NOTHING SHOULD DETER ADOPTION OF COMPREHENSIVE TEST-BAN TREATY THIS YEAR, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS DISARMAMENT ADVISORY BOARD
Press Release
SG/SM/6014
DC/2558
NOTHING SHOULD DETER ADOPTION OF COMPREHENSIVE TEST-BAN TREATY THIS YEAR, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS DISARMAMENT ADVISORY BOARD
19960702 Following is the text of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's statement to the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters yesterday, 1 July, in Geneva:I welcome the opportunity to be with you today and to share with you my views on several disarmament and security-related questions. This distinguished Board plays a significant role as a source of novel, timely and practical ideas relevant to ongoing debates in the international arena.
I congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, for assuming the chairmanship of this meeting, and I thank you for having accepted my invitation to do so. Your outstanding qualities are well-known to myself and to the Board. I look forward, in particular, to hearing your comments about the ground-breaking activities of the panel of governmental experts on small arms, whose first session concluded on Friday and which you chaired as well.
Many of you are familiar faces to me from past meetings of the Board, but others are new. Let me welcome three new members: Mr. Tshinga Judge Dube of Zimbabwe, Mr. Yuri Kliukin of the Russian Federation, and Ms. Wangari Maathai of Kenya. Your expertise and experience will greatly enrich these proceedings. I am especially pleased that more women have joined the Board.
The founders of the United Nations had an inspiring vision of a peaceful world community whose members would not use armed force to accomplish political ends, who would seek to minimize the role of armaments and maximize the use of the earth's resources for economic and social advancement. That vision has guided United Nations disarmament activities and must continue to inform your discussions of the evolving and expanding disarmament agenda.
I would like to explore further with you the role of the United Nations in that agenda. Before I do, however, a word of caution. The Board is meeting only once this year because of financial constraints. The United Nations is experiencing the strains of reduction. It is facing a serious financial crisis. At the same time, it must execute to the best of its ability the many programmes decided on by the Member States. If the ideas
that we discuss here are to have an impact, they must be rooted in these realities.
For nearly a half century, the United Nations has made concrete progress towards the goal of a world not threatened by nuclear weapons. We are very near to agreement on another milestone in that direction: the adoption of the nuclear test-ban treaty. Last Friday, the end of the second part of the Conference on Disarmament, the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on a nuclear test-ban put forward a new draft treaty. The outstanding issues, though crucial, are few. During this month, governments should reflect carefully on these remaining issues. I shall continue to appeal to all Governments to exert maximum efforts and to demonstrate a great spirit of flexibility and compromise, so that the draft would be adopted at the opening of the third part of the session, at the end of this month.
Let me reiterate here what I have underlined in messages to the negotiators in the Conference -- that nothing should deter the adoption of the treaty this year, in accordance with the wishes of the General Assembly expressed at the fiftieth session.
A nuclear test ban will be a step towards nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation. It will further devalue the role of nuclear weapons in international security. It will supplement accomplishments made at the bilateral level since the end of the cold war. Its rigorous verification provisions will expand the scope of international cooperation in the nuclear field.
The test ban will thus be a victory for nuclear and non-nuclear nations. It will honour the solemn commitment to achieve the ban this year made by the parties to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1995. It will reinforce the non-proliferation regime in general and strengthen the commitment of the parties to the terms of the Treaty. In particular, it will pave the way for a constructive beginning of the Treaty review process in 1997.
The test-ban treaty will also be a signal achievement of multilateral diplomacy and negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament. It will be the culmination of more than three decades of work. And it will be the second treaty of global importance, after the Chemical Weapons Convention, concluded by the Conference this decade.
The parties have selected the Secretary-General as Depositary. The primary duties of this function are to serve as a legal guardian and monitor adherence to the treaty. But the responsibilities are also political. I have pledged to use my good offices to work towards universal adherence to the treaty's provisions.
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I stand ready to begin consultations on the best time to reconvene the fiftieth session in order to receive the treaty and open it for signature. Resources permitting, I have also offered the cooperation of the United Nations in establishing the treaty organization in Vienna.
The test-ban treaty does not stand alone. Further disengagement and the downsizing of nuclear arsenals must be pursued. Reductions are under way under the terms of the first Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START I). Solid commitments by the Russian Federation and the United States to implement fully the terms of START II are essential, I urge Russia to ratify that agreement. As long as nuclear weapons exist, States that have committed themselves to foregoing the nuclear weapons option are entitled to strong security assurances. A fissionable material production cut-off could also help to solidify the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Regional efforts have borne fruit during the past year. My own continent of Africa is now a nuclear-weapon-free zone. The nations of south- east Asia have reached a similar agreement. The entire hemisphere of the South is now nuclear-weapon free. There is increased hope that these positive examples will encourage other regions to follow suit -- I speak especially of the Middle East -- in order to reach a nuclear free world.
