'PLAGUE' OF CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS IN AFRICA HIGHLIGHTED IN DISARMAMENT, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE

20 October 1997

Press Release
GA/DIS/3085

'PLAGUE' OF CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS IN AFRICA HIGHLIGHTED IN DISARMAMENT, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE

19971020 International Assistance Needed to Combat Illicit Traffic, Say Speakers; Mali, Philippines, Belarus, Ghana, Saudia Arabia, Niger, Gabon Make Statements

As the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its general debate this afternoon, several speakers decried the proliferation of small arms and light weapons on the African continent, which they said fuelled conflicts and facilitated criminal and terrorist activities. The speakers sought the assistance of the international community in combating the excessive accumulation and illicit trafficking of those weapons.

The representative of Gabon told the Committee that, despite the progress that had been made on nuclear disarmament, the violent realities of the last decade were a reminder that conventional disarmament was essential, particularly because of "the plague" of small weapons. Yet, a mechanism to control them was sadly lacking.

The representative of Mali noted a move towards "micro-disarmament", as the international community began to focus on the problems caused by the proliferation of small arms and on the vital need to assist all States in their efforts to curb them. Apart from the work aimed at eliminating landmines, the field of conventional weapons remained largely unexplored, he said, and he was gravely concerned by the lack of any norms governing conventional weapons, particularly small arms.

The representative of Niger said that the consolidation of peace and security hinged on the undertaking of specific disarmament measures to control small weapons, which required considerable effort by the international community. Such an effort would promote lasting security, the precursor to development, he said.

Also this afternoon, the Committee elected as Vice-Chairmen Sudjadnan Parnhadiningrat (Indonesia) and Alejandro Verdier (Argentina). Milos Koterec (Slovakia) was elected Rapporteur.

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Statements were also made by the representatives of the Philippines, Belarus, Ghana and Saudi Arabia.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 21 October, to continue its general debate.

Committee Work Programme

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) met this afternoon to continue its general exchange of views on a wide range of disarmament initiatives and a number of international disarmament agreements.

Among the regional disarmament items under discussion was the accumulation and illicit trafficking of light weapons and small arms. The Secretary-General's note on The Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms (document A/52/298) contains recommendations for reducing the accumulation and use of such weapons pointing out that, readily available and easy to use, they have been the primary or sole tools of violence in almost every recent conflict dealt with by the United Nations. The issue was also a focus of the United Nations Disarmament Commission and of two reports by the Secretary-General, one on the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, the other on assistance to States in curbing illicit traffic in small arms and collecting them.

In the nuclear disarmament sphere, the Committee is expected to focus on the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones. Such zones have already been created by the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco); the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Rarotonga); the South-East Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Bangkok); and the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Pelindaba Treaty). Committee drafts are anticipated for the establishment of similar zones in South Asia, Central Europe, and the Middle East.

Other nuclear disarmament issues include the adoption last year of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), so far signed by 148 States. It will also review the implementation of the principles and objectives of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament that were adopted at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The Committee is also expected to focus attention on the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention). It will consider the multilateral efforts under way to strengthen the verification mechanism of the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (Biological Weapons Convention).

Also under discussion will be the treaty agreed to in Oslo following the so-called "Ottawa process" -- the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. The Committee will consider ways to further negotiations on that weapon in the Conference on Disarmament, namely Protocol II of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons

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Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons).

Another matter to be debated is the convening of the fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, subject to the emergence of a consensus and agenda. The role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the international non-proliferation regime will also be considered.

(For more background, see Press Release GA/DIS/3079 of 9 October.)

Statements

M. SEKOUBA CISSE (Mali) said that while the international community had reason to feel satisfaction about recent disarmament progress, the goal of general and complete disarmament was far from being achieved. He hoped that the next Review Conference of the NPT would make progress towards the goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons. The CTBT had been a major step in that direction. Similarly, the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones strengthened efforts towards the goal of living in a non-nuclear world.

On other disarmament efforts, he said the Chemical Weapons Convention had set a new standard in the total elimination of a weapons system. He also noted the advances made under the Biological Weapons Convention. However, while progress on some issues had been made, the area of conventional weapons, with the exception of work towards the elimination of anti-personnel landmines, remained largely unexplored. While he welcomed the Oslo agreement to ban anti- personnel landmines, the lack of any norms governing conventional weapons, particularly small arms, was of grave concern.

