SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

Press Release
DCF/285

SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

GENEVA, 30 January (UN Information Service) -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan, addressing the Conference on Disarmament at the end of his first month in office, said this morning that he strongly supported continued efforts towards nuclear disarmament, including negotiation of a convention banning production of fissile materials. He also welcomed what he called "the growing movement" to ban anti-personnel land-mines and said it seemed logical for the Conference to play a role in such efforts.

The Secretary-General urged the Conference to continue to use "one of its strongest instruments" -- a consensus approach to problem solving. "Consensus protects the interests of each State, big or small, and ensures that negotiated treaties and conventions command the widest support", Mr. Annan said.

The Secretary-General's statement was followed by an address by Alexander Downer, Foreign Minister of Australia, who presented the report of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The report sets out six "immediate steps" and three "reinforcing steps" to implement the political commitment by the nuclear-weapon States to the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Also this morning, the representative of Pakistan said the international community should pursue three aims in relation to anti-personnel land-mines: securing the widest possible adherence to the new Protocol II of the Convention on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons; mounting programmes to eliminate land-mines laid in the past; and exploring in the Conference further measures to move towards the ultimate goal of prohibiting anti-personnel land- mines without jeopardizing the security of States. Pakistan proposed the appointment of a special coordinator to conduct such an exploration and elaborate appropriate terms of reference for negotiations in the Conference. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom tabled a draft mandate for an ad hoc committee to negotiate an international agreement to ban the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of such weapons.

Conference members have yet to agree on an agenda and work programme for the session. Speaking on that issue this morning, the representative of Algeria said the Conference's agenda posed two linked problems: what substantive issues should be considered, and what priorities should be given to them in negotiations. Accomplishments to date, however impressive, were disappointing because they were piecemeal efforts toward the broad, major goal of the Conference. There remained to be faced the obligation of the Conference and countries to negotiate nuclear disarmament itself; the Group of 21 non-aligned countries continued to call for establishment of an ad hoc committee to negotiate phased nuclear disarmament, according to a timetable.

Also addressing the Conference were the representatives of Japan, Chile, Sri Lanka and Iran.

At the end of today's plenary, the Conference agreed to admit Jordan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Swaziland as observers.

Statement by Secretary-General

Secretary-General KOFI ANNAN told the Conference that he welcomed the positive efforts made to advance international cooperation in the three vital areas of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. He urged the States having not yet ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, and in particular, declared possessors of chemical weapons such as the Russian Federation and the United States, to do so before it enters into force.

One step towards nuclear disarmament, the Secretary-General added, should be a convention banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. He urged the Conference to begin negotiations as soon as possible building on the mandate of the ad hoc committee established in 1995. In addition, the issue of security assurances to non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons should be re-examined to determine how such assurances could be strengthened further.

The increase in local and regional conflicts since the end of the cold war made the issue of conventional weapons urgent and important. Those were the weapons which were actually killing combatants and civilians in their tens and thousands, Mr. Annan emphasized. Millions of indiscriminately laid land- mines posed a daily threat and had become weapons of terror. He urged all States to ensure that the amended Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons enter into force as soon as possible. The Secretary- General welcomed the growing movement in favour of national measures to curb the transfer and use of those weapons and the commitment of more and more States to negotiate an effective legally binding total ban on them.

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Concluding his address, the Secretary-General highlighted the consensus approach to problem solving as one of the strongest instruments of the Conference on Disarmament. Consensus protected the interests of each State, big or small, and ensured that negotiated treaties and conventions command the widest possible support.

Statement by Foreign Minister of Australia

ALEXANDER DOWNER, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia, said he was pleased to introduce the report of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The Commission was a body of independent experts and eminent persons commissioned by the Australian Government to address the fundamental questions of whether a nuclear-weapon-free world was feasible, and, if so, the measures which could be taken to attain that objective.

The report set out six "immediate steps", Mr. Downer said: taking nuclear forces off alert; removal of warheads from delivery vehicles; ending the deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons; ending nuclear testing; initiating negotiations to reduce further United States and Russian nuclear arsenals; and an agreement amongst the nuclear-weapon States on reciprocal no- first-use undertakings and of a non-use undertaking by them in relation to the non-nuclear-weapon States. The Commission also recommended three "reinforcing steps", he added: action to prevent further horizontal proliferation; developing verification arrangements for a nuclear-weapon-free world; and the cessation of the production of fissile material for nuclear explosive purposes.

