GENESEO – The Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace and other local peace activist groups will gather Saturday afternoon in Geneseo for a rally calling on the United States government to ratify the Treaty to Prevent Nuclear Weapons.
The event is in conjunction with a similar rally planned for Washington, D.C. Some 200 organizations nationwide are expected to participate in the rallies.
In Geneseo, the Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace are expected to be joined by its student sister group, Geneseo Peace Action, and the Rochester Chapter 23 Veterans for Peace.
“This will be a noisy active rally with many signs and chants,” said Arnold Matlin of the Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was passed by 122 nations in June 2017. The treaty on Oct. 24, 2020, reached the requisite 50 ratifications needed for entry into force and the treaty took effect 90 days later on Jan. 22, 2021.
The treaty does not legally apply to the United States as the country has not yet signed or ratified the treaty.
A total of 68 nations have ratified the treaty through a conference held by the United States and 92 have signed on to the treaty. Of the signatories, not all nations have ratified the treaty.
In 2022, five countries signed on to the treaty and nine nations ratified the treaty.
“This steady increase in adherence to the landmark disarmament treaty reflects the strong desire of the international community to strengthen the global norm against nuclear weapons and see more rapid progress on disarmament,” the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said on its website.
ICAN is a coalition of non-governmental organizations in 100 countries promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
A nation that possesses nuclear weapons may join the treaty, so long as it agrees to destroy them in accordance with a legally binding, time-bound plan. Similarly, a nation that hosts another nation’s nuclear weapons on its territory may join, so long as it agrees to remove the nuclear weapons by a specified deadline.
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