Suriname
As part of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, Suriname supported a recommendation in March 2022 to become a state party to the TPNW.[1] On 31 October 2022, Suriname upgraded its Original Small Quantities Protocol (SQP) with the IAEA to a Modified SQP.
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) | 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 1977, Tlatelolco) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1976) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2006) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 1993) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1997) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (2 Feb 1979) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Modified) |
| Additional Protocol | No |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
Suriname voted in favour of adopting the TPNW at the UN Diplomatic Conference in 2017 and has consistently voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty, including in 2022.
Suriname 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.
Marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2022, Suriname said: ‘A world where citizens have to deal with the fear of annihilation by weapons of mass destruction should not be our reality … We have to keep in mind that the survival of humanity is at stake here, and therefore we must refrain from every act with respect to proliferation or even threat of use of these kinds of weapons.’2
In a statement to the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which Suriname is a member, announced that all of its member states are now either states parties or signatories to the TPNW or ‘in the process of acceding to' the Treaty’.3 At the end of 2022, Suriname and the Bahamas were the only two non-signatory states in the region.
Recommendations
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Suriname should urgently adhere to the TPNW.
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Suriname should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol with the IAEA.