22 DRAFT TEXTS ON DISARMAMENT ISSUES INTRODUCED IN FIRST COMMITTEE

Press Release
GA/DIS/3035

22 DRAFT TEXTS ON DISARMAMENT ISSUES INTRODUCED IN FIRST COMMITTEE

The General Assembly would take action on a wide range of disarmament issues, by the terms of 20 draft resolutions and two draft decisions introduced this morning in the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).

The Assembly would invite the African States to sign and ratify the Pelindaba Treaty on an African nuclear-weapon-free zone, as soon as possible, according to one draft resolution. Nuclear-weapon States would be called upon to sign the relevant Protocols of the Treaty as soon as it became available for signature.

By another text, the Assembly would invite Member States to take enforcement measures to prevent the illegal export of conventional weapons from their territories. Still another would ask the Secretary-General to report on the types of small arms being used in conflicts, the nature and causes of the destabilizing accumulation and transfer of such weapons, and ways to prevent it.

By a draft resolution on strengthening security and cooperation in the Mediterranean region, the Assembly would invite all States of the region to address cooperatively such regional problems as terrorism, criminal acts, illicit arms transfers, and illegal drug production, consumption and trafficking. It would also encourage widespread support among them for the convening of a conference on security and cooperation in the Mediterranean.

The Assembly would urge States to undertake multilateral negotiations to establish guidelines for international transfers of high technology having military applications, by another text. Another draft would urge that part of the resources made available through disarmament be devoted to economic and social development. Still another text would have the Assembly ask the Conference on Disarmament to include appropriate environmental standards in disarmament and arms control agreements.

First Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

Other drafts introduced this morning would have the Assembly call for urgent implementation of the decision to expand the membership of the Conference on Disarmament; decide to convene a fourth special session on disarmament in 1997; and ask the Secretary-General to facilitate a programme to promote the training and preparation of units for peace-keeping operations.

The Assembly would also address such matters as the Treaty of Tlatelolco, a comprehensive test ban, the permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan, the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, the United Nations regional centres for disarmament in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, the Convention on Indiscriminate Conventional Weapons, regional and subregional disarmament and arms control measures, confidence-building, bilateral nuclear arms negotiations, prohibiting the use of nuclear weapons, the dumping of radioactive wastes, and strengthening international security.

Statements were made by the representatives of Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Sweden, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Togo, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Netherlands, Congo, Colombia (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement), Japan, Algeria, Cuba, Egypt (on behalf of the Group of Arab States), Burkina Faso, Israel, Cameroon, South Africa (in her own capacity and on behalf of the African Group), Mexico and India.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. tomorrow, 9 November, to continue its consideration of draft resolutions and decisions on disarmament.

Draft Texts Introduced

A 28-Power draft resolution on consolidation of the regime for the prohibition of nuclear weapons in Latin American and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco) (document A/C.1/50/L.5) welcomes the concrete steps taken by several countries of the region in the past year towards consolidation of the regime of military denuclearization. The text would urge the countries of the region that had not yet done so to ratify the amendments to the Treaty.

The draft resolution is sponsored by Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.

In a 20-Power draft resolution on small arms (document A/C.1/50/L.7), the Assembly would decide to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty- second session an item entitled "small arms". According to the text, the Secretary-General would be requested to prepare a report on the types of small arms and light weapons actually being used in conflicts; the nature and causes of the excessive and destabilizing accumulation and transfer of small arms and light weapons; and ways and means to prevent it.

The draft resolution is sponsored by Australia, Argentina, Belarus, Canada, Cote d'Ivoire, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Mali, Moldova, Norway, Peru, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the United Kingdom.

A draft resolution on a comprehensive test-ban treaty (document A/C.1/50/L.8), sponsored by 77 countries, would call upon all States participating in the Conference on Disarmament, in particular the nuclear- weapon States, to conclude, as "a task of the highest priority, a universal and multilaterally and effectively verifiable comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty so as to enable its signature by the outset of the fifty-first session of the General Assembly".

