SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS TEST-BAN TREATY, MAJOR UNITED NATIONS ACHIEVEMENT, CAN SPUR FURTHER NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

14 October 1996

Press Release
SG/SM/6077
GA/DIS/3053

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS TEST-BAN TREATY, MAJOR UNITED NATIONS ACHIEVEMENT, CAN SPUR FURTHER NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

19961014 First Committee Is Told End of Cold War Dictates New Approaches To Arms Reduction to Meet Expectations of International Community

This is the text of a statement by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali today to the General Assembly's First Committee (Disarmament and International Security):

It is a great pleasure for me to address the First Committee so soon after the successful adoption and signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test- Ban Treaty. Speaker after speaker in the General Assembly over the last three weeks defined the Treaty as a landmark, as an important step towards complete nuclear disarmament. The Test-Ban Treaty adds to the "stockpile" of political and legal instruments which can help us to ward off the threat of nuclear self-destruction that has been hanging over our heads for more than 50 years.

Here in this building which symbolizes the collective will of the community of nations, I had the honour to open the Treaty for signature a little more than three weeks ago. The United Nations offers its Member States an institutionalized framework for dialogue, negotiation and collaboration on issues of global significance and universal impact. It takes legitimate pride in having made that event possible.

On behalf of today's children and tomorrow's generations, I commend the work of the many men and women in public and private life who prepared the ground for this historic achievement. The political and technical work of the Conference on Disarmament, which led to the complex draft text of the Treaty and its detailed verification protocols, was a major accomplishment. The fact that the draft enjoyed the international community's overwhelming support is a tribute to the unique capacity of the Conference. How else could such a complex, multilateral disarmament treaty attract 123 signatures and one ratification in such a short time? How else could such sophisticated arrangements for verifying compliance with the Treaty's provisions have been developed?

No mention of the Treaty should be made without paying a special tribute to Ambassador Jaap Ramaker's firm and skilled guidance of the Ad Hoc Committee. I doubt that without his exceptional energy, patience and ability to capture compromise, so much progress could have been made in so little time on such a complex issue.

From the very start of the negotiations, the main objective of many non-nuclear-weapon States was to build into the architecture of the Treaty a renewed commitment by all States, and particularly the nuclear-weapon States, to a progressive and more systematic process leading to complete nuclear disarmament. The conclusion of the Test-Ban Treaty has increased the momentum towards nuclear disarmament.

Great expectations have been stirred that international security and stability can be assured at the same time that movement towards nuclear disarmament can be quickened. The race to nuclear disengagement and disarmament should become as relentless as was the nuclear arms race during the cold war. Now, in the closing years of the twentieth century, the question should be: what are the next steps towards a secure and stable twenty-first century, without nuclear weapons and without weapons of mass destruction?

Ideas from prestigious sources have added recently to a sense of urgency regarding nuclear disarmament. I refer in particular to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, issued in July, on whether the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons was permitted under any circumstances under international law. While some aspects of the Court's opinion are controversial, it has raised the issue to a new legal level. The Judges ruled unanimously that "there existed an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control". This is a new and significant way of perceiving commitments to disarmament negotiations. The Court's opinion has captured, in my view, the understanding of the obligations assumed by States Parties under Article six of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This understanding also applies to the Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Review adopted in 1995. The implication is that negotiations will lead to the conclusion of agreements. My hope is that all States will extract from this particular aspect of the Court's opinion the incentive to strive for concrete and attainable steps towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

At the macro level the international community cannot lower its guard. The destructive force of today's nuclear stockpiles equals 750,000 bombs of the size used at Hiroshima. Some still consider nuclear weapons to be a viable means of warfare. The possibility of nuclear accidents, terrorism and

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trafficking in nuclear materials persists. The threat of the use of chemical and biological weapons has not been eliminated.

But at the micro level the challenges are no less demanding. Tens of thousands of people are still being killed each year by small arms. Land- mines are still being planted faster than they are removed. By their very nature small arms are infinitely more difficult to control than nuclear weapons. The legal and illegal trade in conventional weapons, large and small, jeopardizes the gains that resulted from the end of the cold war and consumes too much of the budgets of developing States.

