UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for a ban on nuclear testing "permanently" in a message on the International Day against Nuclear Tests, which is commemorated annually on 29 August.
In his speech, Antonio Guterres said that over nearly 80 years, more than 2,000 nuclear tests have been conducted at more than 60 sites around the world, leaving "a legacy of destruction, making countries uninhabitable and causing long-term health problems for people."
The UN chief warned that recent calls for renewed nuclear testing show that the terrible lessons of the past "are being forgotten or ignored."
"On the International Day against Nuclear Tests, the world must speak with one voice to end this practice once and for all," he stressed.
Guterres noted that the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is the only ban on all nuclear testing and the basic, verifiable security instrument, and lamented: "But it is not yet in force."
D.
CMG / Czech.cri.cn / gnews.cz-jav_07
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