As the threat of nuclear war looms on the horizon once again, we must ask ourselves why the Spanish state refuses to sign the NPT. The decision does not belong to our alleged rulers, but to NATO.
By Ovidio Bustillo García and Enrique Quintanilla Alboreca
In 2014 the United Nations declared 26 September as the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The celebration is little known and much less celebrated because the nuclear issue, like everything military, is part of the secrets of states and it is not convenient to inform or alert the population about its risks, but the recent war in Ukraine has brought us back to the reality of the existence of nuclear weapons capable of mortgaging life on the planet and also of the serious risks involved in the existence of nuclear power plants. There is certainly not much to celebrate, but it is an opportunity to address the reality of nuclear weapons, their risks, and the ways forward.
Hiroshima, a crime without condemnation
The first atomic bomb was dropped by the US military on the city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Three days afterwards it dropped another bomb on Nagasaki. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people were “lucky” enough to die instantly, as many more died in the following days amid terrible suffering from radiation and burns, unable to be helped because the health services were also destroyed, and thousands more would go on to die, suffering permanent sequelae or being born with malformations.
Not only has such a crime against the civilian population never been officially condemned, as there is no one to judge it, but we have not learned the lesson or taken steps to ensure that it does not happen again. That is why, 77 years later, the nuclear threat is more alive than ever. There are some 12,700 nuclear weapons in the possession of nine countries with a destructive potential far greater than that of Hiroshima. About two thousand, almost all of them in Russia and the US, are kept on high operational alert. States have very few minutes to react to a hypothetical nuclear attack with modern hypersonic rockets, so tension is at its highest in situations like the one we are living through in Ukraine. The possibility of an accident, miscalculation, misinterpretation or political delirium leading to a nuclear catastrophe is very high. We know that there have been numerous accidents, such as in Palomeras (Almeria). It has been truly fortunate that there has not been a nuclear war disaster since 1945 and, for what it is worth, we should no longer tempt fate.
The NPT prohibits the use, development, testing, production, acquisition, possession and stockpiling of nuclear weapons.
Not everyone is sitting on their hands. Hibakusha (survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki), victims of nuclear tests conducted by colonial states far from their metropolis, peace activists, human rights defenders, people of different faiths… announced in Vienna in 2007 the formation of ICAN (Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), which in 2017 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It now has some 500 member organisations in more than 100 countries.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
ICAN was the driving force behind the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (NPT, the wording of which you can download in this pdf), which, after hard diplomatic work, ten years after, was approved by the UN General Assembly in June 2017 by 122 votes in favour. It still took a few more years to overcome the obstacles set by the nuclear powers and the bureaucracy of the United Nations, and the Treaty was signed by more than 80 countries and ratified by 50, a condition for it to enter into force, which happened on 22 January 2021. Today, 60 countries have already ratified it. The NPT prohibits the use, development, testing, production, acquisition, possession and stockpiling of nuclear weapons.
In theory, one might think that non-signatory countries (i.e., neither nuclear-weapon states nor NATO members) are outside the law as the Treaty has entered into force, but this is only a mirage, a wish, as the Treaty only binds those countries that have ratified it. The UN is as necessary as it is ineffective. The fact that the countries with the right of veto are at the same time the ones that have nuclear arsenals gives us an idea of how little progress there is to be made without profound, democratic change. The possibility of ending life on the planet is in the hands of a very few and, moreover, in the service of the elites. We need a people’s uprising for our own survival and to demand that our leaders sign the Treaty, ratify it and abandon the militaristic policies that threaten us, confront us and impoverish us.
Nuclear Ban Week took place in Vienna from 18-23 June 2022, bringing together for the first time the countries that have ratified the treaty. ICAN organised a civil society forum, in which 85 organisations participated. UN agencies and intergovernmental organisations participated in the discussions, 29 states were present as observers. The meetings addressed the need for a gender-sensitive approach to security policies. They also addressed the need for assistance to victims and those affected by nuclear testing, environmental remediation, as well as ways to finance and verify nuclear disarmament. The participating states pledged not to rest until the last nuclear warhead is dismantled. The important role played by Latin American countries in linking nuclear disarmament with development policies is noteworthy. In fact, the next conference to address the challenge of a world free of nuclear weapons will be chaired by Mexico and will take place from 27 November to 1 December 2023 in New York.
