FIRST COMMITTEE TO BEGIN DISARMAMENT, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY DEBATE MONDAY, 13 OCTOBER
Press Release
GA/DIS/3079
FIRST COMMITTEE TO BEGIN DISARMAMENT, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY DEBATE MONDAY, 13 OCTOBER
19971009 Background Release The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) meets on Monday, 13 October, to begin its general debate on a wide range of disarmament initiatives aimed at balancing the processes of nuclear disarmament and conventional arms control with national and international security concerns.The Committee begins its deliberations during a period in which, as described by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, "we have all been jolted out of established strategic concepts born of the cold war and the constant threat of nuclear confrontation". The notion of making a nation's boundaries secure through military over-preparedness has changed dramatically as borders become more porous and economies become globalized, and that transformation in the vision of security has had and will continue to have "a direct impact on the role of the United Nations in disarmament", he says.
Still, nuclear disarmament is expected to dominate the Committee's debate. Other issues to be discussed under the thematic approach adopted by the Committee include the following "clusters" or categories: other weapons of mass destruction; conventional weapons; regional disarmament and security; confidence-building measures including transparency in armaments; the disarmament aspects of outer space; the disarmament machinery; and related matters of disarmament and international security.
Recent disarmament progress also provides a backdrop for this year's session. In the past year, treaties covering a range of weapons of mass destruction have been strengthened, or entered into force. The Secretary- General says that the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), signed by 147 States over the last year, has increased the momentum towards nuclear disarmament. The nuclear non-proliferation regime was reinforced by the legally binding permanent extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1995, and the Treaty's new institutionalized review process, which will trigger the preparation for the next Review Conference, to be held in the year 2000.
Also, arrangements for nuclear-weapon-free zones were further consolidated in the past year. The conclusion in 1996 of the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Pelindaba Treaty), removed the nuclear threat from an entire continent. Similar treaties have freed large areas of the world from nuclear weapons, including most of Latin America and the Caribbean,
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as well as the South Pacific and South-East Asia. The concept of a nuclear-weapon-free zone was developed in the late 1950s as a possible complementary measure to a global non-proliferation regime. The establishment of such zones -- which reflect the desire of non-nuclear-weapon States to protect themselves from the threat or use of nuclear weapons -- gained momentum in the context of regional approaches to arms control and disarmament.
The issue of nuclear-weapon-free zones was taken up for the first time this year by the Disarmament Commission, a specialized deliberative United Nations body which meets outside of the Assembly session and focuses on a few specific issues at a time. The Commission intends to continue its discussion of such zones next year. The Committee is expected to submit proposals for new zones or spaces, such as in central Asia and central and eastern Europe.
Resumed debate over the establishment of such zones in the regions of the Middle East and South Asia is also anticipated. While the issue has built some momentum, deep differences rooted in the national security concerns of some Member States remain. The establishment of such a zone in the Middle East, for example, hinges on the progress of the peace process in the region, whereas tensions between neighbouring countries of South Asia will likely define their approach.
Despite some recent achievements in nuclear disarmament, disagreement over the approach and pace of that process stalled deliberations in the Conference on Disarmament, and will likely produce competing draft resolutions in the Committee. Several countries will press for a timetable for the total elimination of those weapons, while others, most notably the nuclear-weapon States, are expected to maintain their position that the nuclear disarmament process cannot be bound by any time-frame.
The division over how to proceed on nuclear disarmament is also expected to emerge when the Committee considers a proposal to convene a fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament. The Disarmament Commission generally agreed to the convening of the special session, subject to the emergence of a consensus on its objectives and agenda. The last special session on disarmament was nine years ago, and many countries believe that in view of the changed security situation arising from the end of the cold war, a special session would provide an opportunity to reassess disarmament. Other countries, notably the nuclear-weapon States, have expressed concern that the proposed special session would be one more way to focus multilateral debate on nuclear disarmament at a time when bilateral negotiations are under way.
In the conventional weapons sphere, the attempt to achieve a global ban on anti-personnel landmines was the focus of considerable attention in the past year. The Conference on Disarmament was unable to make progress on the issue, but widespread support for such a ban exists and negotiations
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undertaken in October 1996 by countries participating in the so-called "Ottawa process" concluded a draft convention in September. The Secretary-General says that the convention -- which will be ready for signing in December -- is "a landmark in the history of disarmament", designed to rid the world's militaries of a major weapons system. The landmine issue -- both the need to balance security interests with humanitarian concerns and the path by which that issue progresses -- is expected to remain a priority in the Committee.
