NGO to launch initiative for Swiss adoption of nuclear weapons treaty
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is launching a people’s initiative to get Switzerland to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/ac
ICAN plans to work on the exact content of the initiative by the end of the year in order to begin the preliminary examination by the Federal Chancellery at the beginning of 2024. According to the Geneva-based alliance, it is convinced that Switzerland can and should make an important contribution to the global abolition of nuclear weapons.
Switzerland is already a member of the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This treaty includes a ban on the proliferation of nuclear weapons, a commitment to disarmament and the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Last year, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force alongside the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Switzerland is not a signatory of this treaty. The official and de facto nuclear powers as well as the NATO states, with the exception of the Netherlands, did not take part in the negotiations and did not sign the treaty.
As an observer state, the question arises as to whether this new treaty can find its place in the architecture built around the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, said Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in New York in August.
The Federal Council argues that it could be counterproductive if the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as a universally recognised instrument for nuclear disarmament, were to be burdened by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
University students in Switzerland join Gaza protest wave
This content was published on
Pro-Palestinian activists occupied university buildings in Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich on Tuesday, widening the protest movement in the Alpine nation.
TradeXBank to resume full operations after Sberbank Switzerland taken off sanctions list
This content was published on
TradeXBank, the former Swiss branch of Russia’s Sberbank, will be able to resume its dollar-denominated activities from the second half of this year.
Geneva decides not to remove controversial memorials
This content was published on
The city of Geneva has presented an action plan regarding a series of controversial local statues and monuments of historical figures linked to racism, colonialism or slavery.
University of Lausanne calls for end to pro-Palestine sit-in
This content was published on
The pro-Palestinian occupation continues at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). On Monday evening, a group of students refused to agree to the deadline set by the rectorate.
Ukraine peace conference should include Russia, says Chinese ambassador
This content was published on
China supports a peace conference on the Ukraine war that would see equal participation of all parties, says Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui.
This content was published on
A majority of Swiss citizens have open attitudes towards various infertility treatments, including even egg donation, which is currently prohibited.
Reports of Swiss cyber fraud almost doubled in six months
This content was published on
The head of the new Federal Office for Cybersecurity (FOC), Florian Schütz, has presented a new strategy after just over four months in office.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.