SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR CONCLUSION OF COMPREHENSIVE TEST-BAN TREATY BY JUNE, IN ADDRESS TO CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT
Press Release
DCF/257
SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR CONCLUSION OF COMPREHENSIVE TEST-BAN TREATY BY JUNE, IN ADDRESS TO CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT
19960319 GENEVA, 19 March (UN Information Service) -- Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali told the Conference on Disarmament this morning that it was imperative to conclude a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty by June.Speaking to a special plenary meeting of the Conference, the Secretary-General recalled that in his message at the start of this year's session of the Conference he had emphasized that nothing should divert delegations from the goal of concluding that treaty. This message had not changed. It had even acquired renewed urgency.
For the first time since consideration of a nuclear test ban began in 1962, all the major protagonists -- including the five nuclear Powers -- were actively involved in the negotiations, he said. Everyone was convinced that the Conference was the only forum within which such negotiations could be conducted.
But flexibility and the ability to compromise would be essential, he added. It was this above all that he wished to emphasize to the Conference, for there was no time to be lost.
Opening the meeting, Conference President Ejo Abuya (Nigeria) said his country would be among those to sign the treaty establishing the African nuclear-weapons-free zone (Pelindaba Treaty) next month in Cairo. The Secretary-General had been one of its architects.
The next plenary meeting of the Conference will take place on Thursday, 21 March, at 10 a.m.
Statement by Secretary-General
Secretary-General BOUTROS BOUTROS-GHALI recalled that in his message at the start of this year's session of the Conference he had emphasized that nothing should divert delegations from the goal of concluding a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty by June. It was imperative to conclude a comprehensive treaty. This message had not changed. It had even acquired renewed urgency.
"It is essential that you go beyond certain differences of opinion, however great they may be", he said. "For we must seize this opportunity to bring to a conclusion more than 30 years of effort directed at ensuring that all further nuclear testing will be banned by international law."
For the first time since consideration of a nuclear test ban began in 1962, all the major protagonists -- including the five nuclear Powers -- were actively involved in the negotiations, he went on. And everyone was convinced that the Conference was the only forum within which such negotiations could be conducted.
But flexibility and the ability to compromise would be essential, he continued. It was this above all that he wished to emphasize to the Conference, for there was no time to be lost. Today, with the end of the cold war, great progress had been made in the field of nuclear disarmament. The United States and the Russian Federation, responding to the pleas of the world's peoples, had embarked on a process of real nuclear disarmament. The majority of the nuclear Powers had abandoned the practice of nuclear tests.
For the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, he said, there could be a real discussion on the progressive destruction of nuclear arms while the objective of a world free of nuclear weapons was pursued. The comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty would be an additional means of making the end of the cold war part of positive international law. It would give new impetus to nuclear disarmament and would make an invaluable contribution to the non-proliferation regime.
It would also constitute an impediment to all qualitative development of nuclear weapons, since perfecting new nuclear weapons presupposed the carrying out of nuclear tests, the Secretary-General stated. Today, the international community clearly recognized that nuclear disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons were in the interests of all States, whether or not they have such weapons.
Although it was not for him to go into the details of negotiations, he said, one issue appeared to be essential, concerning the scope of the treaty. The considerable political progress made last year in this area must be consolidated. A broad consensus had already emerged on the proposal that all explosions, however small, must be banned. There could therefore be no acceptable threshold. This was a completely satisfactory development. Everyone was aware of the special responsibility which the nuclear Powers had in this area. He urged them in particular to ensure that the treaty provide for a truly "comprehensive" and total ban on nuclear tests.
The treaty must be concluded this year, he said. Otherwise a severe blow would be dealt to the nuclear non-proliferation regime, and thereby to
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peace and security as a whole. He asked all delegations, whether they represented a large or a small country, a country with nuclear weapons or one without, to show flexibility, open-mindedness, a spirit of compromise and the will to succeed.
As for himself, he said, he could assure the Conference that despite the financial crisis, he would do everything in his power to help it. As soon as the treaty was concluded, he would make sure that the United Nations helped prospective signatories of the treaty with the preparation for its implementation.
The entire international community looked to the Conference to conclude the treaty, he said. The historic importance of the Conference should not be underestimated. Its success would represent a triumph for future generations, and for all humanity, on the difficult journey towards nuclear disarmament. "You must succeed", he concluded.
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