Democratic Republic of the Congo Ratifies the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

Vienna, 29 September 2004: The Democratic Republic of the Congo has deposited its instrument of ratification with the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in his capacity as Depositary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), on 28 September 2004.  The ratification by the Democratic Republic of the Congo is highly significant, as it is one of the 44 Annex 2 States which must sign and ratify the Treaty before it can enter into force.  The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the thirty-third Annex 2 State to ratify the Treaty, leaving just eleven States still to ratify.

This latest ratification also brings the total of ratifications in the Africa geographical region to 25, and the overall total of ratifications worldwide to 118.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty bans any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion in any environment. Drafted at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 September 1996, the Treaty was opened for signature on 24 September 1996 at the United Nations in New York. For the CTBT to enter into force it needs to be ratified by the 44 States listed in its Annex 2.  These States formally participated in the 1996 Conference on Disarmament and possessed nuclear power or research reactors at that time.

The 33 Annex 2 States which have signed and ratified the Treaty are Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.  Eight further Annex 2 States have signed the Treaty but not ratified it, these are Egypt, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel, the United States of America and Viet Nam.  The remaining three Annex 2 States which have neither signed nor ratified the treaty are India, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Pakistan.

For further information contact: Daniela Rozgonova, Chief, Public Information
T +43 1 26030-6200 F +43 1 26030-5823 E info@ctbto.org I www.ctbto.org