Algeria
Algeria is currently examining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) with a view to ratifying it. At a ministerial-level meeting of the UN Security Council on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in March 2024, Algeria welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force and the adoption of the Vienna Action Plan in 2022 on the Treaty’s universalisation and implementation. ‘Nuclear disarmament is not merely a legal obligation but also a moral imperative, since nuclear weapons continue to represent the most serious threat to humankind and to its survival,’ it said.1
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | No (Signed 2017) | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1995) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2003, Annex 2 state) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1998, Pelindaba) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1997) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No (Signed 2018) | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 2001) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1995) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| Test | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2024) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes (observer) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes (observer) |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | 3 (0%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | Yes |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | No |
Latest developments
At the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Preparatory Committee session in July 2024, Algeria said that it signed the TPNW in 2017 as it considers the total elimination of nuclear weapons to be the only guarantee against their use and proliferation. In deciding to sign, it took into account ‘the dire effects of the [French] nuclear tests carried out on its territory’.2 It said that the TPNW has contributed ‘to consolidating efforts aimed at the total elimination of nuclear weapons’.3
At a high-level UN event to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, Algeria said that it supports the TPNW as it believes in ‘the importance of delegitimising these weapons as a decisive step towards their elimination’.4
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Algeria said that it felt ‘optimistic’ about the implementation of the Vienna Action Plan and looked forward to attending the Third Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW in March 2025.5
Algeria participated in the African Conference on the Universalisation and Implementation of the TPNW in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in September 2024.6
Algeria was one of the co-sponsors for the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which welcomed the Treaty’s entry into force and called upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Treaty at the earliest possible date’.7
Recommendations
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Algeria should urgently ratify the TPNW.
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Algeria should bring into force its Additional Protocol (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).