Citizen pressure, the ultimate hope
It would be a pleasant surprise if the negotiations were to result in the dismantlement of nuclear weapons in the short term, but it is highly unlikely unless citizens raise their voices against governments that continue to believe that the nuclear threat is just, necessary, legitimate and effective. Among the manipulations and lies we are being subjected to with the Ukraine war of late is that of showing us the temperance and wisdom of political leaders not to use nuclear weapons. If the leaders really had such good sense and temperance, they would have avoided the war. What reason do we have to believe that they will not use nuclear weapons? There is only one way to be certain that they will not be used: by making them disappear. Everything else is misleading propaganda. Simulations of a limited use of nuclear weapons or of a nuclear conflict between two countries like India and Pakistan result in Dantesque catastrophes with hundreds of millions of deaths and a “nuclear winter” due to the ashes, which would drastically decrease harvests, increase famine and displacement. It is surprising that, knowing these consequences, the possessor states and those that have not yet signed the Treaty continue to believe that this is an effective way of defending their populations. It is also surprising that the Europe of human rights, which has lived through two world wars on its own territory, continues to obey the instructions of its American friend not to sign the Treaty and, what is worse, NATO has become a direct party to the threat, with American nuclear weapons in five countries, in addition to those of France and the United Kingdom. We also strongly condemn Putin’s bluster with explicit threats to use nuclear weapons in his military escalation.
What reason do we have to believe that they will not use nuclear weapons? There is only one way to have certainty that they will not be used: by making them disappear.
Spain, as usual following NATO guidelines, has not signed the NPT. For this reason, in September 2021, 25 organisations from all over Spain launched the campaign “10 Reasons to sign the NPT” with the aim of achieving the accession of the Spanish Government to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. During this year we have carried out: advocacy with the Spanish Government and the parties with parliamentary representation, written articles, network campaigns, informative tables and workshops, sent letters to different bodies, drafted a communiqué that was signed by 42 organisations. We have managed to get the Parliament of Navarre to urge the Government to support the ban on nuclear weapons.
Spain, as usual following NATO guidelines, has not signed the NPT. Therefore, in September 2021, 25 organisations from all over Spain launched the campaign “10 Reasons to sign the NPT”.
Another campaign that is being developed in parallel is the ‘Cities of Peace’ initiative by which 75 cities in Spain, through motions approved in the plenary sessions of their city councils, have expressed their support for the NPT and have urged the Government to sign and ratify the Treaty. This campaign is part of Mayors for Peace, which has achieved the adhesion of 8,206 cities in 186 countries and regions.
Delivery of signatures in Madrid on 19 January demanding the accession of Spain as a State Party to the NPT by DESARMA MADRID
As expected, our petitions have had no response from the most progressive government in history, but this does not discourage us. We knew that it was a very difficult task when the interests of the powerful and the arms industry are above the common good, the security of citizens and the planet, but as we are convinced that only through dialogue can nuclear peace be achieved, we will continue with our demands and making known the reasons to achieve the signature.
Only from a militaristic and patriarchal logic of domination – mine or nobody’s – can one see the absurdity of being able to destroy civilisation in the name of civilisation. Can anyone really believe that nuclear weapons defend freedom, democracy, justice or human rights? Does destroying what one loves ring a bell? It is a poor consolation to know that the one who has been assigned to me as an enemy will die too. We can call it revenge, but not defence. Moving away from military logic also means ceasing to support the interests of the military-industrial complex. It is necessary to end the paradigm of domination and violence that is in the minds of our politicians and military by implementing the paradigm of cooperation and nonviolence that is present in the work of numerous associations, campaigns, collectives, NGOs… and of people who believe that another world is possible, without forgetting at the same time to destroy the power structures that sustain the old model. It is not difficult to understand that our security is more effective if our neighbours do not feel threatened. Security, and above all human security at the planetary level, is an objective that we cannot avoid if we do not want securitising militarism to take the reins of humanity, ensuring the power of the elites and the subjugation of the vast majority.
It is a poor consolation to know that the one who has been assigned to me as an enemy will also die. We can call it revenge, but not defence. Moving away from military logic also means ceasing to support the interests of the military-industrial complex. It is not difficult to understand that our security is more effective if our neighbours do not feel threatened.
NATO, to which we belong, accounts for 54% of global military spending, which has already reached 2.11 trillion dollars by 2021. Even so, it still seems to be too little and countries such as Spain are committed to doubling military spending to 2% of GDP. Have we forgotten about the COVID-19 pandemic and the shortcomings in health care? Have we forgotten that the climate emergency is advancing without us taking action? Have we forgotten about the fires that have devastated Spain and the lack of resources, such as seaplanes, while we spend 10 billion on military aircraft? Have we forgotten about the hunger queues, energy poverty, the deterioration of public education, child poverty, the increase in inequalities, migrants…? It is up to us to say loud and clear: “people first” and to put the good sense that our politicians do not have into all the struggles. It is up to us to repeat over and over again that military spending must be reconverted to meet social needs.