Controlling conventional weapons has taken on more urgency due to the increase in local and regional conflicts since the end of the cold war. The Secretary-General told the Conference on Disarmament that the absence of norms governing conventional weapons, especially light weapons and small arms, is of particular concern. Little has been done to curb their rapidly escalating proliferation, a situation that creates "perverse chains of events", encouraging militancy, rather than a peaceful resolution of differences. At least 15 armed conflicts have had as their primary or sole tools of violence small arms and light weapons, with the potential for conflict remaining "alarmingly high in some regions", he added.
On that issue, the Committee will consider the report of the Disarmament Commission, which took up the subject of the illicit arms trade and recommended such possible measures as arms collection, and post-conflict moratoriums on the import and manufacture of small arms. It will also review the recommendations by the Panel of Government Experts on Small Arms, as well as related reports on the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, the illicit transfer and use of conventional weapons, and assisting States in curbing the illicit traffic and collecting those arms.
The Committee is also expected to take up the item of verification and compliance, of paramount concern to Member States. Recently, attention has been focused on two new bodies dedicated to implementing the verification provisions of two new treaties. With the entry into force of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons (Chemical Weapons Convention), the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, became responsible for implementing the complex verification mechanism of that treaty. Also, the entry into force of the CTBT will signal verification oversight by an International Monitoring System and an International Data Centre. So far, seven States out of the 147 States that signed the CTBT, have ratified the treaty, which requires ratification by 44 States in order to enter into force.
In a related development, agreement was reached by the parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (Biological Weapons Convention) to intensify efforts to negotiate that treaty's verification provisions.
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The Committee is also expected to address such questions as security assurances to non-nuclear-weapon States, the prohibition of the use of fissile material for weapon purposes, the role of science and technology in international security and disarmament, and the consolidation of peace through practical disarmament measures. It will also consider the rationalization of its work and reform of its agenda.
Reports before Committee
The Committee will have before it the annual report of the Conference on Disarmament (A/52/27), which ended its 1997 session in September. Apart from the appointment of four Special Coordinators to explore a possible mandate on the question of anti-personnel landmines, expanded Conference membership, the Conference agenda, and on its improved and effective functioning, the Conference was unable to establish any negotiating mechanism on any of the substantive items on its agenda, despite intensive consultations to do so.
Those agenda items on which no consensus was reached included, in addition to the question of landmines: the cessation of the nuclear arms race and the prevention of nuclear war; the prevention of an arms race in outer space; assurances to non-nuclear-weapon States; new types of weapons of mass destruction and their systems (radiological weapons); a comprehensive programme of disarmament; transparency in armaments; and the prohibition of the use of fissile material for weapon purposes.
The Conference on Disarmament is the sole multilateral negotiating body on disarmament. While it was unable to reach consensus on the CTBT, the Treaty adopted last year by the Assembly was identical to the version negotiated in the Conference. Over the years, the Conference has produced a number of important disarmament agreements. Those include: the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water (partial test-ban treaty); and the 1968 NPT.
Other instruments negotiated by the Conference include: the 1971 Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Seabed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof (Seabed Treaty); the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention; and the Chemical Weapons Convention.
In his report on the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (document A/52/282), the Secretary-General highlights four issues of particular concern to the Board: reorganization of the disarmament sector of the United Nations Secretariat; new security and disarmament challenges for the twenty-first century and the role of the United Nations; conventional arms; and weapons of mass destruction. The Board is a group of eminent persons and scholars who meet annually to advise the Secretary-General on studies concerning disarmament and arms limitation.
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Following deliberations, the Board recommended increasing the responsibilities of the disarmament sector of the Secretariat in the following areas: practical disarmament in the conventional field; the implementation of arms agreements regarding weapons of mass destruction; the facilitating of regional agreements and confidence-building measures; and the tasks associated with the implementation of international agreements on anti-personnel landmines.
With respect to conventional weapons, the Board sought to identify possible roles for the United Nations, and reviewed: the operation of the Register of Conventional Arms; small arms; disarmament, good governance and peace-building in West Africa; and anti-personnel landmines. The Secretary- General told the Board that practical disarmament measures were required owing to changes in the security situation resulting from economic globalization, the lessening of the importance of national boundaries and the increase in intra-State conflict and illicit trafficking in small arms.