Further provisions of the text would call upon participants in the Conference to proceed to the final phase of the negotiation at the beginning of 1996. The Conference would be asked to re-establish its ad hoc committee at the commencement of its 1996 session, and to renew its mandate in order to complete the final text of the treaty not later than 30 June. The Assembly would be ready to resume consideration of the item in its fifty-first session in order to endorse the text of a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty.

The draft is sponsored by Afghanistan, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,

First Committee - 3 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakstan, Kenya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela and Viet Nam.

By a draft resolution on the permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan (document A/C.1/50/L.9), the Assembly would recognize and support the status of permanent neutrality declared by Turkmenistan. It would call on States Members of the United Nations to respect that country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The text is sponsored by Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Georgia, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Moldova, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Senegal, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Ukraine.

A draft resolution on the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East (document A/C.1/50/L.19) sponsored by Egypt would call upon Israel, with significant unguarded nuclear capabilities, and all other States of the region not yet party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons "not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons and to accede to the Treaty at the earliest date". The text would also have the States of the region place all their nuclear facilities under full-scope International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards as an important confidence-building measure.

A draft resolution on regional confidence-building measures (document A/C.1/50/L.20) would request the Secretary-General to facilitate a programme to promote the training and preparation of units specializing in peace-keeping operations in the member countries of the Standing Advisory Committee. The draft also would have the Secretary-General continue to provide assistance to members of that Committee and to establish a trust fund for additional voluntary contributions for the implementation of the Committee's work.

The text is sponsored by the Congo, as Chairman of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa.

A draft resolution sponsored by Bangladesh, Cameroon and South Africa on expansion of the membership of the Conference on Disarmament (document A/C.1/50/L.21), would have the Assembly strongly regret that the 1995 session

First Committee - 4 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

of the Conference of Disarmament had not resulted in the immediate expansion of membership. Under the terms of the draft, the Assembly would call for the implementation of the decision to expand membership of the Conference on an urgent basis.

A draft decision submitted by South Africa for the African Group on the prohibition of the dumping of radioactive wastes (document A/C.1/50/L.22) would have the Assembly call on all States to take appropriate measures to prevent any dumping of nuclear or radioactive wastes. The Conference on Disarmament would be asked to include radioactive wastes in its scope of a convention prohibiting radiological weapons. The Conference would also be requested to intensify efforts towards an early conclusion of the convention.

A draft resolution on the final text of a Treaty on an African nuclear- weapon-free zone, sponsored by the Marshall Islands and by South Africa on behalf of the African Group (document A/C.1/50/L.23), would invite the African States to sign and ratify the Pelindaba Treaty as soon as possible. The Assembly would call upon all States to respect the African continent as a nuclear-free zone, and to take all necessary measures to ensure the speedy application of the Treaty to territories which lie within the geographical zone established in the Treaty. The nuclear-weapon States would be called upon the bring the necessary support to the Treaty by signing the Protocols that concern them as soon as the Treaty became available for signature.

Under a draft resolution on the United Nations regional centres for disarmament in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean (document A/C.1/50/L.24), the Assembly would strongly appeal once again to Member States and other international organizations to make more substantial voluntary contributions in order to revitalize the two centres in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. The Secretary-General would be asked to explore new alternative ways to continue providing all necessary support to the regional centres in fulfilling their mandates, and to ensure that the directors of the two regional centres were locally based.

The draft is sponsored by Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, South Africa (on behalf of the African Group of States), Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

A draft resolution on general and complete disarmament (document A/C.1/50/L.25), would have the Assembly convene a fourth special session on disarmament in 1997, and establish an open-ended preparatory committee for that session. The preparatory committee would prepare a draft agenda and submit it to the Assembly's next session. Member States would be invited to communicate to the Secretary-General before April, 1996, their views on the draft agenda. The text is sponsored by Colombia, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.

First Committee - 5 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

In a draft resolution on the relationship between disarmament and development (document A/C.1/50/L.26), the international community would be urged to devote part of the resources made available through disarmament and arms limitation agreements to economic and social development. The Secretary- General would continue to take action on the implementation of the action program adopted at the International Conference on Development. The text is also sponsored by Colombia, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.

