CTBTO head congratulates OPCW for Nobel Peace Prize

Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), has welcomed the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). "I congratulate the OPCW on winning this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. It is a well-deserved recognition of its capable leadership and the dedication of its staff. The prize  highlights the outstanding work of the OPCW to eliminate this category of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). I see it as an endorsement of multilateral verification as a whole," Zerbo said. “We are working towards the common goal of addressing the threat posed by WMD,” the CTBTO Executive Secretary said. “The OPCW does so by preventing chemistry from being used for warfare while the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty inhibits the development of nuclear weapons.”

The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions by everyone, everywhere: on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, in outer space, underwater and underground. 183 countries have signed the Treaty. Of these, 161 have also ratified the Treaty. A global verification regime with over 330 facilities monitors the globe around the clock for nuclear explosions to detect any violations of the Treaty. After the CTBT has entered into force, on-site inspections can be dispatched to search for evidence of a nuclear explosion on the ground.

For further information, please see www.ctbto.org your resource on ending nuclear testing, or contact

Thomas Mützelburg, Public Information Officer 
T    +43 1 26030 6421 
E    thomas.muetzelburg@.ctbto.org
M    +43 699 1459 6421