The Board recognized the significant contribution of the Register of Conventional Arms in terms of transparency and confidence-building. Solutions to the excessive and destabilizing accumulation and transfer of small arms would have to be region-specific, a lesson learned in West Africa. The Board also recognized the need for development assistance for internal security, and noted the moratorium under discussion by regional parties on the production and transfer of small arms, as well as a kind of regional register.
Board members strongly welcomed current efforts to reduce and eliminate anti-personnel landmines, and the significant role played by the United Nations. However, some members felt that the emphasis on efforts to conclude a total ban tended to minimize the importance of the agreement reached under the amended Protocol II of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, as well as the importance of the need to focus on that issue's humanitarian and financial aspects.
There was strong support among the members for new norms relating to weapons of mass destruction. The Board was convinced that the elimination of those weapons, particularly nuclear weapons, should command the highest attention and the strongest efforts of the international community. Concerns were expressed about the need for a reliable verification regime to tackle the growing dangers of biological weapons resulting from rapid advances in scientific research.
The Board highlighted the Organization's specific responsibilities in the area of serious non-compliance with the safeguards agreements of the chemical and biological weapons conventions and the CTBT, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the NPT. Those responsibilities include the role of the Secretary-General as the depository for such treaties, as well as possible action, in the case of non-compliance, by the Security Council.
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The Committee will also have before it the annual report of the Disarmament Commission (A/52/42). During its 1997 session, the Commission considered, for the first time, an item entitled "Establishment of nuclear-free zones on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among the States of the region concerned". It was decided that the 1998 session of the Commission would consider the scope of the discussion, as well as topics relating to those zones as an instrument for enhancing peace, security and stability; the characteristics of the region, including geographical definition; and the relationship between nuclear-weapon-free zones and existing nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament treaties.
On a second item, the Commission "generally" agreed that a fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament could be convened, subject to the emergence of a consensus on its objectives and agenda. Although no consensus was reached, the report indicates that some progress was made. It was also generally agreed that the decision to convene the special session should follow the procedure set forth in previous ones.
A third working group considered the guidelines on conventional arms control/limitation and disarmament. It agreed that a comprehensive approach and further initiatives in the field of conventional arms were needed. The illicit arms trade, in particular, continued to disproportionately affect the internal security and socio-economic development of many States. The group felt that conventional weapon guidelines -- which should emphasize the consolidation of peace in post-conflict situations -- should not be mandatory or prescriptive, and should be adopted by consensus. A list of further measures on the illicit arms trade was developed, including: arms collection and disposal; turn-in/buy-back programmes; post-conflict moratoriums on the import and manufacture of small arms; and voluntary, global codes of conduct for arms transfers.
The Secretary-General's report on an international agreement to ban anti-personnel landmines (document A/52/268) outlines the steps taken to conclude the agreement, which began at a meeting convened by the Government of Canada in October 1996 in Ottawa, at which 50 countries undertook to support efforts towards a global ban. A series of subsequent meetings, attended by a growing number of States, produced a draft convention for a global ban of anti-personnel landmines. It will be signed in Ottawa in December.
The report states that while the Conference on Disarmament decided to appoint a Special Coordinator to conduct consultations on the landmines question, no negotiations on landmines had begun.
The report on the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (document A/52/316) contains a detailed review and recommendations of the 1997 Group of Government Experts on the operation of the Register. The Register, established in 1992, is a voluntary yearly record by Member States of its weapon transactions. The expert group reaffirmed the Register's role as a
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confidence-building measure, adding that it could prevent an excessive and destabilizing accumulation of arms. The Group also reaffirmed participation in the Register as a means through which States can signal their preparedness to enter into dialogue with other States on issues of security.
While the Secretary-General found the continuing commitment by over 90 governments to be encouraging, participation in the Register has not reached the goal of universality. Wider participation, especially in certain regions and subregions, is of paramount importance if the Register is to be further consolidated.
In a report on curbing the illicit transfer and use of conventional weapons (document A/52/229), the Secretary-General draws attention to the guidelines for international arms transfers developed by the United Nations Disarmament Commission in 1991, and reiterates the need for their implementation through practical measures. Annexed to the report is a reply from the European Union.
