Global support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) continues to grow, with Indonesia, Sierra Leone and the Solomon Islands ratifying the landmark agreement at a high-level ceremony in New York on Tuesday (24 September). There are now 73 states parties and a further 25 signatories. Indonesia becomes the largest state party by population.
The ceremony was held two days after the international community adopted the Pact for the Future, which included a commitment to advance the goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons. “A nuclear war would visit devastation upon all humankind and we must make every effort to avert the danger of such a war,” UN member states agreed.
Indonesia’s ratification
According to the Indonesian government, its decision to ratify the TPNW alignedwith its constitutional mandate to promote peace and security, and sent a clear message to the world that “the possession and use of nuclear weapons cannot be justified for any reason”.
Indonesia’s parliament, or People’s Representative Council, unanimously approved ratification of the treaty in November 2023. The Indonesian foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, concluded the country’s ratification process by depositing the instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, at the ceremony in New York.
Indonesia has already established supportive laws and regulations to accommodate the treaty into its national regulation system, according to the foreign ministry.
Following the parliamentary approval last year, Marsudi said: “I hope that more countries will ratify the TPNW to put pressure on nuclear-possessing countries and also to create strong anti-nuclear weapons norms.”
One of the academics who participated in the parliamentary process was Muhadi Sugiono, from the Institute of International Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada, which is an ICAN partner organisation. He welcomed Indonesia’s ratification as “hugely significant”.
“By ratifying the TPNW, Indonesia is asserting its right to exist in peace, free from the shadow of nuclear threats. It’s sending a strong message to other states, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, that nuclear weapons are totally unacceptable and illegal,” he said.
“It’s a principled position, based on respect for international law and a recognition of the catastrophic harm that nuclear weapons inflict across national boundaries. And it’s consistent with Indonesia’s long record of advocacy for nuclear disarmament as a leading member of the Non-Aligned Movement,” he added.
Indonesia’s stance is also in line with that of many of its neighbours. It is the seventh member of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ratify the treaty, after Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia and the Philippines.
ICAN’s executive director, Melissa Parke, praised Indonesia for its action. “This is a very significant, welcome development for the treaty, and for international security,” she said. “Indonesia has shown principled leadership in the field of nuclear disarmament at a time when the world is facing growing nuclear risks.”
According to the Indonesian government, the TPNW provides a “legal framework to delegitimise nuclear weapons” and raises “moral barriers against their threat”. Joining it allows countries to be “part of the positive force towards global nuclear disarmament”.
Indonesia considers the total abolition of nuclear weapons as necessary “for humanity to thrive and prevail”, and it has pledged to “aim for the universalisation of the [TPNW]” – bringing all countries on board – in order to achieve disarmament.
Indonesia participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption. In its opening statement to the negotiating conference, it argued for a shift in nuclear disarmament to emphasise the “humanitarian imperative” and “render the deterrence doctrine obsolete”.
Sierra Leone’s ratification
Sierra Leone is the 17th African state to ratify the TPNW. Timothy Musa Kabba, the minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation of Sierra Leone, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification at the high-level ceremony in New York.
Sierra Leone has expressed hope that the TPNW will “end the long impasse” in multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations “to achieve the goal of total elimination of nuclear weapons”.
“It is more important now than ever that world leaders speak out against nuclear weapons, and work together to strengthen international legal norms against their development, retention, use and threat of use by any state.”
The parliament of Sierra Leone approved ratification of the TPNW earlier this year.
Abdul M Fatoma, the chief executive of the Campaign for Human Rights and Development International, an ICAN partner organisation in Sierra Leone, congratulated the government on its action.
“Sierra Leone’s ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is an important contribution to peace and sustainable development,” he said. “Nuclear weapons threaten our fundamental human rights and contribute to global instability.”
Sierra Leone participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.
Solomon Islands’ signature and ratification
Peter Shanel Agovaka, the minister of foreign affairs and external trade of the Solomon Islands, signed the TPNW at the high-level ceremony in New York and deposited the country’s instrument of ratification at the same time. The Solomon Islands is the 11th Pacific island state to join the TPNW.
“This is amazing news for all the young people in the Solomon Islands who have worked tirelessly to promote this outcome,” said Maverick Peter Seda from the Malaita Provincial Youth Council, an ICAN partner organisation in the Solomon Islands, and Reverse the Trend, a youth initiative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. “We are committed to the goal of a nuclear-free Pacific and world.”
Stemming from their past experiences, Pacific island states have been vocal advocates for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. More than 300 nuclear test explosions were conducted in the Pacific region by the United States, the United Kingdom and France between 1946 and 1996, with devastating health and environmental consequences.
The Solomon Islands participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.