By a draft decision on the strengthening of international security (document A/C.1/50/L.30), the Assembly would decide to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session the item entitled "Review of the Implementation of the Declaration on the Strengthening of International Security". The text is sponsored by Colombia, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The Committee also has before it a draft resolution on the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (Convention on Indiscriminate Conventional Weapons) (document A/C.1/50/L.34). By its terms, the Assembly would urgently call on all States to become parties to the Convention and its Protocols as soon as possible. It would urgently call upon successor States to take appropriate measures so that access to those instruments will be universal.

The Assembly would call on the States parties to intensify their efforts to conclude negotiations on a strengthened Protocol II, which concerns prohibitions or restrictions on the use of mines, booby traps and other devices. It would also commend the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons (Protocol IV) to all States, with a view to achieving the widest possible adherence to it at an early date.

The text is sponsored by Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States.

By a draft resolution on strengthening security and cooperation in the Mediterranean region (document A/C.1/50/L.36), the Assembly would call on all States of the region to adhere to all the multilaterally negotiated legal instruments relating to disarmament. It would invite them to address cooperatively such regional problems as terrorism, criminal acts, illicit arms transfers, and illegal drug production, consumption and trafficking.

First Committee - 6 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

The Assembly would encourage the Mediterranean States to strengthen confidence-building by promoting transparency on all military matters, through participation in the United Nations system for the standardized reporting of military expenditures, and by providing accurate data to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms. The Assembly also would encourage widespread support among the States of the region for the convening of a conference on security and cooperation in the Mediterranean.

The text is sponsored by Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritania, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia and the United Kingdom.

By a text on curbing the illicit transfer and use of conventional arms (A/C.1/50/L.37), the Assembly would invite Member States to take appropriate enforcement measures to prevent the illegal export of such weapons from their territories, to provide the Secretary-General with relevant information on national control measures on arms transfers and to take immediate measures to ensure that illicit transfers are immediately discontinued.

The Assembly would ask the Disarmament Commission to study and report on measures to curb the illicit transfer and use of conventional arms. It would ask the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on ways of collecting weapons illicitly transferred. It would also ask that he study -- within existing resources and upon the request of the Member State concerned -- the possibilities of collecting weapons illicitly transferred, and report on that study to the Assembly's next session.

The text is sponsored by Afghanistan, Georgia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan and Zimbabwe.

A 30-Power draft resolution on regional disarmament (A/C.1/50/L.38) would have the Assembly call on all States to conclude agreements, wherever possible, for nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament and confidence-building measures at the regional and subregional levels. The Assembly would support and encourage efforts aimed at promoting confidence-building at regional and subregional levels, in order to ease regional tensions and to further disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation.

The text is sponsored by Albania, Armenia, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

First Committee - 7 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

A draft resolution on conventional arms control and the regional at subregional levels (document A/C.1/50/L.40), sponsored by Benin, Czech Republic, Haiti, Nepal and Pakistan, would have the Assembly decide to give urgent consideration to the matter. It would ask the Conference on Disarmament to consider formulating principles to serve as a framework for regional agreements on conventional arms control.

A draft resolution sponsored by Cuba concerns adherence to environmental standards in disarmament and arms control agreements (document A/C.1/50/L.41). By its terms, the Assembly would ask the Conference on Disarmament to include appropriate environmental standards in disarmament and arms control agreements, and to speedily conclude a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty. It would urge the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to follow up on all environmental issues under negotiation in the Conference.

The Assembly would urge States which have not done so to acceded to the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques as soon as possible. It would also urge the ad hoc groups of States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition, Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (biological weapons Convention) to take relevant environmental protection issues into account.

By a draft resolution on bilateral nuclear arms negotiations on nuclear disarmament (document A/C.1/50/L.44), the Assembly would welcome the signing of the 1993 Treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States on the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms on 3 January 1993, and would urge the parties to bring it into force at the earliest possible date. It would invite them to keep the United Nations and the Conference on Disarmament informed of progress in their discussions on reducing their nuclear armaments and on implementing their strategic offensive arms agreements and unilateral decisions.

