Libya
Attending as an observer the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP) in Vienna in June 2022, Libya called on all states ‘to abandon the use of weapons of mass destruction and to end the arms race, in order to uphold international peace and security’.[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (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 1MSP (2022) | Observer |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 12 (8%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Did not vote |
| 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 2005, Pelindaba) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1975) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2004) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1982) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Acceded 2004) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | Cleared |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, Libya said that it participated in the negotiation of the TPNW in 2017 due to its concern about the ongoing nuclear arms race and its ‘uncontrollable risks’, and called on nuclear-armed states ‘to show their good faith and solidarity with all efforts to rid the world of these lethal weapons and to accede to this Treaty without delay in order to achieve its universality’.2
Libya was one of the co-sponsors for the 2022 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.'3
Recommendations
- Libya should urgently ratify the TPNW.