The Foreign Minister urged the Conference not to dissipate its energies by trying to tackle too many tasks at once, particularly if they were being tackled elsewhere, and recommended that it focus on negotiating a treaty banning production of fissile materials for weapons purposes -- a "cut-off" convention -- and a treaty banning anti-personnel land-mines totally. Australia had renounced the military use of land-mines, had announced in March demining programmes for Cambodia and Laos worth 12 million Australian dollars over three years and was announcing today that it would be contributing a further 4 million Australian dollars over the next three years to mine clearance and rehabilitation work in Cambodia and Mozambique.

Statements in Debate

MUNIR AKRAM (Pakistan) called upon the Conference to promote four important objectives in the context of nuclear disarmament. First, he said, it was urgent to secure a legally-binding international agreement committing all States -- nuclear and non-nuclear -- to the objective of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. A simple, short treaty would contain such a commitment. Second, negotiations should be opened on a programme for the

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complete elimination of nuclear weapons within an agreed and specific time- frame. The Conference should also pursue specific measures for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. In that regard, Pakistan was prepared to commence work on a fissile materials convention. The fourth objective should be to secure credible, legally-binding and unconditional assurances to non- nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.

On the issue of anti-personnel land-mines, he continued, three aims should be pursued by the international community: securing the widest possible adherence to the new Protocol II of the Convention on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons; mounting programmes to eliminate land-mines laid in the past; and exploring in the Conference further measures to move towards the ultimate goal of prohibiting anti-personnel land-mines without jeopardizing the security of States. Pakistan proposed the appointment of a special coordinator to conduct such an exploration and elaborate appropriate terms of reference for negotiations in the Conference.

Concerning regional arms control and non-proliferation issues, he said south Asia had been described as the most dangerous place in the world. Apart from vetoing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and declaring its nuclear option open, Pakistan's neighbour had also embarked on the massive acquisition of offensive weapons. Pakistan had, perversely, faced the brunt of international reaction to such escalation, most recently hearing appeals to sign the CTBT. Pakistan had demonstrated extreme reserve. But in face of efforts to erode the country's capacity for self-defence, Pakistan reserved the right to take all appropriate measures to safeguard its national security.

MOHAMED-SALAH DEMBRI (Algeria) said the Conference's agenda posed two linked problems: what substantive issues should be considered, and what priorities should be given to them in negotiations. Unfortunately, accomplishments to date, however impressive, were disappointing because they were piecemeal efforts towards the broad, major goal of the Conference: there was disappointment and frustration with the CTBT because it did not take into account complete disarmament. There remained to be faced the obligation of the Conference and countries to negotiate nuclear disarmament itself. The Group of 21 non-aligned countries continued to call for establishment of an ad hoc committee to negotiate phased nuclear disarmament, according to a timetable.

There was broad support for nuclear disarmament, he said. No country could deny that, and no country could declare today that it was hostile to achievement of that objective. Differences lay in the approaches to that goal. Flexibility was important, as was inclusiveness -- no country should be left out. Treaties and negotiations must focus on disarmament, on protection of non-nuclear-weapon States and on a ban on fissile materials. If such a multilateral process was undertaken, the sought-after ban on fissile materials

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would be negotiated in a suitable context and in a situation of balance. Momentum had been established by the Conference, and it was important not to divert it by focusing on subjects not related to nuclear disarmament and non- proliferation; however important they might be, they could not at this time have the same priority. Nuclear disarmament, in the opinion of Algeria, had highest priority.

HISAMI KUROKOCHI (Japan) urged States that had not yet done so to sign and ratify the CTBT. Japan, she said, was currently making the necessary preparations for its ratification. Japan, meanwhile, was convinced that further progress on nuclear issues should be made through an incremental approach towards the ultimate goal of achieving a world free of nuclear weapons. That view was reiterated most recently by Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda at a seminar on "Nuclear Disarmament after the Indefinite Extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)" held in December in Kyoto. She stressed that the Conference must renounce the so-called linkage strategy in which no agreement was possible on any item unless the Conference agreed on the establishment of an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament within a time-bound framework -- that was certainly a recipe for blocking any kind of progress.

Japan strongly appealed to all Conference members to establish an ad hoc committee on a fissile material cut-off treaty and begin negotiations immediately, she said. As for anti-personnel land-mines, in the view of Japan it was important to take measures in four areas: strengthening of international restrictions, cooperation for mine-clearance, development of technologies for mine detection and clearance, and assistance for rehabilitation of victims. Japan supported international efforts towards a global ban on land-mines, but if it turned out to be very difficult to reach an agreement in the Conference to start negotiations on a total ban, it might be more practical, as suggested by the representative of France last week, to begin with a phased approach, perhaps focusing first on a total ban on exports.

