International humanitarian law looks threadbare at the moment, not least because the cynicism behind much of the “rule-based international order” rhetoric from major world players has been further exposed by Gaza. Yet our very survival, in the face of existential threats, depends on the sincerity, agreement and co-operation which is its very basis, so it is not a time to give up, but a time to repair, restore and renew. It is precisely in this scenario that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) has its place. The Treaty entered into force three years ago. It prohibits nations which have acceded to it from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory. It also prohibits them from assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in any of these activities.
As of this month 70 UN states have formally bound themselves to its provisions and 93 have taken the initial step of signing. Whenever the Treaty is on the agenda of the UN General Assembly is regularly has the support of around 130 states. Year by year it is growing in strength and credibility. Its emergence has led major financial institutions across the globe to cease investing in nuclear weapons. It has effected significant changes in the public and political discourse around nuclear weapons. It has acquired popular assent even with nuclear-armed states. It is regarded as a possible model for responding to the climate crisis, since it has mobilised those at the sharp end of a particular threat to challenge the behaviour of those powerful nations that present it.
The Treaty is founded on the long-standing principles of humanitarian law (from the 7th century Adomnan of Iona’s Law of Innocents onward) which are so blatantly disregarded right now.
From the Preamble:
“Basing themselves on the principles and rules of international humanitarian law, in particular the principle that the right of parties to an armed conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited, the rule of distinction, the prohibition against indiscriminate attacks, the rules on proportionality and precautions in attack, the prohibition on the use of weapons of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering, and the rules for the protection of the natural environment,”
For us in Scotland the TPNW is an opportunity to contribute again to the repair and rebuilding of the basic laws of humanity, whether as an independent state able to banish nuclear weapons from our shores and cause the UK to disarm, or by showing our readiness right now to join the majority world in its aspiration for a world free of that catastrophic scourge. There are ample opportunities in 2024 for people, institutions and government to express our complete intolerance of the risks and shame of what is being prepared at Faslane and Coulport.