RI voices NAM`s concern about nuclear weapons threat

As the Coordinator of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)`s Working Group on Disarmament, Indonesia has been very active in voicing the grouping`s concern about the threat of nuclear weapon to humanity. At the General Debate of the 2008 United Nations Disarmament Commission New York, in April 2008, Dr. Marty M. Natalegawa, who was at that time Indonesia`s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on behalf of NAM, stressed that progress in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in all its aspects is essential to the strengthening of international peace and security. NAM again reiterated the call for the realization of a world which is free from nuclear weapons at the General Debate on All Disarmament and International Security Agenda Items of the UN General Assembly`s First Committee on October 4, 2010. "NAM States Parties to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) commend the efforts of the President of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, and consider that although imperfect, `Conclusions and Recommendations for Follow-on actions` of the Conference represent an outcome that can be built upon and further enhanced in the near future, to realize a world free from nuclear weapons," Hasan Kleib, Indonesian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said on behalf of NAM at the UN meeting last year. NAM underlined that the total elimination of nuclear weapons was the only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. "The Movement emphasizes the necessity to start negotiations, as soon as possible, in the Conference on Disarmament on a phased program for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons with a specified framework of time, including a Nuclear Weapons Convention. The aim should be the complete elimination of nuclear weapons by 2025," the Indonesian diplomat said. The NAM on the final day of its 16th Ministerial Meeting in Bali, May 2011 issued a Statement on "the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons" calling for the nuclear weapon disarmament for the sake of preserving world peace. The NAM ministers attending the Bali meeting reiterated their deep concern over the nuclear weapons threat to humanity, and therefore, the total banning of nuclear weapons in the world was a priority of NAM. The Movement also intended to organize a summit to identify ways and facilities to abolish nuclear weapons as early as possible. "The Ministers, in the framework of the 50th Anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement, declared their firm commitment to work for convening a high level international conference to identify ways and means of eliminating nuclear weapons at the earlier possible date, with the objective of an agreement on a phased program for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons with a specified framework of time, to prohibit their development, production, acquisition, testing, stockpiling, transfer, use of threat of use, and to provide for their destruction," the NAM statement stated. The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries was founded at the First Summit Conference of Belgrade, on September 1-6, 1961. The Conference was attended by 25 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Yemen, Myanmar, Cambodia, Srilanka, Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yugoslavia. Indonesia itself has been committed to realizing a nuclear-free world. Foreign Affairs Minister announced the country`s pledge to ratify Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), at the opening of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), in New York, on May 3, 2010. Minister Marty Natalegawa attended the conference in two capacities, namely as representative of the Indonesian government and on behalf of the 120-member NAM that are party to NPT. Indonesia`s step is expected to generate a domino effect inspiring the eight countries which have not yet shown their intention to ratify the Treaty. CTBT bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996 but it has not entered into force. Indonesia`s declaration means CTBT needs only eight more ratifications - China, Egypt, the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea (DPRK), India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States - before it can enter into force. Of the eight countries, China, Egypt, North Korea, India, Iran and Pakistan are members of NAM. The NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), which came into force in 1970, is one of the United Nations` main set of rules regarding nuclear disarmament and the prevention of proliferation. A total of 190 states are party to the treaty, but some nations that are known or believed to possess nuclear weapons have not endorsed it. When a delegation of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI)`s Commission I led by Muhammad Najib, at the Secretariat of Preparatory Commission Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna, last May 2011, CTBTO Executive Secretary Tibor Toth called on Indonesia to help invite other NAM member countries to also ratify the CTBT. In the CTBT context, Indonesia`s ratification would add visibility to global efforts to bring the treaty into force. It could also help create positive momentum in the United States and underline the need for public debate in the remaining states, particularly in China and among the NAM. A ratification announcement by Indonesia would demonstrate goodwill and commitment of a leading NAM country to both nonproliferation and disarmament, and strengthen the NAM`s hand in pressing for more progressive language on disarmament in the final document.