What steps must be taken to meet these challenges? The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) should be ratified and implemented. I welcome the reports of progress in the talks between the two sides and urge them to keep up the momentum. Early ratification of the Treaty by the Russian Federation would allow reductions in the nuclear arsenals to proceed, and a START III process to begin. Further joint or unilateral measures by both sides can reduce the risk that the dismantled weapons might be used again.

I have often underlined the importance I attach to preventing and combating illicit trafficking in nuclear materials. I welcome therefore the programme announced at the summit meeting of the major developed countries in Moscow in April this year. I also commend the work done by a wide range of intergovernmental agencies, under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to prevent illicit trafficking in nuclear materials.

The Conference on Disarmament, intensely busy as it was with the Test- Ban Treaty, was not able to proceed this year to negotiations on a cutoff of the production of fissile material for weapons purposes. The way forward is now open. A cutoff is a practicable, possible and logical next step in the process of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. I urge the First Committee to take up this item with a new spirit of flexibility and to help set the course for the Conference on Disarmament in 1997.

As Depositary of the Chemical Weapons Convention, I would like to be able to announce the entry into force of the Convention. This would give it full effect as international law, and would allow its sophisticated verification system to come into being. No matter how fool-proof the chemical weapons prohibition regime may be, it will not be credible without the participation of the two major powers. I am gratified that the President of the United States announced during the General Debate that he would not abandon the Convention. The Convention is in the best interest of the entire international community and I urge the Russian Federation and the United States to ratify it as soon as possible. At the same time, I call upon the States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention, at their forthcoming

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Review Conference, to strengthen that Convention by finalizing the arrangements for a verification protocol.

Following the adherence to the Treaty of Tlatelolco by all States of the Latin American and Caribbean region in 1994, I have welcomed the signature of the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty in December 1995; the signature of the Protocols to the Treaty of Rarotonga by three nuclear-weapon States in March 1996; and the signature of the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone the next month. These successes have led to a strong call, during this General Assembly, for talks to begin on the establishment of other zones free of nuclear weapons, including in the Middle East and in the southern hemisphere. I welcome these initiatives and urge the States concerned to bring this noble idea to fruition.

For the men, women and children of war-ravaged countries, and for the safety and security of United Nations peace forces, I shall continue to strongly press for a total ban on anti-personnel land-mines. I am encouraged by the steps being taken, unilaterally or jointly, by many States to enact national measures to ban or restrict these weapons. And I support the efforts under way in this Committee to begin negotiations towards a total ban.

The Panel on Small Arms established by the General Assembly last year is using an innovative approach by holding workshops in areas where the proliferation of small arms is a source of increased tension. The first workshop took place in South Africa last month. I am encouraged by the process begun by the panel and I look forward to the results that will be reported next year.

As part of the system-wide Initiative for Africa which I inaugurated this year, an integrated approach to peace and development is being implemented in various regions of the continent. As one practical example, assistance by the United Nations to the demobilization of former combatants in Mali and their reintegration into civilian life contributes to the consolidation of peace in that country. I am consulting with other countries in West Africa in order to determine how best to respond to their specific concerns in this area.

I welcomed the signature in July 1996, by almost all the States of Central Africa, of the Non-Aggression Pact drafted under the auspices of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on security questions in that region. Funding for further steps to reinforce confidence-building in volatile regions is needed. I express my deep appreciation to those States that are currently funding such activities. I appeal for additional contributions to sustain this effort.

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Developing a disarmament agenda for the twenty-first century must be a priority for the Governments of this century. There now seems to be overwhelming support for the proposal to convene another Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament. That session could assess the security situation in the post-cold war era and set the negotiating agenda for the years to come. Preparations for such a session could start as early as next year. The actual timing of the session could be left open, if necessary, until consensus emerges on its agenda and programme. The international community is calling out for a clear message that the cold war era is over and that cold war approaches to disarmament are being replaced by new, more effective approaches.

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