I would like to turn now from these issues of 'macro-disarmament' to 'micro-disarmament'.
The instruments of choice in most of today's conflicts are small arms and light weapons. Abundant and cheap, they are killing people by the thousands. 'Kalashnikov' is a household word throughout the world. Mortars and portable anti-aircraft missiles are common. The anti-personnel land-mine, a durable and silent killer, is always present. Combatants, meanwhile, are not just regular troops but armed militias and gangs. Dramatic images of teenage soldiers brandishing their weapons are no longer shocking.
This is the new landscape of war. The challenge is to find innovative and constructive responses. One positive example comes to us from the Government and people of Mali.
In 1993, the President of Mali informed me about the rash of illicit small arms in his country and asked the United Nations for assistance in collecting them. In 1994, an advisory mission identified certain sources of the weapons influx and stressed the need for strengthened internal security mechanisms. A follow-up mission to other countries in the region in 1995 confirmed the need for a "security-first" approach.
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Parallel to these efforts, a peace agreement was reached under which the Tuareg rebels were to surrender their weapons. President Konare of Mali again called upon the United Nations, this time to assist in the collection and destruction of nearly 3,000 small arms. Just four months ago in Timbuktu -- some of you in this room were eyewitnesses -- the pile of weapons was set aflame in a vivid and symbolic display that the conflict had come to an end. The United Nations was glad to participate in such a celebration, and remains actively engaged in helping Mali to implement the peace agreement.
The experience of the United Nations in Mali shows that the international community understands the need to turn greater attention to micro-disarmament.
The Disarmament Commission has adopted guidelines on arms transfers that mark the first step at the multilateral level to exert control over the thorny issue of illicit arms trading. I congratulate Japan on its initiative in the panel of governmental experts on small arms and thank it for its support of this vital body.
In Central Africa, States have proposed a regional arms register to increase transparency in military matters. This confidence-building measure deserves the widest possible support.
And as you know, I actively support a total ban on all anti-personnel land-mines. A growing number of States have adopted unilateral bans on the transfer or use of mines. States should also increase their financial and technical assistance to countries in mine-clearance activities and for improvements in mine-clearance technology.
On June 28 and 29, I was at the "Group of Seven" summit, where Italian Foreign Minister, Lamberto Dini, in a press briefing, welcomed the intention of Japan and Canada to hold an international conference, at the beginning of next year, as part of the effort towards a total ban on the production and use of anti-personnel land mines.
In addition, I urge all parties to ratify the revised protocol on land- mines. The agreement on revised protocol II has set a new precedent for international humanitarian and arms control law. For the first time, a provision bans transfers of all non-detectable anti-personnel land-mines. The provisions governing the protection of peace and humanitarian missions have been strengthened. And the review mechanism of annual conferences will sustain momentum towards further improvements in the protocol and a complete ban on mines.
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The Board held a useful discussion in 1995 on the convening of a fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament. The Disarmament Commission concluded its debate on the question in May. There seems to be general agreement that a fourth special session on disarmament should take place.
The United Nations plays a special role in promoting and formulating international consensus on the pressing global issues of our times, as seen through the recently completed cycle of landmark conferences. I attach great importance to that function.
The historical value of the consensus reached in the Final Declaration of the first special session on disarmament in 1978 is essential. Although the nuclear arms race was still raging, the international community seized the opportunity created by a period of détente between the two major Powers to harmonize global opinion in favour of disarmament.
Elements of the Programme of Action adopted at the session -- covering nuclear issues, chemical, biological, and conventional weapons -- are still being implemented daily. Nevertheless, differences persist with regards to the Declaration's continuing relevance in the post cold-war world.
The second and third special sessions, in 1982 and 1988, were relative successes. But for a variety of reasons, which you have examined in your discussions, the divergences of views on key issues among Member States could not be overcome. The next special session must be constructive and positive in both its review of the past and its guidance for the future.
The Final Declaration in 1978 was achieved in large part through extensive advance preparations. Five meetings of the Preparatory Committee were held. A similar process might be agreed upon for the special session now being contemplated. The actual timing of the session could remain under discussion while substantive preparations are under way. The tenor and progress of those discussions would then help decide the appropriate moment to convene the session in order to ensure a positive outcome.
Disarmament is a global enterprise, involving individual States, regional organizations and the international community as a whole. Only the United Nations offers the global forum, the global framework and the global mandate needed to deal with the threat of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction. For the sake of human security in all its aspects, we must succeed in this essential endeavour.
I look forward to hearing your views on this subjects and I offer you my best wishes for a successful meeting.
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