Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones

Nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZ) offer non-nuclear-weapon states a practical path for obtaining legally binding negative security assurances. In the context of nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) diplomacy, such assurances are guarantees by the five NPT nuclear-weapon states not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against states that have formally renounced them.

Such guarantees have been a major goal of the 115 developing country members of the Nonaligned Movement that are also governed by the NPT. Often overlooked, however, is that nearly four-fifths of Nonaligned Movement members have or could soon obtain similar legal protection if they belong to such zones. Current or pending nuclear-weapon-free zones in Africa, Central Asia, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and South Pacific are governed by treaties that include some form of negative security assurance. The status of these zones-and the legal protection offered by nuclear-weapon states to them-is detailed below.

Latin America NWFZ

A nuclear-weapon-free zone was established in Latin America and the Caribbean by the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which was opened for signature in 1967. The treaty specified that the full zone would not enter into force until it was ratified by all states. That did not occur until 2002 with Cuba the last holdout; however, the treaty permitted individual states to waive that provision and declare themselves part of the zone, which many did beginning in 1968. All five nuclear-weapon states have ratified Protocol II of the treaty. Thus, all Nonaligned Movement members are fully covered by legally binding negative security assurances. The treaty has been ratified by all zonal states, including all Nonaligned Movement states-parties and observers in the region. Zonal states include Argentina, Haiti, and Si. Kitts and Nevis, which are neither Nonaligned Movement members nor observers. Nonaligned Movement members and observers in the zone are:

Antigua and Barbuda * Bahamas * Barbados * Belize * Bolivia * Brazil * Chile * Colombia * Costa Rica * Cuba * Dominica * Dominican Republic * Ecuador * El Salvador * Grenada * Guatemala * Guyana * Hondurus * Jamaica * Mexico * Nicaragua * Panama * Paraguay * Peru * Saint Lucia * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines * Suriname * Trinidad and Tobago * Uruguay * Venezuela

(Observer states are in italics)

South Pacific NWFZ

A nuclear-weapon-free zone was established in the South Pacific by the Treaty of Rarotonga, which was opened for signature in 1985 and entered into force in 1986. All of the NPT nuclear-weapon states but the United States have ratified Protocol II of the treaty, which provides negative security assurances to members of the zone. The United States signed the treaty in 1996, but has yet to submit the pact to the Senate for ratification. Therefore, all ratifying zonal states are partially protected by legally binding negative security assurances at this time. Two Nonaligned Movement states in the zone-Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu-have ratified the treaty. So have 11 other states-Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Nine, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Samoa. Three states that are NAM members-Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau-have not signed the treaty.

Unprotected States

The following member and observer states of the Nonaligned Movement do not belong to any current or currently planned nuclear-weapon-free zones. Therefore, they cannot benefit from the protection provided by the negative """ security assurances that some nuclear-weapon states have provided to some members of those zones:

Afghanistan * Armenia * Azerbaijan * Bahrain * Bangladesh * Belarus * Bhutan * China * Croatia * Cyprus * DPRK * India[double dagger] * Iran * Iraq * Jordan * Kuwait * Lebanon * Maldives * Malta * Mongoliaf * Nepal * Oman * Pakistantt * Qatar * Saudi Arabia * Serbia and Montenegro * Sri Lanka * Syrian Arab Republic * Timor Leste* Ukraine * United Arab Emirates * Yemen

* It is unclear whether Timor I este is covered by negative security assurances.

[dagger] Mongolia declared itsvlt a nuclear-*weapon-tree yoneon September 25. 1992, but has not asked the nuclear-weapon states to sign or ratity a legally binding non-use protocol. On October 27, 2000, however, the five NPT nuclear-weapon states sent identical letters to the UN General Assembly that reaffirmed in the case of Mongolia, thier respective unilaterial negative security assurances as stated in thier declaration issued on 5 and 6 April 1995 and reffered to in Security Council resolution 984 (1995) of 11 April 1995*

[double dagger] Not elegilbe for negative surity assurances via NWFZs. Pakistan and India possess nuclear weapons.

