African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty

The Treaty of Pelindaba is an international treaty banning the testing, siting, possession and manufacture of nuclear weapons in Africa. He was signed by the first states in Pelindaba in South Africa on 11 April 1996. At the first official meeting of the Organization of African Unity ( OAU) in 1964, such an agreement had been demanded. Depositary was originally under Article 21 of the Treaty, the General Secretariat of the OAU, since 2002, it is the General Secretariat of its successor the African Union.

The agreement took effect on 15 July 2009 with the deposit of the 28th instrument of ratification. The contract was, with the exception of independent only since 2011, Southern Sudan, as well as the AU Non- Member Morocco signed by all members of the African Union ( 54 countries including the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic ) and has been (as of April 2013) ratified by 36 States. These are:

In 1996 it was announced that the African states of the Arab world will not ratify the treaty until Israel has destroyed all nuclear weapons and allow inspections. Contrary to this statement, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania and Tunisia have already ratified the treaty but.

Diego Garcia and the protocols

The contract contains three protocols. The first protocol can be signed and ratified by the five official nuclear powers, and obliged to apply them, among other things, towards the Member States of the Treaty, nuclear weapons or to threaten their use, and does not contribute to a violation of the contract. The second protocol is also open for these five states and additionally obliged to carry out any nuclear weapon tests in the territory or to support such a test. The third protocol relates to France and Spain, which have territories in the territory for which they are de jure or de facto, responsible, and leads to the ratification application of some essential provisions in these areas.

The United Kingdom has ratified the first and second protocol to the treaty, however, explicitly stated at the signing of the protocols that an application of the Treaty to the British Indian Ocean Territory, ie on Diego Garcia, refuses. The U.S., the use of Diego Garcia as a military base, have these two protocols also signed, but not ratified: in May 2011 led President Obama both logs to the U.S. Senate with a request for ratification.

Russia refused until 2011 to ratify the Protocols because they wanted included Diego Garcia; took place in March 2011, the ratification of the two protocols recognizing the exception Diego Garcia, however, Russia is expressly reserves the use of nuclear weapons in Africa, as far as Russia itself is attacked with nuclear weapons, or such an attack is imminent, when an African country involved in the attack is, or a African state has formed an alliance with the aggressor against Russia.

China has the first and second protocol signed and ratified. France has ratified all three protocols, but only on the third of reservations. Spain has the third protocol neither signed nor ratified.

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