Obscura

1. Palindaba
Originally a South African Nuke plant. Now a treaty.

The Treaty covers the entire African continent, Madagascar and a number of island groups in the Atlantic and Indian ocean.10 The treaty was signed the 11th April, 1996 by 53(along with some late-comers) of the some 60 African states. Setting aside some island groups, thus far others on the continent have stayed outside the process: Botswana, Congo(Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Somalia, West Sahara and Tanzania. These are not countries with a nuclear infrastructure; so the political meaning of their current present absence is therefore not so great. The contributions to the UNIDIR book don. t go into the absence of these countries, so it might be a case of too little political interest or acting capability.11 So far, all nuclear weapon states have signed the Treaty, even France has ratified it. Also in this treaty, a protocol explicitly prohibiting nuclear tests was entered into. This is where the South African attempts in the Kalahari desert and the French tests in the Sahara in the sixties play a part. Having been ratified by only two states, Mauritius and Gambia, by October 1996, the Treaty still has to pick up speed in Africa. The Treaty states its coming into force after 28 ratifications, that is, when roughly half of the continent has reacted positively. Relevant to Europe is that the whole of Northern Africa is involved in the treaty. So, the political intention is almost complete, but legal completion is still in its infancy.

posted by Cobb @ 10:57 AM