The Assembly would encourage and support the efforts by Russia and the United States to continue to give those efforts the highest priority, as a contribution to eliminating nuclear weapons within a timebound framework. It would encourage the United States, the Russian Federation, Kazakstan and Ukraine to continue their cooperative efforts aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons and strategic offensive arms on the basis of existing agreements. The text is sponsored by Colombia, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.

By a 27-Power draft resolution on a convention prohibiting the use of nuclear weapons (document A/C.1/50/L.47), the Assembly would restate its request to the Conference on Disarmament to begin negotiations in order to reach agreement on an international convention prohibiting the use of

First Committee - 8 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

threatened use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances. The Conference could take as a possible basis a draft convention on the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons, annexed to the draft resolution.

The text is sponsored by Bangladesh, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Colombia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Sudan and Viet Nam.

A draft resolution on the role of science and technology in the context of international security and disarmament (document A/C.1/50/L.48), would have the Assembly urge Member States to undertake multilateral negotiations, with the participation of all interested States, to establish universally acceptable, non-discriminatory guidelines for international transfers of high technology with military applications. The Secretary-General would be asked to develop a database of concerned research institutions and experts to promote transparency and international cooperation in applying scientific and technological developments to such disarmament objectives as weapons disposal, conversion and verification. The text is sponsored by Bhutan, Guyana, India, Kenya, India, Indonesia, Lesotho, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.

Statements

AKSOLTAN ATAEVA (Turkmenistan) introduced the draft resolution on the permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan, calling it the "main principle of its foreign policy". As a country occupying a central location in the vast region of Central and South Asia, the Caspian Sea region and the Caucasus, he said "we constantly feel the hot winds of those conflicts". By pursuing a policy of neutrality, Turkmenistan would be able to realize its economic potential based on its huge natural resources. He cited Switzerland's status of permanent neutrality which dated back to 1815, and appealed to all member States at a crucial turning point in his country's history to adopt the proposed resolution.

MUNIR AKRAM (Pakistan) introduced the draft resolution on conventional arms control at the regional and subregional levels. He said conventional arms control needed to be pursued primarily in the regional and subregional contexts since most threats to peace and security now arose mainly among those States. The draft would decide to give urgent consideration to those issues and request the Conference on Disarmament to consider a framework for regional agreements on conventional arms control.

RICHARD EKWALL (Sweden) introduced the draft resolution on the Convention on Indiscriminate Conventional Weapons which would request the Secretary-General to reconvene the Conference and prepare proposals relating to land-mines. A next session would convene in Geneva in January. States

First Committee - 9 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

Parties were called upon to intensify efforts on the land-mine Protocol. Faced with a "land-mine catastrophe", concerted action was required. A moratorium on the export of land-mines also was urged.

Ms.ROVIROSA (Mexico) introduced the draft resolution on a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty -- co-sponsored by 77 nations -- which called upon all States to conclude the Treaty by the beginning of the fifty-first session of the Assembly. It was necessary for States to proceed into the final stage of negotiations at the beginning of 1996, and to complete the final text of the treaty not later than 30 June.

RICHARD STARR (Australia) said he was delighted to join with Mexico and New Zealand to introduce a draft designed to complete work on a nuclear test ban. A good Treaty was well within the collective grasp, and was a galvanizing objective that required the setting of concrete objectives for negotiators. "The coming year is not a year like any other; it will not be business as usual," he said. It would be the year that the CTBT was finalized; a year that the chapter on nuclear testing was closed.

PETER RIDER (New Zealand) said that the text on the comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty reflected the advancement of the international community in the last few years. Testing would be finished once and for all, and on a comprehensive basis. The task of concluding a text of the treaty was a matter of the highest priority -- a text that would be freely accepted by consensus.