He supported the fight against such weapons and had endorsed international efforts in that regard, he said. It was vital for the international community to give assistance to all States in such efforts. There was a movement in the United Nations towards what could be called "micro- disarmament", and that was drawing attention to the problems caused by the proliferation of small arms. Small countries must be helped. His country would soon submit a draft resolution on the subject, with the support of other countries who believed that the proliferation of small weapons was a threat.

An international forum was held in Mali last March to discuss the issue, he continued. Several recommendations had been made, among them establishing an integrated system to combat such weapons; establishing an international registry for them; and fostering a culture of peace. The proliferation of such weapons was caused, in part, by struggles for power and a failure to respect democracy or cultural and religious differences. The international community should stand alongside States that were trying to control those weapons, as

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most such States were also struggling with economic difficulties. He also recommended a regional moratorium on exports of such weapons, which should be open to participation by all African States.

The decisions that had been made during the forum in M ali were in line with the recommendations of the Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms, he said. His Government had created a national commission to combat the proliferation of small arms. The support of the international community was needed to combat the proliferation of such weapons, which was important for the development of his country.

JAIME LOPEZ (Philippines) said that the hopes and dreams for a world free from weapons of mass destruction could not fully be realized until true and meaningful nuclear disarmament was achieved. Although some critics had called the nuclear disarmament proposal by the Non-Aligned Movement of countries unreasonable, calling for true nuclear disarmament was not entirely unreasonable.

The Non-Aligned Movement could hardly be considered unreasonable, when the obligation to rid the world of nuclear weapons had been in the NPT for three decades and had been enunciated by the International Court of Justice last year, he said. Furthermore, those who had advocated true nuclear disarmament had been open to compromise. From the NPT to the CTBT, disarmament had given way to non-proliferation. It was time to move on. Work must now aim towards halting all qualitative and quantitative developments of nuclear weapons and the destruction and elimination of all stockpiles.

With the entry into force last May of the South-East Asia Nuclear-Weapon- Free Zone Treaty, the world became even smaller for nuclear weapons, he said. Regional strides had been undertaken and his Government's constitutional policy against nuclear weapons had found greater meaning. As the Committee considered the forthcoming resolution on the Nuclear-Weapon-Free Southern Hemisphere and Adjacent Areas, it should decide to strengthen it, rather than compromise and weaken it.

The Ottawa process stood fast and resisted compromise that would have betrayed the humanitarian imperative to ban the insidious anti-personnel landmine, he continued. His Government would sign that agreement in December and would call on all others to do likewise. His Government was preparing legislation to criminalize the possession, use of or trade in anti-personnel mines and their parts. That legislation would transcend the usual territorial, legal application and apply to any violation anywhere in the world where a domestic link was present.

He said that the international efforts towards reducing the illicit movement of arms, particularly of small arms, had resulted in dividends of peace in his country. Armed succession had ended and violent rebellion was

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about to end, thanks in no small measure to the concerted efforts of States to restrict the movement of small arms. However, given the likelihood that many regional and internal conflicts were related to the ability to illicitly obtain arms, efforts to address that critical issue must continue. Transparency in arms and in military budgets continued to be an important element in maintaining peace and stability. In that regard, the determined efforts of the United Nations Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific were welcome.

Turning to the subject of reform, he said that caution was needed, lest the reform of the structures and approaches of disarmament and international security result in bringing the disarmament momentum of the last few years to a screeching halt. If the attempt to inject reform into disarmament was an intentional and clever ploy to distract and delay, "then we might as well invoke divine intervention". If the price of genuine and meaningful reform would put on virtual hold any disarmament progress, then the parties must be prepared to pay that price. But, to detract ever so slightly from those disarmament efforts to deal with reform, especially if true reform was not forthcoming, would be unacceptable. The pursuit of disarmament was too urgent and the stakes far too high.

SERGEI MARTYNOV (Belarus) said that on the threshold of the third millennium there was a rich and constructive, though uneasy, atmosphere in the field of disarmament and international security. The pivotal role of the United Nations needed to be consolidated. Action was needed to prevent the emergence of new types of weapons of mass destruction, to develop nuclear disarmament and to ensure the effective solution of conventional disarmament issues.

