People hold a sign that reads "No Nukes," calling for the U.S. to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the Idaho capitol steps on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. Sunday, Jan. 22 marks the second anniversary of the treaty going into effect.
People carry strings of the flags of countries that have signed the 2021 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons following an event marking the second anniversary of the treaty on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023 marks the second anniversary of the treaty going into effect.
Julie Hoefnagels speaks about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons while David Margolin and other Snake River Alliance members look on at an event Friday. Sunday, Jan. 22, marks the second anniversary of the treaty going into effect.
People hold a sign that reads "No Nukes," calling for the U.S. to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the Idaho capitol steps on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. Sunday, Jan. 22 marks the second anniversary of the treaty going into effect.
Julie Hoefnagels speaks about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons while David Margolin and other Snake River Alliance members look on at an event Friday. Sunday, Jan. 22, marks the second anniversary of the treaty going into effect.
BOISE — A group of red jumpsuit and hard-hat clad people strode up the Idaho State Capitol steps, carrying a string of country flags.
The flags represent all of the countries that have signed on to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a 2021 agreement developed by 130 countries in an effort to meet their commitment to ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Sunday, Jan. 22, marked the second anniversary of the treaty going into effect, and members of nonprofit Snake River Alliance and the public gathered to mark the event on Friday at the capitol.
Notably, none of the countries with nuclear weapons, including the United States, have signed on to treaty, nor have any NATO states, David Margolin, a member of the Snake River Alliance, said at Friday’s event.
The Snake River Alliance is advocating for the public to learn more about the risk of nuclear war, and to call for the United States to sign the treaty.
People carry strings of the flags of countries that have signed the 2021 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons following an event marking the second anniversary of the treaty on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023 marks the second anniversary of the treaty going into effect.
Erin Banks Rusby / Idaho Press
“The fact that there have been no new nuclear attacks since 1945 is not through prudent leadership on all sides, but simply due to good fortune,” Julie Hoefnagels, a board member with the organization, said at the event. “Sooner or later, if we fail to act, our luck will run out.”
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons currently has 160 countries that have signed on either as signatories or states parties, and took effect in 2021, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Those who sign agree to not participate in activities involving nuclear weapons, including “undertakings not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons,” according to the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs website.
In 1970, when just five countries had nuclear weapons — the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, and China — the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty went into effect with the intention of limiting the weapons to those countries, Margolin said.
“It obviously did not have the intended result,” Margolin said.
Currently, nine countries have nuclear weapons: the United States, Britain, Russia, China, India, Israel, France, North Korea, and Pakistan, Margolin said. Over 90% of nuclear weapons are in the U.S. and Russia, he said. Since 1945, some countries have developed bombs even more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, Margolin said.
Some people think that having nuclear weapons has a protective effect “‘because no country will risk destroying life on the planet,’” Hoefnagels said, reading the words of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Beatrice Fihn, who helped negotiate the 2021 treaty. “But nuclear weapons have brought us to the brink of war a number of times. And now, Putin’s threats to use them in Ukraine may be more than just the bluster of an immoral bully.’”
But Hoefnagels said she still has reason for hope.
“It is not idealistic to believe in life over fear and destruction — it is a necessity,” Hoefnagels said, adding that there are many people and organizations around the globe working on this issue.
She encouraged attendees to contact their U.S. representatives about their concerns and to encourage the U.S. to sign the treaty. People can also write letters to media about the issue, or post on social media to raise awareness.
“We must not be discouraged or faint-hearted,” Hoefnagels said.
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