Nuclear Weapons are Illegal

Angie Zelter

18/8/12

It is pretty obvious to any sane person that threatening mass destruction by relying on a nuclear ‘defence’ policy by either possessing and deploying nuclear weapons or being part of a military alliance relying on nuclear weapons (like NATO) must be illegal as well as being immoral. And, you will be glad to know, that threatening to use a weapon that, even if used precisely against a purely military target, will have uncontrollable catastrophic long-term effects on innocent civilians, neutral countries, and the environment is in fact unlawful. There is not the slightest doubt that all known nuclear weapons in existence breach the “intransgressible” principles of International Humanitarian Law as well as being in plain breach of Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

I will not go into all the legal arguments and cases here as there are plenty of references you can read up for yourself – all of which are on the internet. However, if you would like a fairly easy read that explains the law in accessible language as well as giving you some interesting and sometimes amusing stories of ordinary people’s attempts to disarm nuclear weapons then you could read “Trident on Trial – the case for people’s disarmament” (by Angie Zelter) which you can order from your local library (if you have a library left!) or you can order from http://www.tridentploughshares.org/article1681

Another book, “Trident and International Law: Scotland’s Obligations” (edited by Rebecca Johnson and Angie Zelter), contains a great deal of detailed information on why Trident is illegal and you can order it from http://www.tridentploughshares.org/article1624

Especially recommended are the chapters by Judge Weeramantry, Judge Bedjaoui, Philippe SandsQC & Helen law, and Rabinder Singh QC & Professor Christine Chinkin. There is no doubt as to the illegality of Trident and I would like to re-print one quote from pages 90/91 from the book that sums it all up:-

Part of the chapter by Judge Mohammed Bedjaoui entitled

‘GOOD FAITH, INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS’

“I have been asked to give a personal opinion on the legality of a nuclear weapons system that deploys over 100 nuclear warheads with an approximate yield of 100 kt per warhead. Bearing in mind that warheads of this size constitute around eight times the explosive power of the bomb that flattened Hiroshima in 1945 and killed over 100,000 civilians, it follows that the use of even a single such warhead in any circumstance, whether a first or second use and whether intended to be targeted against civilian populations or military objectives, would inevitably violate the prohibitions on the infliction of unnecessary suffering and indiscriminate harm as well as the rule of proportionality including with respect to the environment. In my opinion, such a system deployed and ready for action would be unlawful.

In accordance with evidence heard by the Court, it is clear that an explosion caused by the detonation of just one 100 kt warhead would release powerful and prolonged ionising radiation, which could not be contained in space or time, and which would harmfully affect civilians as well as combatants, neutral as well as belligerent states, and future generations as well as people targeted in the present time. In view of these extraordinarily powerful characteristics and effects, any use of such a warhead would contravene international and humanitarian laws and precepts. In other words, even in an extreme circumstance of self-defence, in which the very survival of a State would be at stake, the use of a 100 kt nuclear warhead—regardless of whether it was targeted to land accurately on or above a military target—would always fail the tests of controllability, discrimination, civilian immunity, and neutral rights and would thus be unlawful.

In my opinion, any state that aids and abets another country, in the deployment and maintenance of nuclear warheads of 100 kt or comparable explosive power would also be acting unlawfully.

The modernisation, updating or renewal of such a nuclear weapon system would also be a material breach of NPT obligations, particularly the unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear-weapon states to “accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear disarmament” and the fundamental Article VI obligation to negotiate in good faith on cessation of the arms race and on nuclear disarmament, with the understanding that these negotiations must be pursued in good faith and brought to conclusion in a timely manner.”

H.E. Judge Mohammed Bedjaoui was the President of the International Court of Justice, 1994-1997, and a judge on the Court from 1982-2001.

You may also find useful the following essays:-

* A SUMMARY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM’S POSITION ON THE LEGALITY OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS BY TRIDENT PLOUGHSHARES, written and edited by George Farebrother and Angie Zelter. 4th February 2012.

* The Unlawfulness of the United Kingdom’s Policy of Nuclear Deterrence: The Invalidity of the Scottish High Court’s Decision by Charles Moxley