DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE HEARS FURTHER CALLS FOR BANS ON LAND-MINES AND FISSILE MATERIALS, ESTABLISHMENT OF NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

24 January 1997

Press Release
DCF/283

DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE HEARS FURTHER CALLS FOR BANS ON LAND-MINES AND FISSILE MATERIALS, ESTABLISHMENT OF NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

19970124 Members Continue Consultations to Agree on Agenda

GENEVA, 23 January (UN Information Service) -- France and Germany called on the Conference on Disarmament this morning to immediately begin negotiations on treaties to ban the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons and anti-personnel land-mines.

Speaking as the Conference continued to work to reach an agreement on an agenda for this session, the representative of France said the opinions of different groups on the work programme were not irreconcilable. The General Assembly, in 1993, had decided unanimously upon the negotiation, within an appropriate time-frame, of a non-discriminatory, multilateral, internationally efficiently verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear arms use, or "cut-off", she added.

In appealing for substantial negotiation processes on "cut-off" and on a treaty to ban land-mines, the representative of Germany pointed to the Conference's unique role in negotiating universal arms accords. Failure to reach agreement on a land-mine ban would disappoint the international community and could raise questions about the effectiveness of the Conference itself, he said.

For its part, Austria informed the Conference on a forthcoming expert meeting on anti-personnel land-mines to be held in Vienna from 12 to 14 February. The meeting in Vienna would in no way prejudge the position of the participating countries on the form and the forum in which the negotiations would be conducted. A second meeting in May would further elaborate on a draft treaty Austria had drawn up.

The representative of Egypt agreed on the need for a curb on land-mines, but said the national security concerns of States should also be taken into account. He was joined by the representative of Bangladesh in urging the Conference to begin negotiations on a time-bound framework for nuclear disarmament.

Also speaking on a land-mine ban was the representative of Belgium, who stressed that the clear objective was a global ban on anti-personnel mines, whatever way was chosen.

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Prior to the end of this morning's meeting, Armenia and Nepal were admitted as observers to the Conference.

The next plenary meeting of the Conference is set for Thursday, 30 January. At that time, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to address the Conference. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia, Alexander Downer, is also scheduled to speak.

Statements

JOËLLE BOURGOIS (France) said the Conference was as at a crossroads. The opinions of different groups on the work programme were not irreconcilable; the General Assembly, in 1993, had decided unanimously upon the negotiation, within an appropriate time-frame, of a non-discriminatory, multilateral, internationally efficiently verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear arms use. France was no longer producing fissile materials for arms production and had made a unique effort in the field of nuclear disarmament; it invited other countries to follow suit.

Only a treaty on "cut off" negotiated by the Conference on Disarmament could guarantee a universal character, putting an end to all possibility of resuming quantitative developments in the nuclear arms race, while the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) would halt qualitative development, she said. France would make every effort to start negotiations soon and to reach an early conclusion of that treaty; but problems would arise if the Conference established an ad hoc committee on all questions related to nuclear armament. The Conference should not duplicate the discussions at the Assembly's First Committee (Disarmament and International Security). There was a clear logic in attempting to make the ban on fissile materials the second multilateral negotiation on disarmament and non-proliferation after the CTBT.

The Conference should also be concerned with the second aspect of its mandate, namely conventional disarmament, and should soon establish an ad hoc committee to negotiate, on a step-by-step basis, a global ban on anti- personnel land-mines, she added. The first and easiest step would be a ban of mines transfer. France preferred an efficient treaty, even if the result took time, to a hastily concluded but useless agreement. Verification was a particularly important aspect.

HARALD KREID (Austria) said his country would host an expert meeting on anti-personnel land-mines in Vienna from 12 to 14 February. The Austrian Government was acting in order to come to terms once and for all with that scourge. Austria had been the first country to take the far-reaching step of banning anti-personnel land-mines for good.

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But lasting success could not be achieved through spontaneous and isolated action, he said. In view of the very limited progress achieved at the Review Conference on the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 1996, Austria saw the urgent need for a separate, legally-binding international agreement to ban the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel land-mines. At the conference on those weapons held in Ottawa last October, it had become manifestly clear that the number and regional diversity of the States sharing that view had reached the critical mass necessary for the start of negotiations on, and an early conclusion to, such a convention. Austria had prepared a first tentative draft treaty which had met with considerable interest at the Ottawa conference.

