algeria, China, Colombia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel, Pakistan, United States of America, Viet Nam.

Prior to CTBT entry into force, states with active nuclear weapon research programmes and test sites to take actions that would reinforce the CTBT and support its goals, such as maintaining their existing test moratoria pending CTBT entry into force, refraining from activities at test sites that might be construed as CTBT violations, halting research, development and production of new nuclear warheads or modifying of existing bomb designs to give them new military capabilities.

Sincerely,