Cambodia
In a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2023, Cambodia said that the TPNW ‘reinforces the existing legal framework provided by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) with its explicit objective of prohibiting possession, development, testing, use and threats to use nuclear weapons’.[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 |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 3 (33%) |
| 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 1997, Bangkok) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1972) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2000) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1983) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2005) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (17 Dec 1999) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Modified) |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At the second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW in November and December 2023, Cambodia expressed its hope that the meeting would ‘yield fruitful outcomes and bring us closer to a world free of nuclear weapons’. By ratifying the TPNW in 2021, it said, Cambodia ‘demonstrated its commitment to global nuclear disarmament’. It strongly encouraged all UN member States ‘to consider joining the TPNW’ in order to accelerate progress towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons.2
Recommendations
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Cambodia should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Cambodia should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.