Amelia du Rand and Gugu Dube, Junior Researchers, Arms Management Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)

States Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and members from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), will convene in New York for the NPT Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) from 4 to 15 May 2009 in order to discuss key matters under consideration for the Review Conference (RevCon) in 2010. The prominent themes that will feature include:

• Reviewing the operation of the Treaty;

• Considering principles and objectives to promote full implementation;

• The universalisation of the Treaty;

• Establishing a reporting mechanism for nuclear disarmament as well as a standing NPT secretariat.

What is the NPT?

The NPT is a multilateral treaty, which opened for signature on the 1st of July 1968 and entered into force on the 5th of March 1970. With the principle aim of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and striving for global nuclear disarmament, the NPT is structured according to three pillars: Non-proliferation, Disarmament and Peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The NPT is unique due to the two distinct divisions of States Parties:

• Nuclear weapon states (NWS): Under the treaty they are defined as the five states [United States, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, France and China] which detonated a nuclear device before January 1967;

• Non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS): Under the treaty they are defined as those who never had, or who have given up their nuclear weapons.

 As required by the NPT, a review conference takes place every five years. In preparation for a RevCon, three PrepCom meetings are held to assess the implementation of each article of the NPT, and facilitate discussions among States with a view to making recommendations to the RevCon. The 2009 NPT PrepCom is of particular importance as it is the third and final PrepCom session preceding the 2010 RevCon.

 Why is the NPT important for Africa?

Historically, only three African states – Egypt, Libya and South Africa – have openly expressed an interest in joining the “nuclear club”, but all three countries abandoned their nuclear ambitions. South Africa, the only African country to have fully developed nuclear weapons and nuclear fuel chain, dismantled its nuclear weapons capabilities in 1990 and became a signatory to the NPT in 1991.

All African states are parties to the NPT, which reflects the continent’s commitment to the three pillars of the Treaty – non-proliferation, disarmament, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. African states and organisations have also proven their commitment to these tenets by passing several resolutions against nuclear weapons, for example against French nuclear tests in the Sahara desert in the early 1960s, and also by developing the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba), which opened for signature in 1996.

The Treaty of Pelindaba commits African countries not to manufacture, acquire, test, or possess nuclear weapons, and also facilitates the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes on the continent. It also includes a protocol for the five NWS to sign and ratify, and therefore to respect the status of the zone. This also ensures that NWS commit not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any African country thereby providing “negative security assurances” to African states. The Treaty of Pelindaba maintains and enhances Africa’s regional peace and security and promotes the global goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. The Treaty also contributes to the developmental imperatives facing the continent by, for example, regulating nuclear-related industries – such as uranium mining.

 Key Issues for Africa: Ensuring a Successful 2010 Review Cycle

 The Third PrepCom is particularly significant for Africa, as Ambassador Boniface Chidyausiku, Zimbabwe’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, has been elected to chair the 2009 meeting. This is an important position, as the PrepCom is the last process before the 2010 Review Conference. This position also ensures that he will chair Main Committee 1 of the RevCon in 2010, which deals with the crucial aspect of nuclear disarmament.

African states’ involvement in the 2010 NPT review cycle should reflect their recent participation in the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in November 2008, where a number of African states actively participated in the process, including the drafting and sponsoring of resolutions.

Therefore, in the lead up to, and during the 2009 PrepCom and the 2010 RevCon, African States should (amongst others):

• Actively support the Chair of the 2009 PrepCom, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador Chidyausiku, as he strives to ensure that States Parties co-operate in pursuit of common and agreed objectives to strengthen the future implementation of the NPT.

• Ensure that the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba) enters into force before the 2010 RevCon – given its importance as a key component to strengthen the objectives of the NPT.

• Assist and encourage NWS to accomplish the goal of total elimination of their nuclear arsenals.

• Support the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (which has been open for signature since September 1996).

• Reflect on the need for a simply phrased agenda for the NPT Review Conference –avoiding a situation where procedural arrangements and language become an issue to stall substantive discussions.

• Consider the need for an overhauled NPT process as a way to increase transparency, accountability and as an essential confidence-building measure.