FERNANDO GUILLEN (Peru) introduced the draft resolution on the Regional Centres for Peace and Disarmament in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. Due to the severe financial limitations, the regional centres may cease to function. Yet since their establishment in 1986, the Centres had done outstanding work.

KOMI MENSAH AFETO (Togo) said that the regional centres had as their primary goal supplying functional support to States on their disarmament initiatives. The record showed that their activities were far- reaching and had complied with the mandate given them at their inception. The regional centres played a dominant role in stopping the scourge of illicit trafficking of small arms.

MUNIR AKRAM (Pakistan) introduced the draft resolution on regional disarmament, and said that the international community had now fully accepted the proposition that arms control and disarmament measures at the global level could not effectively address the aspects of arms races emanating from regional dynamics. The draft affirmed that proposition in calling on States to conclude agreements for nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament, and confidence-building measures at the regional and sub-regional levels.

First Committee - 10 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

ABDUL GHAFAR OSMAN (Afghanistan), introducing the resolution to curb the illicit transfer and use of conventional arms, said that the availability of such arms encouraged certain groups to bypass peaceful means of resolving disputes. When illicit arms were compiled in one State, they were often diffused and landed in the hands of terrorists and mercenaries, posing a threat to the peace and stability of many other States. He also expressed his support for the resolution calling for the permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan.

JAAP RAMAKER (Netherlands) said tightening international rules on land- mines was part of the efforts of the international community to resolve the worldwide problem. In view of the growing attention for the grave problems caused by land-mines, it was with high hopes that he went to Vienna last September. Unfortunately, he left that city in disappointment. Certainly, the ban of blinding laser weapons was an important achievement. Yet, the Conference would be judged on the need to curb the unrestrained use of land- mines.

GEORGES BAKALA (Congo) introduced the draft on regional confidence- building measures. Everyone was aware of the acts of violence and atmosphere of insecurity which had dominated Central Africa over the last few years. The United Nations Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa noted a clear improvement in that situation, as well as peace efforts under way by Burundi and Rwanda; however, improvement by no means meant eradication of the underlying evil. Peace remained fragile in the subregion.

ANDELFO GARCIA (Colombia) on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, introduced a number of draft resolutions, beginning with the relationship between disarmament and development. The arms race was absorbing a large portion of resources and placing heavy burdens on the economies of all countries, in particular developing countries. It was a matter of utmost urgency that the international community devote a share of the resources released by the implementation of disarmament agreements to help reduce the tremendous gap between developed and developing countries.

He introduced a next draft on the convening of the fourth special session of the Assembly devoted to disarmament. Speedy consideration of the issues of disarmament were required to support the elimination of weapons of mass destruction and control of conventional weapons.

He submitted a third draft on bilateral negotiations on nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament, and a draft decision containing a decision to include in the next session of the Assembly a review of the implementation of the declaration on the strengthening of international security. The Non-Aligned Movement had also submitted a draft resolution on the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace.

First Committee - 11 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

HISAMI KUROKOCHI (Japan) introduced the draft resolution on small arms. She thanked all participants of consultations pertaining to the draft.

Mr. MESDOUA (Algeria) introduced the draft on the strengthening of security and cooperation in the Mediterranean region. Efforts to consolidate peace and stability in the region had been stepped up. The text did not differ substantively from those introduced at previous sessions. The co- sponsors hoped that the upcoming Barcelona Conference would deepen political, economic and cultural cooperation and promote partnership.

RIVERO ROSARIO (Cuba) introduced the resolution on consideration of environmental standards in the preparation and implementation of arms control agreements. The draft appealed to the Conference on Disarmament to consider the importance of environmental protection when preparing arms limitations agreements. In view of consultations underway, a revised text and an updated list of co-sponsors would subsequently be submitted.

Mr. KAREM (Egypt), on behalf of the Group of Arab States, introduced the resolution on the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. For decades, that volatile region of the world was the scene of devastating armed conflicts which posed severe threats to international peace and security. With the advent of the peace process, it was ever more pressing to safeguard the region from the perils of a future nuclear arms race.

