CTBT brought closer to entry into force by Indonesia's ratification
6 February 2012: Indonesia's ratification formalized
On 6 February 2012, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations headquarters in New York, United States. In a special ceremony (video), Natalegawa submitted the instrument of his country's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) to the Secretary-General personally - a rare exception for any ratification.
This formalizes Indonesia’s ratification, which has now officially become the 157th State to ratify the Treaty. It also brings down to eight the number of countries required to ratify the Treaty to become global law. The head of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Executive Secretary Tibor Tóth, also participated in the ceremony. A press briefing (video) followed the ceremony.
On 6 February 2012, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations headquarters in New York, United States. In a special ceremony (video), Natalegawa submitted the instrument of his country's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) to the Secretary-General personally - a rare exception for any ratification.
This formalizes Indonesia’s ratification, which has now officially become the 157th State to ratify the Treaty. It also brings down to eight the number of countries required to ratify the Treaty to become global law. The head of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Executive Secretary Tibor Tóth, also participated in the ceremony. A press briefing (video) followed the ceremony.
(From left to right) Marty Natalegawa, Indonesian Foreign Minister, Tibor Tóth, CTBTO Executive Secretary; Sergio Duarte, UN High Representative for Disarmament; Desra Percaya, Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the UN. (UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras)
Two months earlier - Indonesian Parliament votes to ratify CTBT
On 6 December 2011, the Indonesian parliament voted unanimously to ratify the CTBT. Tibor Tóth congratulated Indonesia’s parliamentarians for bringing the CTBT "a significant step closer to becoming global law. I welcome today’s outcome of the vote in the Indonesian Parliament to ratify the Treaty. By this historic decision, the
gap keeping the Treaty from entering into force has been narrowed down to eight countries," he said. The Indonesian ratification was welcomed by leaders around the world.
On 6 December 2011, the Indonesian parliament voted unanimously to ratify the CTBT. Tibor Tóth congratulated Indonesia’s parliamentarians for bringing the CTBT "a significant step closer to becoming global law. I welcome today’s outcome of the vote in the Indonesian Parliament to ratify the Treaty. By this historic decision, the
gap keeping the Treaty from entering into force has been narrowed down to eight countries," he said. The Indonesian ratification was welcomed by leaders around the world.
The vote took place around 12.00 local time - click to see video.
The decision is “about game-changing efforts on our part to try to create new momentum so that the other countries in a similar position to Indonesia can also follow suit in beginning their ratification process,” Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said in September 2011. “We believe that [the] CTBT is one of the main instruments for nuclear disarmament.” “Countries must encourage one another to do the right thing. And on nuclear disarmament we are truly at a crucial junction right now in creating new momentum and new possibilities for a world free of nuclear weapons,” he said. See also op-ed by Minister Natalegawa in The Jakarta Post.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa
I am determined to ensure that Indonesia's decision today will create momentum to encourage others who are still holding out to do the right thing. And the only right thing is to ratify the CTBT now, no more procrastination, no more delaying because it is right, it is proper and it makes a more secure world.
Unanimous support
“Indonesia will use its good relations to promote the Treaty in Asia and the Middle East and beyond and at the highest political level,” Hemly Fauzy, the Indonesian Parliament’s coordinator for the CTBT ratification process said during a recent visit by an Indonesian parliamentary delegation to the CTBTO headquarters in Vienna.
“We want our country to be at the vanguard of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation,” said Fauzy. “We intend to extend our involvement in the CTBT beyond the Treaty’s ratification.” Support for the Treaty in the Indonesian Parliament was unanimous across its nine parties, he said.
“Indonesia will use its good relations to promote the Treaty in Asia and the Middle East and beyond and at the highest political level,” Hemly Fauzy, the Indonesian Parliament’s coordinator for the CTBT ratification process said during a recent visit by an Indonesian parliamentary delegation to the CTBTO headquarters in Vienna.
“We want our country to be at the vanguard of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation,” said Fauzy. “We intend to extend our involvement in the CTBT beyond the Treaty’s ratification.” Support for the Treaty in the Indonesian Parliament was unanimous across its nine parties, he said.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and CTBTO Executive Secretary Tibor Tóth speaking to the press after the ratification.
Indonesia’s endorsement of the Treaty brings the number of countries that have ratified the CTBT up to 157. One hundred and eighty-two countries have signed the Treaty. Yet the CTBT’s stringent entry-into-force provision prescribes that all 44 designated nuclear technology holder countries must sign and ratify the Treaty in order to bring it into law. With Indonesia’s ratification, 36 have now done so. The remaining ones are China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States.
Click for interactive map to see if your country has signed and ratified the CTBT.
This is the day when Indonesia reconfirmed its leadership, its leadership as a founder of the ASEAN and NAM. This leadership is about saying NO to nuclear weapons and it is about saying YES to the Treaty that is part of eliminating nuclear weapons.
Indonesian support for the CTBT global alarm system
Indonesia currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose 10 Member States have also concluded the Bangkok Treaty establishing the most comprehensive nuclear-weapon-free zone on Earth. The CTBT has been signed by all ASEAN Member States. Three - Brunei, Myanmar, and Thailand - have still to ratify as do Indonesia’s neighbours Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste.
Indonesia currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose 10 Member States have also concluded the Bangkok Treaty establishing the most comprehensive nuclear-weapon-free zone on Earth. The CTBT has been signed by all ASEAN Member States. Three - Brunei, Myanmar, and Thailand - have still to ratify as do Indonesia’s neighbours Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste.
The Indonesian Tsunami Warning Centre is one of 1,200 institutions worldwide receiving CTBTO monitoring data.
We will be making that appeal, that pressure and that encouragement to other countries...we have to create an irreversible sense of momentum.
Indonesia also hosts six seismic stations which are part of the CTBT’s global alarm system monitoring the planet for any evidence of nuclear explosions. Seismic data from the network of facilities are also playing a growing role in providing warnings about tsunamis and can be used for other civil and scientific applications. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan in March 2011, CTBT radionuclide monitors tracked fallout around the planet.
See the 6 December 2011 press release in other languages:
Arabic Chinese English French Russian Spanish Indonesian Thai
See the 6 December 2011 press release in other languages:
Arabic Chinese English French Russian Spanish Indonesian Thai
One of the six hosted by Indonesia: auxiliary seismic station AS40 at Lembang, Jawa Barat.