The Treaty of Pelindaba on the African Nuclear-weapon-free-zone - Original PDF
نویسندگان: Oluyemi Adeniji
خلاصه: When the world formally entered the nuclear weapons age in August
1945 with the launching by the United States of America of atomic bombs
on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,1 most of Africa was
under colonialism. Since the imperial powers were also the Allied Powers
on whose behalf the most destructive element of the atom was unleashed
on Japan, its effect in hastening the end of the Second World War was the
only immediate impression. The universal euphoria over the end of the war,
however, soon gave way to great concern about the future consequences
of the wider use of atomic weapons. The United Nations, which was
established in order to avert a future world war, had elaborated its charter
unaware of the new weapon.2 The effectiveness of the new Organization
was hinged on the system of collective security, which would deter
aggression and therefore maintain international peace and security. The
appearance of the atomic weapon on the scene introduced a new situation
which could render the system of collective security very difficult, if not
impossible, to implement. The United Nations General Assembly was
therefore obliged at its first meeting to give the highest priority to laying
down principles for disarmament that had not been spelt out in the
Charter.3 Thus, in the first resolution it adopted, the General Assembly
established the Atomic Energy Commission, which was charged with
making specific proposals for the elimination of atomic weapons and all
other weapons of mass-destruction from national armaments.4