Rwanda
In January 2022, the Association de Jeunes de Saint Charles Lwanga, in cooperation with the Commission Episcopale Justice et Paix, convened a workshop in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, with government officials and other stakeholders to discuss the TPNW. Following the meeting, the foreign ministry indicated that Rwanda would adhere to the Treaty in due course.[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2023) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | No |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | N/A |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | No |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Did not vote |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 2007, Pelindaba) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1975) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2004) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1975) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2004) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (17 May 2010) |
| 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
The Rwandan foreign ministry informed the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor in December 2022 that ‘No step to become a state party [to the TPNW] has been taken so far.’2
Marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2022, the African Group in the UN, of which Rwanda is a member, recalled the entry into force of the ‘landmark’ TPNW and reaffirmed its ‘full support’ for the declaration and action plan adopted at the Treaty's First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP). The African Group, moreover, urged ‘all members of the international community, especially nuclear-weapon states and those under the so-called nuclear umbrella, to seize the opportunity to sign and ratify the Treaty at an early date and to pursue the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world’.3
Rwanda maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
Rwanda did not participate in the TPNW negotiations in 2017 but voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Recommendations
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Rwanda should urgently adhere to the TPNW.
2) Email to the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor from Ambassador Guillaume Kavaruganda, 14 December 2022.