The universality of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was the truly effective means of eradicating the threat of nuclear weapons. He called on all States to accede to the Treaty and place their nuclear facilities under the safeguard of the IAEA. One State in the region that was not Party to the Treaty was Israel, which had advanced nuclear arsenals. The issue at stake was not a regional political dispute, but rather the credibility of the global non-proliferation regime. Those who were reluctant to extend their support to the draft would be sending a clear message that nuclear proliferation was permitted in the Middle East.

MINATA SAMATE (Burkina Faso) supported the draft resolution on assistance to States to halt illicit traffic of small arms. The initiatives and activities to stem the scourge of the traffic of small arms must be encouraged. The subregional actions could only be effective with support of the international community.

YEHIEL YATIV (Israel) responded to the resolution regarding the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. The present text represented escalation, and continued to single out Israel, which was out of tune with the Middle East peace process. The entire resolution did not change the substantive argument, and was politically motivated and devoid of anything not

First Committee - 12 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

contained in other drafts. Israel had gone the extra mile to placate Arab concerns -- taking high risks in the peace process. The tone and contents of the draft could only serve to undermine the peace process.

JEAN-MARC MPAY (Cameroon) said he supported the draft resolution dealing with confidence-building measures on the regional level. The subregion, to which the eleven member States of the Standing Advisory Committee belonged, continued to experience conflicts likely to destabilize the entire subregion. He recalled the conflicts of Angola, Burundi, and Rwanda. The permanent availability of a force in the subregion would ward off conflicts. Had that instrument existed in the subregion, the crises and conflicts might not have occurred on such a scale.

NOZIPHO J. MXAKATO-DISEKO (South Africa) introduced the draft resolution on expanding the membership of the Conference on Disarmament. The draft calls for implementation of the decision to expand the membership and strongly urges new members to assume their membership.

Ms. ROVIROSA (Mexico) introduced the resolution on consolidating the regime established by the Treaty of Tlatelolco. A growing number of States in the region had co-sponsored this draft, and yearly it had been adopted without a vote. The Treaty had fully come into effect for 30 of 36 States composing the region. Consolidation of the Treaty provided an example and encouragement for other Treaties establishing nuclear-free zones.

Ms. GHOSE (India) introduced a resolution addressing the possession of nuclear weapons by certain countries and the reluctance of some nuclear-weapon States to address the issue of nuclear disarmament in the multilateral framework. The convention envisaged in the resolution would be a legitimate and concrete step towards the goal of the elimination of nuclear weapons in a timebound framework.

She introduced a second draft resolution on the role of science and technology -- in the context of disarmament issues -- in developing countries. The text described the negative impacts of science and technology. It also recognized that science and technological applications for peaceful purposes needed to be maintained and encouraged. This resolution was an update on a similar resolution that was tabled last year.

She said that India had not co-sponsored the resolution on chemical weapons introduced yesterday, but that her delegation was in the process of depositing the instrument of ratification for that agreement. Regarding the resolution dealing with land-mines, India was keen to co-sponsor such a resolution, but its reference to an ad hoc regime, had precluded her support of that resolution.

First Committee - 13 - Press Release GA/DIS/3035 16th Meeting (AM) 8 November 1995

She went on to say that India could not co-sponsor the draft on small arms, because the mandate to set up a panel by the Secretary-General was too wide and too vague. On two important resolutions which India had supported in the past -- the CTBT and a cut-off of fissile materials -- there was a reluctance on the part of nuclear-weapon States to include references to what she believed was an essential part of both those Treaties. She assured the co-sponsors that her goals were in line with theirs, and regretted her inability to co-sponsor those resolutions. India would also not be supporting the drafts related to verification and compliance.

Ms. MXAKATO-DISEKO (South Africa) introduced the resolution on a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Africa. The idea of an African zone was conceived 30 years ago. She presented the text of the Pelindaba Treaty, saying that it was important that the nuclear-weapon States sign the relevant Protocols to the Treaty as soon as they became available. She then introduced the resolution on the dumping of radioactive waste, and appealed for its adoption without a vote.

* *** *