Gsoa wants to take part in popular initiative to ban nuclear weapons
Published: Saturday, Nov 4th 2023, 15:50
Updated At: Sunday, Nov 5th 2023, 00:54
Retour au fil d'actualité
The Group for a Switzerland without an Army (Gsoa) wants to participate in the popular initiative of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). This was decided at an extraordinary general assembly in Bern on Saturday.
The members decided by a large majority to call for the signing of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) with their next popular initiative, according to a press release. Switzerland had been involved in drafting the treaty, but had not signed it despite repeated requests from Parliament and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council.
Threat from nuclear armament
The Federal Council has been postponing the decision for five years on the grounds that the time is not right. Now the voters must oblige the Federal Council to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, writes the Gsoa. Nuclear armament is one of the greatest threats of our time. Switzerland can and must make its contribution to a more peaceful and secure world.
On Friday, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) announced a popular initiative for Switzerland to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. ICAN plans to examine the exact content of the initiative by the end of the year and to begin the preliminary examination by the Federal Chancellery at the beginning of 2024. The international alliance of non-governmental organizations based in Geneva announced this on its website on Friday.
Following the decision of the General Assembly on Saturday, the Gsoa is seeking to join the alliance. It is in contact with ICAN to examine the next steps, according to the press release. A popular initiative "with combined forces" is the last option for making progress.
Switzerland is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970. It includes a ban on the proliferation of nuclear weapons, a commitment to disarmament and the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Last year, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force alongside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Switzerland is not a member of this treaty. The Federal Council argues that it could be counterproductive if the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as a universally recognized instrument for nuclear disarmament, were to be burdened by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic