Group of Eminent Persons stresses role of CTBT in non-proliferation and disarmament

Members of the Group of Eminent Persons (GEM) of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) have restated their “unwavering commitment” to promoting the Treaty as a pillar of the global non-proliferation and disarmament architecture.

At their annual coordination meeting, held on 24-25 June in Vienna’s Hofburg Palace on the sidelines of the CTBT: Science and Technology 2019 conference, the GEM agreed a declaration reaffirming their commitment to advancing a world free of nuclear testing and enhancing cooperation to promote the Treaty’s entry into force.    

The declaration recognises that “the CTBT constitutes the most effective and practical non-proliferation and disarmament measure within grasp of the international community,” and calls on all countries to “continue their support in advancing the entry into force of the Treaty as the most practical step towards nuclear disarmament, notably during the upcoming 2020 NPT Review Conference”.

The GEM also issued a separate statement on alleged low-yield nuclear tests.

The following GEM members attended the meeting:

Nobuyasu Abe
Abel Adelakun Ayoko
Grigory Berdennikov
Des Browne
Sérgio Duarte
Thomas Hajnoczi
Wolfgang Hoffmann
Angela Kane
Kim Won-soo
Ho-Jin Lee
Patricia Lewis
Ahmet Üzümcü