Sir MICHAEL WESTON (United Kingdom) cited anti-personnel land-mines as the one issue that affected the most people directly. The Conference, with its wide membership and established position as the sole multilateral disarmament forum, had clear advantages for tackling the roots of that problem and achieving agreement on a world-wide ban. The United Kingdom therefore warmly welcomed the proposal made by France for the establishment of an ad hoc committee in the Conference to negotiate a ban on anti-personnel land-mines. Building further on that initiative the United Kingdom had just tabled a proposal for a negotiating mandate for such a committee, whose objective would be "to negotiate, for conclusion at the earliest possible date, a universal, effectively verifiable and legally-binding international agreement to ban

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totally the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel land- mines".

Such a ban, he went on, already observed unilaterally by many countries, would deliver early, real humanitarian benefits by reducing the scale of suffering from anti-personnel land-mines and help to press forward to the goal of a total, global ban. The ad hoc committee would not be working in a vacuum: it would need to take account of the work recently completed in the review of the United Nations Convention on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, particularly the amended Protocol II. It would also take account of work on anti-personnel land-mines which might be taken forward in other forums, such as the "Ottawa process".

The draft mandate of the ad hoc committee called on the panel to report to the Conference on the progress of its work before the conclusion of the 1997 session, he added.

JORGE BERGUÑO (Chile) proposed, in connection with the future substance of international disarmament negotiations, the establishment of mechanism broader than the traditional committee for the consideration in-depth of all nuclear disarmament issues, with a view to identifying those issues which should be selected as a priority subject for negotiation. As for the question of content, he said, Chile believed a utopian search for timetables, linkages and timetables leading towards the ultimate goal of total disarmament under international control was opposed to a pragmatic, astute management of available opportunities to demilitarize or "denuclearize" areas which had become altogether obsolete. Chile favoured a positive conception of the disarmament process, one which treated that process as a global system that in turn was part of a particular security system.

Chile's priorities in relation to the agenda and Conference work programme, he added, were the establishment of a broad, flexible mechanism for the review and monitoring of all nuclear disarmament issues; a convention on the cut-off of fissile materials; a convention or a protocol to the space treaty to prevent the weaponization of outer space; and the development of a straightforward mandate for the negotiation of operational procedures to ban the use, production, stockpiling and particularly the transfer of anti- personnel mines and a convention on binding security assurances.

BERNAND GOONETILLEKE (Sri Lanka) underlined the particular importance his country attached to negotiation on a fissile material cut-off treaty. The ad hoc committee set up to carry out such negotiations should be reactivated and take into account the existing stocks of fissile materials. Sri Lanka had no difficulty in agreeing to commence work of the committee immediately, but there should be an understanding on the full range of items to be dealt with by the Conference in 1997.

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Sri Lanka, he went on, also strongly supported the call for the re- establishment of the ad hoc committee on negative security assurances. The Conference would do well to re-establish its ad hoc committee on outer space with an appropriate mandate to commence negotiations.

Regarding the question of an international agreement designed to ban anti-personnel land-mines, he said Sri Lanka would take a flexible position on the question of whether such an accord should be negotiated within the Conference or outside it; the substance of the agreement was more important than its negotiating forum. As for the agenda and work programme of the Conference, Sri Lanka favourably viewed the division of the forum's work into nuclear weapons and conventional weapons.

SIROUS NASSERI (Iran) said the Chemical Weapons Convention remained the most significant disarmament instrument concluded in the last two decades, yet it had now become evident that the possessors of chemical weapons would not be among the original parties to the treaty at the time of entry into force. That was a disarmament convention and should remain one; it should not be altered after all those years into a convention for non-proliferation. As for the Biological Weapons Convention, a rolling text was needed for elaboration of a verification protocol; two working groups should be created, one on verification and one on legal and organizational issues. Further, an amendment to the Convention was needed stipulating an explicit ban on use.

Various studies from respectable independent sources had concluded that adoption of a phased programme for nuclear disarmament, with a timetable, was feasible, he said. Prohibition of use, in that context, should particularly be subject to early consideration. With the end of the cold war, no justifiable arguments could be raised in favour of use of nuclear weapons under any perceivable circumstances. The development of a protocol similar to that of the 1925 Geneva Protocol on chemical and biological weapons should not require exhaustive work or exhaustive negotiations. That was one real and important step the Conference could quickly embark upon.