Algeria
Algeria observed the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) in November and December 2023 but did not make a statement. It was one of the co-sponsors for the 2023 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which 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’.[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Test | Compliant | |
| Possess or stockpile | 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 (2023) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes (observer) |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | 4 (0%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1998, Pelindaba) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1995) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2003, Annex 2 state) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 2001) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1995) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (7 Jan 1997) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | No (Signed 2018) |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
In a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2023, Algeria said: ‘The spectre of nuclear weapons casts a frightening shadow over humanity and civilisation, as their presence constitutes an unprecedented threat to our very existence. Therefore, Algeria stands firm in calling for the delegitimisation and complete elimination of these tools of mass destruction’. Moreover, it has embraced the TPNW ‘as a constructive step towards a safer world’.2
According to Algeria, the legacy of French nuclear tests conducted in the colonial era ‘continue to reverberate’. As part of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review for France in 2023, Algeria recommended that France ‘[g]uarantee access to justice and appropriate remedies to all the victims of French nuclear testing and to conduct rigorous and transparent impact assessments of past nuclear testing on human health and the environment’.3
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2023, Algeria welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021, ‘which constitutes, for Algeria, a fundamental and positive contribution towards achieving the goals of nuclear disarmament and an important milestone achieved by the international community in delegitimising nuclear weapons in order to reach their complete elimination’. It also welcomed the adoption of a political declaration and action plan at the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW in 2022 ‘as ambitious steps towards facilitating the effectiveness and implementation of the Treaty’.4
Recommendations
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Algeria should urgently ratify the TPNW.
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Algeria should bring into force its Additional Protocol with the IAEA.