Indonesia becomes 156th country to ratify nuclear test ban treaty

[News_Editor]

Indonesia becomes 156th country to ratify nuclear test ban treaty

2011-12-07 03:06:29 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- The Indonesian parliament on Tuesday ratified a treaty which will ban all nuclear explosions in all environments and for all purposes, officials said, making it the 156th country to do so.

House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, who chaired the plenary session, confirmed that Indonesia's House of Representatives ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Support for the Treaty was unanimous across its nine parties.

"I am determined to ensure that Indonesia's decision today will create momentum to encourage others who are still holding out to do the right thing," said Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. "The only right thing is to ratify the CTBT now, no more procrastination, no more delaying because it is right, it is proper and it makes a more secure world."

With the addition of Indonesia, a total of 182 countries have now signed the Treaty and 156 of them have also ratified it. Approval is still needed from the United States, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, Iran, North Korea and Egypt for the CTBT to take effect.

Tibor Tóth, head of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), congratulated Indonesian parliamentarians for bringing the CTBT "a significant step closer to becoming global law." "By this historic decision, the gap keeping the Treaty from entering into force has been narrowed down to eight countries," he said.

Hemly Fauzy, the Indonesian Parliament’s coordinator for the CTBT ratification process, previously said that the Indonesian government will use its good relations in Asia and the Middle East to promote the Treaty at the highest political level. "We want our country to be at the vanguard of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation," Fauzy said.

Indonesia also hosts six seismic stations which are part of the CTBT's global alarm system monitoring the planet for any evidence of nuclear explosions. Seismic data from the network of facilities are also playing a growing role in providing warnings about tsunamis and can be used for other civil and scientific applications. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan in March, CTBT radionuclide monitors tracked fallout around the planet.

International leaders welcomed the ratification of the CTBT by the Indonesian government on Tuesday, including U.S. President Barack Obama who said the Treaty provides a 'strong example' of the positive leadership role Indonesia can play in the global effort to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

"The [CTBT] is a critical element of the international effort to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and I urge all states to sign and ratify the agreement so that it can be brought into force at the earliest possible date," Obama said. "The United States remains fully committed to pursuing ratification of the Test Ban Treaty and will continue to engage members of the Senate on the importance of this Treaty to U.S. security. America must lead the global effort to prevent proliferation, and adoption and early entry into force of the CTBT is a vital part of that effort."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Indonesia's ratification reinforces the international norm against nuclear explosive testing and sends an 'encouraging message' to the global effort to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. "The United States calls on all governments to declare or reaffirm their commitment not to conduct explosive nuclear tests, and we urge all states that have not yet ratified the treaty to join us in this effort," she said.

In the United Kingdom, which signed the Treaty in 1996 and ratified it in 1998, Foreign Secretary William Hague also welcomed the ratification. "This is a significant step towards the Treaty’s entry into force and to a global ban on nuclear weapon test explosions," he said. "I now call on the remaining eight states that need to ratify the treaty for it to enter into force to do so. I hope the Indonesian example of a change of direction in policy on the CTBT after 15 years will send a positive signal to them."

Hague added: "Putting in place a legally binding ban on nuclear test explosions is one of the Government's key disarmament and non-proliferation priorities: the UK was among the first to sign and ratify, and we contribute world-leading expertise to help build up the Treaty's verification regime. The Treaty's Entry into Force will strengthen our own national security and will strengthen global security - we will all be safer with this Treaty than without it."

At the United Nations in New York, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he also welcomes the Indonesian ratification. "The Secretary-General encourages all States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Treaty and is counting upon the engaged leadership of the remaining eight States whose ratification is required for the Treaty's entry into force," the spokesman said.

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