(Observer states are in italics)

Central Asia NWFZ

On Feb. 7, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan met to negotiate a treaty establishing a Central Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone. Although a draft of the treaty was agreed upon, no opening date for signature has yet been announced. The agreement comes eight years after the five former Soviet republics committed themselves to create such a zone in the 1997 Almaty Declaration.

The countries have delayed signing the treaty because the five nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty nuclear-weapon states have yet to endorse it. Although the nuclear-weapon states' approval of the treaty is not required, the countries see it as desirable as it would offer them some measure of the protection provided by negative security assurances. The United States, France, and the United Kingdom have expressed some reservations about the treaty, including how the treaty affects the shipment of weapons-related fissile materials through the zone and interacts with existing regional security pacts. There is also concern about the relationship between a treaty provision that the zone could be extended and the fact that countries bordering the zone have nuclear weapons or are thought to be pursuing them. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan belong to the Nonaligned Movement, while Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are observers.

Southeast Asia NWFZ

A nuclear-weapon-free zone was established in Southeast Asia by the Treaty of Bangkok, which was opened for signature in 1995 and entered into force in 1997. All of the NPT nuclear-weapon states have refrained from signing the non-use protocol to the Southeast Asian NWFZ. Their objections stem principally from concerns over the reach of the zone to include exclusive economic zones and continental shelf ocean areas, and the potential impact this might have as precedent in areas affecting freedom of navigation. Although China announced in April 2004 that it had "reached agreement" with the members of this NWFZ on the treaty and protocol, it has not yet signed nor ratified the latter.

In particular, nuclear-weapon states are concerned that the broad definition would set a precedent effectively prohibiting the transit of nuclear weapons by them through these zones. They are also worried that the non-use protections of the protocol might extend to other, non-zonal states that might be operating in those ocean areas; China has a no-first use policy that it applies universally and is, therefore, less concerned about this issue. All of the members of the zone are members of the Nonaligned Movement. They are:

Brunei Darussalam * Cambodia * Indonesia * Laos * Malaysia * Myanmar * Philippines * Singapore * Thailand * Vietnam

Africa NWFZ

African nations agreed to create a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Treaty of Pelindaba, which was opened for signature in 1996. But the treaty has not entered into force because of the failure to obtain the 28 required ratifications. Only 19 of 52 signatories, all members of the Nonaligned Movement, have ratified the pact. And Somalia has neither signed nor ratified the treaty. Therefore, while some zonal states are partially protected by negative security assurances, none enjoys full protection. Moreover, only three of five nuclear-weapon states-China, France, and the United Kingdom-have ratified the treaty's non-use protocol.

There are several concerns about the agreement. Along with signing its protocol on the non-use of nuclear-weapons in the zone, the united States included a declaration that it would reserve the right to respond with all options-implying the use of nuclear weapons-to a chemical or biological weapons attack by a member of the zone. A dispute also exists over the inclusion of the Chagos Archipelago, which includes the U.S. military base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, as part of the zone. Nonaligned Movement members of the zone can be broken down into those who have ratified the treaty; those that have signed, but not ratified; and those that have not signed nor ratified. They are:

Ratified: Algeria * Botswana * Burkina Faso * Cote d'Ivoire * Equatorial Guinea * Gambia * Guinea * Kenya * Lesotho * Madagascar * Mali * Mauritania * Mauritius * Nigeria * South Africa * Swaziland * Togo * United Republic of Tanzania * Zimbabwe

Signed, Not Ratified: Angola * Benin * Burundi * Cameroon * Cape Verde * Central African Republic * Chad * Comoros * Congo * Democratic Republic of the Congo * Djibouti * Egypt * Eritrea * Ethiopia * Gabon * Ghana * Guinea-Bissau * Liberia * Libya * Malawi * Morocco * Mozambique * Namibia * Niger * Rwanda * Sao Tome and Principe * Senegal * Seychelles * Sierra Leone * Sudan * Tunisia * Uganda * Zambia

Neither signed, nor ratified; Somalia

Sources: Agency for the Prohibitation of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPTIONAL), African Union, Arms Control Association, and the United Nations