The signing on 26 September of a package of agreements related to the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM Treaty) by Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and the United States was a major success after four years of negotiations in Geneva. On the same day, Russia and the United States signed a Protocol to the Second Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms START II and exchanged letters on early deactivation, which opens up the promise of prompt commencement of START III.

Another historic event was the signing of the CTBT, which provided yet more proof of the importance of multilateral diplomacy in disarmament, he said. "Global challenges should be matched by global actions," he added. The CTBT and the NPT must be universal to ensure their viability and effectiveness. He urged all countries that had not done so to accede to the two treaties as early as possible. There should be measures to ensure verification and monitoring of procedures relating to the CTBT, and there should be provisions for sanctions in case of violations. He also commended the work of the IAEA in respect to nuclear non-proliferation and promotion of international cooperation.

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Establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones was a major prerequisite in the effort to strengthen nuclear security in Central Europe, he said. The initiative to establish such a zone in Central and Eastern Europe, further developed by the Minsk international conference, was a cornerstone for political and military stabilization in the region. He welcomed the establishment of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and said his country took seriously the responsibility it entailed. He was encouraged by the growing number of States that had already ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention.

On the issue of anti-personnel landmines, he said it would be more appropriate to conduct negotiations on such weapons through the Conference on Disarmament than in the Ottawa process. Nonetheless, he reaffirmed that his country had not and would not contribute to the proliferation of such weapons. New problems in the international system -- international terrorism, the illicit transfer of small arms and transnational crime -- required the concerted efforts of the international community. Other problems included disarmament-related environmental problems, above all those that pertained to the conversion of the military-industrial complex and the elimination of weapons.

JACK WILMOT (Ghana) said that, while he appreciated recent disarmament developments, he regretted the failure of the international community to progress towards a universally binding treaty on the elimination of nuclear weapons. In the Disarmament Commission, for example, the nuclear-weapon States had virtually killed any meaningful discussions on the subject. Similarly, the Conference on Disarmament had been unable to produce results.

The question of nuclear weapons was of global interest and it was, therefore, a matter of concern that some nuclear-weapon States continued to exert pressure to remove that issue from multilateral bodies, he continued. Regardless of the justification advanced during the cold war period for that category of weapons, it could no longer be pleaded under the current international security situation. The nuclear-weapon States must give up outdated doctrines of nuclear deterrence and cooperate with the wider international community in addressing that important question in the appropriate multilateral forum, where it rightly belonged.

The entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention opened a new era in disarmament, he said. His country had ratified the treaty and he hoped that all countries would soon do so, in order to guarantee that instrument's effectiveness and credibility. While such weapons deserved attention, so did the havoc caused by conventional arms in the numerous internal conflicts still raging in various regions of the world. The illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons fueled those conflicts and facilitated criminal and terrorist activities. In that regard, the United Nations assistance in collecting and restricting the circulation of those arms in some post-conflict areas was to be commended.

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He said he was pleased at the near international consensus to curb the indiscriminate use of anti-personnel landmines and to ban them altogether. The few countries that were stalling the Ottawa process should come on board. The United Nations and the international community needed to mobilize resources in support of intensified demining activities and for victims assistance.

SAUD ABDUL-AZIZ AL-DAIL (Saudi Arabia) said that his country had refused to enter the nuclear arms race. Among other activities, it had been one of the first countries to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention and the NPT. Further, it had refrained from producing nuclear weapons and from allowing them to be placed on its soil, and had adopted a positive position in the efforts to ban nuclear weapons tests.

He said that the success in establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones in certain parts of the world, as a result of the cooperation among concerned countries, highlighted the inability to create such a zone in the Middle East. Regrettably, the region was not free from nuclear weapons, because Israel refused to create such a zone, despite its seeming support of General Assembly resolutions on those matters.

Israel still created obstacles by linking nuclear weapons to the peace process. It still refused to desist from developing and producing nuclear weapons and to join the NPT, or to subject its nuclear facilities to IAEA supervision. Thus, it was the only country in the region that possessed nuclear weapons. Such policies, which promoted regional hegemony, would not only create instability, but also threaten international peace and security.

