MEDIA BRIEFING
Geneva, Switzerland
17 January 2017
Background
On Friday 20 January, Donald Trump will be given control over the United States'
nuclear arsenal, constituting 6,800 American nuclear weapons, several thousand
of which are ready to be launched in minutes.
And these are not just weapons stored in missile silos in the middle of America,
Donald Trump will also gain the ability to authorize the use of nuclear weapons
stored in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, as well as those
on submarines which are constantly 'patrolling' the world’s oceans.
Each one of these could trigger unprecedented humanitarian suffering, with
consequences far beyond what any national or international relief agency could
provide any meaningful humanitarian assistance to.
Trump has already said a lot about nuclear weapons, from suggesting he’d be
okay with Japan or Saudi Arabia developing their own bombs, to suggesting that
he’d be prepared to use nuclear weapons in Europe, to indicating willingness to
engage in a new nuclear arms race.
However, in reports about Donald Trump and nuclear weapons, there is rarely
any mention of one of the most significant developments on nuclear weapons in
recent years: the upcoming international negotiations of a prohibition on nuclear
weapons.
Historic process to prohibit nuclear weapons in 2017
At the same time as the United States prepares for Donald Trump's inauguration
and takeover of the nuclear launch codes, the rest of the world is preparing to
prohibit nuclear weapons, in the same way as the international community
successfully prohibited biological and chemical weapons, landmines and cluster
munitions.
On 23 December 2016, governments voted at the UN General Assembly to
launch negotiations of a new treaty that will prohibit nuclear weapons in 2017.
The negotiating conference will be held on 27 - 31 March, and 15 June - 7 July at
the United Nations headquarters in New York, and aims to conclude an
international legally binding instrument that will prohibit the use and possession of
nuclear weapons.
For more information about these negotiations, please click here.
The negotiations will not be carried out with consensus rules nor will it need
approval from the Security Council. This means that none of the nuclear-armed
states are in a position to block this treaty.
This development is in direct opposition to the worrying comments by Donald
Trump and Vladimir Putin regarding a new nuclear arms race and their calls to
“strengthening nuclear arsenals”, and instead aims to create a historic
breakthrough in the 70-year-long efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Why a ban?
Nuclear weapons are the most destructive weapon ever created and cannot
distinguish between civilian and military targets. Their effects are inhumane and
indiscriminate, and would violate international humanitarian law. In addition, the
radioactive fallout and long-term effects mean that any use of nuclear weapons
can also harm people in regions far away from the area of detonation as well as
the children and grandchildren of survivors.
Yet they are not prohibited by an international treaty. Some regulations and
partial legal measures exist, but no clear ban has been put in place similar to
those for chemical and biological weapons, landmines and cluster munitions.
ICAN has campaigned for a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons since 2007, and
believes it can be done even without the participation of the nuclear armed
states.
The ban treaty is supported by over 130 states, the United Nations, the
International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, religious leaders
around the world such as the Pope, the World Health Federation, international
trade unions, and civil society coalitions and organisations like ICAN, Amnesty
International, Oxfam, Greenpeace and many more.
Despite opposition by the nuclear-armed states, a ban will establish an
international norm against the possession of nuclear weapons. Such a treaty will
help to reduce the perceived value of such weapons. It will highlight which states
believe nuclear weapons are unacceptable and illegitimate, and which states
believe nuclear weapons are legitimate and able to provide security.
As has been clearly demonstrated in other processes, the normative impacts of
the prohibition treaties are not limited to the countries which sign the treaty. The
fact that there is broad acceptance of the principles in treaties which prohibit
chemical, biological, landmines and cluster munitions even by non-signatories is
evidence of the normative power of prohibition treaties based on humanitarian
principles.
A ban on nuclear weapons would create a global norm against nuclear weapons,
which would not only put pressure on both nuclear-armed and non-nuclear
weapon states to reject nuclear weapons permanently, but it would also set the
stage for future progress in nuclear-armed states if their domestic political
situation changes.
A ban on nuclear weapons will not necessarily mean disarming nuclear weapons.
This treaty is not a technical arms control treaty, but a treaty with normative
impact based on international humanitarian law.
Got questions about the ban treaty and how it would work? Visit our Frequently
Asked Questions.
Key dates and important events on nuclear weapons in the coming year
20 January – Donald Trump inauguration. Washington DC.
26 January – The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announces its “Doomsday
Clock” prediction, usually with references to current progress or setbacks on
nuclear weapons. Washington DC.
16 February – Organisational meeting at the United Nations in New York for the
negotiating conference, where the Chair of the negotiations and the rest of the
bureau will be elected.
27-31 March – First session of the negotiations of the treaty prohibiting nuclear
weapons, United Nations, New York
15 June – 7 July – Second session of the negotiations of the treaty prohibiting
nuclear weapons, United Nations, New York.
Contact information and interview possibilities:
Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director.
Phone: +41 78 613 0472
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @beafihn, @nuclearban
ICAN also works closely with networks of survivors of the nuclear bombs in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki and nuclear testing. We are happy to provide you with
contact information and set up interviews with survivors that can give a personal
account of what nuclear weapons and their consequences are about.
Images


Images from the UN General Assembly
ICAN images for media
All images can be used freely by media, please credit ICAN and any
photographer listed under the image.
About ICAN
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a global
campaign coalition working to mobilize people in all countries to inspire, persuade
and pressure their governments to initiate and support negotiations for a treaty
banning nuclear weapons.
ICAN has worked closely with governments on this process since the Oslo
conference, and campaigns in about 100 countries to ensure that this treaty
becomes a reality.