FIRST PART OF 1997 CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT BEGINS WITH NO AGREEMENT YET ON AGENDA AND WORK PROGRAMME
Press Release
DCF/282
FIRST PART OF 1997 CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT BEGINS WITH NO AGREEMENT YET ON AGENDA AND WORK PROGRAMME
19970122 Italian Foreign Minister Calls for Negotiations of Treaties To Ban Production of Fissile Material for Nuclear Weapons, Anti-Personnel Land-MinesGENEVA, 21 January (UN Information Service) -- The Conference on Disarmament opened the first part of its 1997 session this morning by listening to an appeal by the Italian Foreign Minister for the opening of negotiations on treaties to ban the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons and anti-personnel land-mines.
Lamberto Dini said that after the successful negotiations on a Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) last year, the time was now ripe for talks on a convention banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. The Conference was also best placed to deal with negotiations on a total ban on the transfer, production and storage of anti- personnel land-mines.
Mr. Dini's call came as members of the sole multilateral disarmament negotiating forum continued working to agree on an agenda for the 1997 session, set to last until next September. Conference President Joun Young Sun (Republic of Korea) regretted that consultations with the different groups and delegations had not yet resulted in a consensus on the agenda and work programme. He said the long and painstaking negotiations leading to the adoption of the CTBT last year had also brought the Conference to a crossroads in terms of redefining its future role and enhancing its credibility. The Conference must consolidate its relevance and viability as a multilateral negotiating forum, he added.
The President announced he had adopted a provisional agenda containing such items as nuclear disarmament; the prohibition of the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices; effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear weapon States against the use of or threat of use of nuclear weapons; transparency in armaments; prevention of an arms race in outer space; anti-personnel land- mines; and regional aspects of conventional disarmament.
Meanwhile, the Conference's outgoing President, Ludwik Dembinsky (Poland), said his conclusions on the agenda issue were, regrettably, not optimistic. No important departures in the known positions of delegations had taken place since last September. Consensus needed to be pursued through further intensive consultations.
Also this morning, the Secretary-General of the Conference and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the Conference, Vladimir Petrovsky, said Mr. Annan would address the Conference on Thursday, 30 January.
During the morning debate, the representative of the United Kingdom called upon the Conference to get on with the negotiation of a fissile material cut-off treaty which, he said, would provide an essential foundation for the eventual achievement of nuclear disarmament. The United Kingdom did not see the value of trying now to devise a complete blueprint for the final achievement of nuclear disarmament.
The representative of Malaysia also urged that the Conference deal with the issue of fissile materials production of weapon purposes, but also called for the immediate establishment of an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament.
The representatives of Myanmar echoed appeals for the setting up of negotiating committees on fissile materials and nuclear disarmament, while the representatives of Finland, Canada and the United States underlined the priority their countries attached to the conclusion of a ban on anti-personnel land-mines.
Also at this morning's meeting, the following States were admitted as observers in the Conference: Brunei Darussalam, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, Holy See, Iceland, Ireland, Kazakstan, Kuwait, Libya, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, Sudan, Thailand, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Uruguay and Zambia.
Statements
LAMBERTO DINI, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, said the Conference must continue as the main multilateral disarmament negotiating body. Its authority would be enhanced as more countries acquired full membership, including some member States of the European Union that have already submitted their applications. Italy also believed that other international bodies could effectively support the important role played by the United Nations system. More prominence should be assigned to the group of the most highly industrialized countries, the "Group of Seven", which in recent years had advanced major proposals in the areas of disarmament and nuclear safety.
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Arms control and reduction were also regional issues, and some disarmament and non-proliferation problems could be more effectively resolved within their own geopolitical contexts, Mr. Dini continued. Thus, the strengthened Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) provided a security framework within which all European States participated on an equal footing, providing the setting for a number of important agreements. Furthermore, the European Union's foreign and security policies had in the past few years focused special attention to disarmament and non-proliferation. The Union supported the development of the new tasks of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in peace-keeping and cooperation, as well as in connection to the overall security risks posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Mr. Dini paid tribute to the latest success of the Conference, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The international community must do its utmost to encourage States which had not yet signed the Treaty to accede to it as soon possible, he said. The impatience shown by certain States regarding nuclear disarmament was understood, but the problem could not be solved by merely issuing fine-sounding declarations. That was why Italy urged everyone to be specific and embark on negotiations on a convention banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices ("cut-off"), including in the ad hoc committee established in 1995 but whose activity was still paralysed.
The control of conventional weapons demanded particular attention from the Conference, he added. The main emergency before the international community today, for moral and humanitarian reasons as well as in the interest of economic development, was the question of anti-personnel land-mines. The Conference had the experience, facilities and personnel to handle negotiations on that question. To be credible, an agreement banning the transfer, production, use or storage of anti-personnel land-mines must attract the largest possible number of countries, and avoid setting up a narrowly based regime that excluded the most important countries. He also proposed a special international register to record all exports of anti-personnel land-mines.
Sir MICHAEL WESTON (United Kingdom) said that although the nuclear arms race between East and West had now ceased, both nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament remained to be fully achieved. There was scope for debate about how best to pursue those objectives. Fortunately, the 1995 conference of States parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) had helped to identify the way forward by adopting the Principles and Objectives for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, which had called for the completion of negotiations for a comprehensive test-ban treaty no later than 1996; the immediate commencement and early conclusion of negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty; and "systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally". The United Kingdom believed that represented a very sensible agenda for the foreseeable future.
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A fissile material "cut-off" treaty (FMCT) was in effect a complementary measure to the CTBT, he went on. Like the CTBT, it would not lead directly to any reductions in nuclear forces, but to a limit on the extent to which they can be developed. The FMCT would also provide an essential foundation for the eventual achievement of nuclear disarmament.
