VIENNA – Guinea has become the 155th State to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Tibor Tóth, the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), hailed the ratification as “a step that further consolidates Africa’s dedication to end nuclear testing and acts as a powerful beacon for the rest of the world.” Last year’s entry into force of the Pelindaba Treaty established a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Africa, effectively making the entire southern hemisphere free of nuclear weapons.
Guinea signed the CTBT on 3 October 1996, just a few days after it opened for signature. Guinea has shown its support for the Treaty by regularly voting in favour of the CTBT in the United Nations General Assembly.
Adherence to the Treaty is almost universal, with 182 States having signed the Treaty to date; 155 of them, including Guinea, have also ratified. Guinea is the second African State to ratify the Treaty this year after Ghana’s ratification on 15 June 2011. In Africa, only two countries have yet to sign the CTBT －Mauritius and Somalia－ whereas 11 countries have yet to ratify: Angola, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Republic of), Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
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