Transparency was one of the tools of achieving international peace and security, he said. Yet, its success should be founded on a balanced and indiscriminate basis. The Register of Conventional Arms should include weapons of mass destruction, as well as advanced technology that had military applications. The Register did not take into consideration the situation in the Middle East, which was characterized by a lack of qualitative balance because of Israel's possession of nuclear weapons.

MALLAM DAOUDA (Niger) said that his country had always worked towards general and complete disarmament, thereby adhering to many of the most significant international disarmament instruments, including the NPT and the CTBT. He was also gratified by the treaty denuclearizing Africa, the Pelindaba Treaty. However, in Africa illegal weapons of all types were being used to kill women, children and men. Although not an arms producer, his country remained a major victim of those deadly devices. He was, therefore, deeply convinced that the consolidation of peace and security hinged on undertaking specific disarmament measures that sought to control small and light weapons.

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In that regard, Niger had associated itself with the United Nations and certain neighbours to carry out global action to combat the scourge of the illegal arms trade, he said. It had established national import and export legislation and in 1994, a commission for the collection and control of illegal weapons, charged with minimizing the insecurities spawned by such trafficking. It had already recorded some success in its task, specifically regarding the proliferation of illegal small weapons in the sub-Saharan region.

However, considerable efforts were still required to combat the magnitude of the small arms phenonemon, he continued. Assistance from the United Nations and the international community was, more than ever, indispensable to establishing lasting security conditions, without which there could be no development. Although a uranium producer, Niger did not have any facilities for the production of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, or light weapons. Nor did it have an arms programme or even institutes for nuclear research. Yet, in order to support effective collective measures to prevent any threat to peace according to the United Nations Charter, it had acceded to the NPT, the CTBT, and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The adoption in Oslo last September of an international convention to ban anti-personnel landmines was welcome and his Government was preparing to join that important measure, he said. In its ongoing concern for transparency, it annually declared to the United Nations a list of arms materials used in its armed forces. That list had remained unchanged with respect to arms, vehicles and high-calibre artillery systems, given its small army of 10,000 men. Economic and social development was Niger's priority, not an arms race that was of no interest to a country confronting extreme poverty. He expressed concern, however, that with its vast desert territory, Niger might be used by the nuclear Powers for the dumping of nuclear waste. He, therefore, sought mechanism's for the sound management of such waste.

PARFAIT-SERGE ONANGA-ANYANGA (Gabon) said that, despite the progress that had been made on nuclear disarmament, the violent realities of the current decade -- particularly the plague of small weapons -- were a reminder that conventional disarmament was essential.

Nuclear weapons, more than any other type of weapon, posed an immeasurable threat to civilization and humanity, he said. There were, as yet, no systems in place that worked towards the complete elimination of such weapons, despite several bilateral and multilateral agreements. As long as there was a determination to keep such weapons, it would be difficult to make major progress on nuclear disarmament. Nuclear weapons were obsolete as a way of maintaining national security. It had been particularly disappointing to see the deadlock in the Conference on Disarmament, since such a lack of progress called into question the validity of that body.

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The accumulation and excessive transfer of light weapons required responsible action on the part of the international community, he said. Such weapons contributed to instability and exacerbated armed conflicts. The recent report of the Group of Governmental Experts on Small Arms had recommended ways to control such weapons, but, as yet, the means to effect such control remained sadly lacking.

Because of factors that destabilized peace, the international community must make the advancement of preventive diplomacy a priority, he said. Since 1992, 11 countries of the sub-Saharan region of Africa had met within an advisory committee of the United Nations to work towards lasting peace in the region. Those countries had adopted a plan to establish an early warning mechanism to warn of potential conflict. Members of the Security Council had signalled their willingness to cooperate in terms of preventive diplomacy.

The subregional aspect was a pivotal component of disarmament, he said. He supported groups around the world that were working towards progress on that level. Such efforts complemented the work being done to establish nuclear-weapon-free zones, which contributed greatly to disarmament. Had anyone considered what the impact would be of a nuclear Power declaring itself a nuclear-weapon-free zone? he asked.

He said the adoption last year by the CTBT should open the door to additional progress in the field of nuclear disarmament and he endorsed the idea of an agreement to control the production of fissile materials. He added that the convening of a fourth special session of the General Assembly on disarmament was absolutely necessary.

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