Cuba

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

SIGNED

20 September 2017

RATIFIED

30 January 2018

IN FORCE

22 January 2021

 

Status

Cuba has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.

 

Signature and ratification

Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, the minister of foreign affairs of Cuba, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017.

In an address to the United Nations following the signing ceremony, he said: “We all share the common responsibility to preserve the existence of human beings in the face of a nuclear threat. An important contribution to the achievement of that goal was the historic adoption of the [TPNW].”

Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, the minister of foreign affairs of Cuba, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN

Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo, the permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 30 January 2018.

Cuba was the fifth state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.

Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo, the permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations, deposits the instrument of ratification in 2018. Photo: UNOLA

 

National position

In 2022, Cuba hailed the TPNW’s entry into force as “an undeniable milestone to advance towards nuclear disarmament” and described the treaty as complementary to the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.

 

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Cuba submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 26 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, and has never done so.

It noted, however, that the United States has installed a naval base “in a portion of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Cuba, illegally occupied by the United States of America, in the province of Guantánamo, over which the Cuban state does not exercise any jurisdiction”.

It emphasised that it “assumes no responsibility whatsoever with respect to said territory, for the purposes of the [TPNW]”, and it is unaware whether the United States currently deploys nuclear weapons on Cuban territory or intends to do so in the future.

Per Article 12, Cuba has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.

In a statement to the UN General Assembly in 2021, Rodríguez Parrilla called for “the universalisation of the [TPNW], which clearly states not only the inhumane, immoral, and ethically indefensible character of these weapons, but also their illegal nature”.

 

Meetings of states parties

Cuba participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. “We have the responsibility to adopt, in this first meeting, important decisions aimed at guaranteeing the effective implementation of the treaty and its universalisation,” said Rodriguez Parilla.

He described the meeting as “a historically transcendental event”.

 

TPNW negotiations

Cuba participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.

In its opening statement to the negotiating conference, Cuba said that the ultimate objective of the treaty “must be the total elimination of nuclear weapons”, which is “even more relevant in the current context” of global insecurity and lack of progress in nuclear disarmament.

In its closing statement, it said that it supports the treaty because it “establishes a new norm of international law to categorically prohibit nuclear weapons under any circumstances” and “creates a solid and legally binding basis for the destruction and total elimination of nuclear weapons”.

In 2016, Cuba voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

Rodolfo Benítez Versón, a member of the Cuban delegation, delivers a statement during the second round of treaty negotiations in New York in June 2017. Photo: ICAN

 

Before the negotiations

Cuba was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.

 

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

[HIGHLIGHTS]

SIGNED

20 September 2017

RATIFIED

30 January 2018

IN FORCE

22 January 2021

 

Status

Cuba has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.

 

Signature and ratification

Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, the minister of foreign affairs of Cuba, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017.

In an address to the United Nations following the signing ceremony, he said: “We all share the common responsibility to preserve the existence of human beings in the face of a nuclear threat. An important contribution to the achievement of that goal was the historic adoption of the [TPNW].”

Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, the minister of foreign affairs of Cuba, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN

Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo, the permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 30 January 2018.

Cuba was the fifth state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.

Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo, the permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations, deposits the instrument of ratification in 2018. Photo: UNOLA

 

National position

In 2022, Cuba hailed the TPNW’s entry into force as “an undeniable milestone to advance towards nuclear disarmament” and described the treaty as complementary to the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.

 

Implementation

In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Cuba submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 26 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, and has never done so.

It noted, however, that the United States has installed a naval base “in a portion of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Cuba, illegally occupied by the United States of America, in the province of Guantánamo, over which the Cuban state does not exercise any jurisdiction”.

It emphasised that it “assumes no responsibility whatsoever with respect to said territory, for the purposes of the [TPNW]”, and it is unaware whether the United States currently deploys nuclear weapons on Cuban territory or intends to do so in the future.

Per Article 12, Cuba has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.

In a statement to the UN General Assembly in 2021, Rodríguez Parrilla called for “the universalisation of the [TPNW], which clearly states not only the inhumane, immoral, and ethically indefensible character of these weapons, but also their illegal nature”.

 

Meetings of states parties

Cuba participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. “We have the responsibility to adopt, in this first meeting, important decisions aimed at guaranteeing the effective implementation of the treaty and its universalisation,” said Rodriguez Parilla.

He described the meeting as “a historically transcendental event”.

 

TPNW negotiations

Cuba participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.

In its opening statement to the negotiating conference, Cuba said that the ultimate objective of the treaty “must be the total elimination of nuclear weapons”, which is “even more relevant in the current context” of global insecurity and lack of progress in nuclear disarmament.

In its closing statement, it said that it supports the treaty because it “establishes a new norm of international law to categorically prohibit nuclear weapons under any circumstances” and “creates a solid and legally binding basis for the destruction and total elimination of nuclear weapons”.

In 2016, Cuba voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

Rodolfo Benítez Versón, a member of the Cuban delegation, delivers a statement during the second round of treaty negotiations in New York in June 2017. Photo: ICAN

 

Before the negotiations

Cuba was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.

 

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

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