The Secretary-General's report on assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in small arms and collecting them (document A/52/264), welcomed the Assembly's attention to that important subject, which affected the stability of many countries. The Secretary-General looked forward to the implementation by interested African States of a moratorium on the import, export and manufacture of light weapons. The recent experience of Mali in March 1996, where thousands of small arms handed over by ex-combatants were publicly destroyed, illustrates the possibilities for progress once governments demonstrate the political will to tackle those complex issues.
In his report on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East (document A/52/271), the Secretary-General strongly urged all concerned parties to review the situation in order to determine possible new approaches and to resume discussions with a view to developing practical concepts towards the expeditious establishment of a common position. He attaches particular importance to the issue and has consulted with concerned parties to explore ways and means of promoting the establishment of such a zone, taking into account in particular the evolving situation in the region. He regrets that no positive developments have occurred in the consideration of the issue since his last report. Annexed to his report are replies from several governments.
In a report on regional confidence-building measures (document A/52/293), the Secretary-General states that agreements reached in July by the Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa, if implemented, would contribute significantly towards ending the scourge of violence, destruction and suffering in the subregion. Among those agreements is the establishment of a subregional early warning mechanism in Libreville aimed at preventing future conflicts in central Africa. Other agreements call for the total elimination of sanctions on Burundi, the setting up of United
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Nations peace operations in the Congo and in the Central African Republic, and effective action against illicit arms transfers and circulation in Central Africa as a way of preventing outbreaks of armed conflicts in the subregion.
The Secretary-General says that the mandate of the Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia remains valid, in his report on the Centre (document A/52/309). There is continuing support by Member States and scholars for the Centre's role in enhancing openness, transparency and confidence-building and the promotion of disarmament and security. The Centre organized two major meetings this year on nuclear disarmament, at Kathmandu, Nepal, and at Sapporo, Japan. In recognition of its promotion of regional dialogue, known as the Kathmandu process, the Centre was granted observer status in the Council for Security and Cooperation in the Asia Pacific Region.
The report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean (document A/52/29) reaffirms the need for consensual, step-by-step approaches in the region, given the propitious international climate, and reaffirms the commitment to regional peace, security and stability. The report contains a statement by the Committee Chairman suggesting that the Committee negotiate action-oriented guidelines for confidence- and trust-building measures tailored to the region's specific requirements.
In his report on Verification in All Its Aspects (document A/52/269), the Secretary-General draws attention to two new bodies dedicated to implementing the verification provisions of two new treaties: the Chemical Weapons Convention and the CTBT.
Steps were also being taken to strengthen the verification provisions of existing agreements: the parties to the Biological Weapons Convention were presently negotiating a verification protocol to that instrument; and the IAEA in May adopted a protocol to its safeguards agreements that would enhance its capability to detect clandestine programmes.
The report also notes the continuing tasks by the United Nations Special Commission of verifying the destruction of Iraq's proscribed weapons and capabilities, and of operating an ongoing system monitoring that country's compliance with its obligation not to acquire such weapons or capabilities in the future. Annexed to the report are the views of Canada and Ecuador on verification.
In a report on the consolidation of peace through practical disarmament measures (document A/52/289), the Secretary-General states that "the emergence of new dangers and actors has added to the urgency of the tasks that the United Nations is called upon to perform in the area of disarmament". To respond to the disarmament priorities of Member States, he was establishing a new Department for Disarmament and Arms Regulation.
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The Secretary-General says that consideration should be given to incremental steps leading to a more integrated approach to practical disarmament measures, particularly in post-conflict situations. Those steps included making weapons-related issues -- such as the retrieval, storage and safeguarding of weapons belonging to demobilized personnel -- an integral part of peace accords involving the United Nations. Annexed to the report are the views of the Government of Canada and the European Union.
A report on the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed To Be Excessively Injurious or To Have Indiscriminate Effects (document A/52/227), contains information on the status of States parties to the Convention and its Protocols.
A report on the reduction of military budgets (document A/52/302), indicates the need to update the system of standardized reporting of military expenditures to take into account different national reporting practices. Consultations on the matter would resume, when financially feasible, with a view towards wider participation in that system. A reply from the Netherlands is attached to the report.
The Committee will also have before it a report on good-neighbourly relations among Balkan States (document A/52/373), as well as notes by the Secretary-General on notification of nuclear tests (document A/52/88), the Disarmament Commission, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (document A/52/272) and the Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms (document A/52/298).
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