The meeting in Vienna would in no way prejudge the position of the participating countries on the form and the forum in which the negotiations would be conducted, he went on. Previous informal discussions on the text of a convention would be useful. The informal and expert character of the Vienna meeting was underlined by the fact that no report would be adopted or any decision taken. On the basis of the comments received in the exchange of views, Austria would produce a revised draft. Depending on the progress made at that first meeting, a second meeting would probably be required in late May in order to elaborate further on the text, which would then be presented as a national draft without prejudging the position of other countries at the meeting envisaged for June in Belgium.

WOLFGANG HOFFMANN (Germany) said the next step for negotiations should be a "cut-off" of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. The objective of such a multilateral and effectively verifiable cut-off treaty would be to cap the amount of fissile material available for nuclear weapons. Such a treaty would be a necessary complement to the CTBT.

In April 1996, he went on, Germany had unconditionally announced the end of its use of anti-personnel mines, he said, adding that existing stocks would be destroyed by the end of this year. Germany strongly welcomed similar steps taken by a growing number of States as well as widespread and still increasing support of a total ban within the international community, and was committed to the early conclusion of a legally-binding international agreement through the Conference to ban anti-personnel mines. It should be total in scope and - - as to adherence -- as global as possible. The Conference should immediately begin discussions on how best to achieve that goal, as proposed by a significant number of States, given its unique role in negotiating universal arms agreements. Failure to reach agreement on a land-mine ban would disappoint the international community and could raise questions about the effectiveness of the Conference itself.

The expansion of the membership of the Conference remained a pending question, he said. Germany supported the appointment of a special coordinator

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entrusted with the task of solving the issue in a timely manner.

MOUNIR ZAHRAN (Egypt) said the issue of nuclear disarmament had been on the disarmament agenda for several decades now, yet nuclear-weapon States had yet to commit themselves to a time-bound framework for nuclear disarmament, the will of the overwhelming majority of the members of the international community notwithstanding. Such a stance would seem to indicate that countries possessing nuclear weapons were still considering that those weapons had a role to play in international relations.

A ban on the production of fissile materials, or "cut-off", which left out past production, commonly referred to as stockpiles, would be a half measure of non-proliferation and would stop short of being another step towards nuclear disarmament, he added. On that basis, a "cut-off" convention could be negotiated in a nuclear disarmament ad hoc committee which the Group of 21 non-aligned countries had called for within the Conference.

With respect to anti-personnel land-mines, he recalled that Egypt was one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, with about 23 million old land-mines planted in its soil by foreign Powers during the Second World War and regional conflicts. Measures aiming at curbing land-mines should be accompanied by serious and concrete steps for mine-clearance in affected countries, which were unable to achieve that objective on their own. The necessary technical and financial assistance should be provided. Furthermore, the national security concerns of States -- particularly those with long borders in sparsely populated areas -- and their legitimate right to self- defence should be taken into account given the need to combat the smuggling of weapons and drugs, activities that aimed to undermine national security.

IFTEKHAR CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said nuclear disarmament, and the proposal to establish an ad hoc committee for negotiations on that subject, were unambiguous priorities for the Group of 21. Bangladesh's commitment was demonstrated by its signature of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the CTBT despite the obvious shortcoming of the treaties. His delegation would cooperate in every possible manner to achieve a consensus on the Conference's work programme for the session.

CARL PEETERS (Belgium) said there was a broad consensus on a global ban on anti-personnel land-mines. Belgium had been actively involved in the Ottawa process from the start, and it had offered to host the follow-up conference in Brussels in June. Now, several countries had proposed to negotiate a treaty on anti-personnel land-mines within the Conference. In fact, the two approaches were perfectly compatible if they complemented and strengthened each other. The Conference could, for example, elaborate a verification system. At any rate, work on one process should not slow down or hamper efforts made within the other. The clear objective was a global ban on anti-personnel mines, whatever way was chosen.

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