He warned against linking "cut-off" negotiations to progress on nuclear disarmament issues, saying the experience of the recent past showed very clearly that linkage between negotiations was not the way to make progress. Furthermore, the United Kingdom simply did not see the value in trying now to devise a complete blueprint for the final achievement of nuclear disarmament. The next steps were clear enough: the ratification of the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START II) by the Russian Federation, the implementation of START II and negotiations of a bilateral START III between the two States that still possessed the vast majority of nuclear weapons in the world.
The Conference should continue to do what it had always done best, namely to negotiate detailed treaties on specific subjects, he added. Instead of wasting its talents on star-gazing, the Conference should turn its energies to the specific job of negotiating a "cut-off" treaty.
HASMY AGAM (Malaysia) said the Conference would have to come to grips with the issue of the banning of the production of fissile materials for weapon purposes. There was a need for renewed commitment and political will on the part of Conference members, especially the nuclear-weapon member States, to get the Conference out of its present predicament.
He referred to Assembly resolution 51/45 M, reinforcing the July 1996 opinion of the International Court of Justice that State Parties to the NPT had a legal obligation not only to pursue negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects, but also to bring such negotiations to a conclusion. The Conference should therefore, he said, immediately establish an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament, which would consider the various aspects of nuclear disarmament already on its agenda, as well as to address those other Assembly resolutions pertaining to nuclear disarmament.
U AYE (Myanmar) drew attention to the advisory opinion rendered by the International Court of Justice to the effect that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to international law applicable in armed conflict, and in particular, the principles and rules of humanitarian law. There was an obligation to pursue negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all aspects under strict and effective international control, he said.
With regard to the Conference work programme for 1997, he said there were two options: under a concentrated programme, two ad hoc committees, one on nuclear disarmament and the other on a fissile material ban, could be
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established; in an extended programme, ad hoc committees on nuclear disarmament, fissile material ban, prevention of an arms race in outer space, transparency in armaments and negative security assurances would be established.
Concerning anti-personnel land-mines, he said there had been mechanisms and instruments already worked out by the international community outside the context of the Conference.
MARKKU REIMAA, Director-General, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, said that after the conclusion of the CTBT negotiations, it was evident that the agenda of the Conference needed renewal to reflect the realities of today's world. It should be balanced and reflect the various interests affecting its work. The Conference had to get back to the business of negotiating disarmament treaties and agreements. Pending the outcome of discussions on the agenda, the Conference should set up the programme of work for the 1997 session and establish the necessary ad hoc committees without delay. Differences relating to the scope of the cut-off treaty should be addressed during the negotiations, not before.
He added that the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the indiscriminate use of anti-personnel land-mines called for urgent international action. Finland supported a global, legally binding and verifiable ban on anti- personnel land-mines.
LUDWIK DEMBINSKI (Poland), outgoing President of the Conference, reported on his consultations on the review of the agenda during the inter- sessional period. His conclusions on the agenda issue were, regrettably, not optimistic, he said. No important departures in the known positions of delegations had taken place since Ambassador Hocine Meghlaoui's report last September (document CD/PV.749). Since positions were still far apart, consensus needed to be pursued through further intensive consultations.
With regard to the question of a further expansion of the Conference membership, opinions ranged from a prevailing view that all applicant States should be accommodated, to concern for the determination of the maximum desirable size of the forum, he said. Ensuring a regionally balanced representation and admitting States with the longest applicant status and documented contribution to the Conference work as observers were other important considerations. There appeared to be an emerging consensus that it might be desirable for the Conference to appoint a Special Coordinator to pursue consultations on further expansion.
STEPHEN J. LEDOGAR (United States) read out a message from President William J. Clinton pointing to the successful conclusion of the CTBT negotiations as evidence of the Conference's potential to respond to the challenges it now faced. The Conference should take the next steps on the
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road to a more secure world: the prompt conclusion of a ban on producing fissile material for use in nuclear explosives, and early negotiations on a comprehensive, global ban on anti-personnel land-mines.
President Clinton had called on the Conference to press forward with a renewed sense of purpose, to demonstrate to the world its capability to take those key steps to advance the process of nuclear and conventional disarmament, he said. Its first priority in the field of nuclear disarmament should be to negotiate a treaty to ban the production of fissile material. Such negotiation would fulfil not only the requirement set forth in the Principles and Objectives document approved by consensus at the 1995 NPT Review Conference, it would also represent a major step forward in the ongoing process of reducing the number of nuclear weapons as well as in preventing their proliferation in the world. The politics of delay that had hamstrung the Conference in its non-CTBT work for the past two years should now be set aside.
MARK MOHER (Canada) said nuclear disarmament was a central issue that the Conference must address in a constructive way. The debate to date had sadly been characterized by categorical rejections on the one hand and theological demands on the other. The creation of a mechanism for the substantive discussion of nuclear disarmament should be the subject of negotiation. Conventional disarmament was a pressing and central issue that deserved the attention of the Conference. The body should also consider the negotiation of a legally binding instrument to prevent the "weaponization" of outer space, as well as begin negotiations on a ban on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. The global community, through the United Nations and during the NPT Review and Extension Conference, had urged the Conference to get on with concluding a "cut-off" convention.
The urgent conclusion of a comprehensive treaty banning anti-personnel land-mines was a top Canadian foreign policy priority, he went on. Canada was strongly committed to working with the concerned global community to put in place, by December 1997, a new norm against anti-personnel land-mines. The challenge of detecting and clearing the millions of mines already in the ground, and assisting the many victims, would continue for decades. In Canada's view, the Conference should deal with the mine issue in a comprehensive way -- developing a mandate and quickly concluding negotiations to ban the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel land- mines.
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