CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT BEGINS FIRST PART OF 1998 SESSION

Press Release
DCF/319

CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT BEGINS FIRST PART OF 1998 SESSION

GENEVA, 20 January (UN Information Service) -- Disarmament was of central importance to the global agenda, and the United Nations had an essential role and primary responsibility in that field, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message to the opening of the first part of the 1998 session of the Conference on Disarmament this morning.

The message was delivered by his Personal Representative and Secretary- General of the Conference, Vladimir Petrovsky.

While acknowledging the significant progress achieved in recent years to outlaw chemical and biological weapons and to strengthen the nuclear non- proliferation regime, the Secretary-General also pointed out to the opportunities afforded by the end of the cold war to make further progress in the area of weapons of mass destruction.

The Secretary-General emphasized that nuclear disarmament should be pursued more vigorously, particularly by nuclear-weapon States, for the progressive reduction and complete elimination of nuclear weapons at the earliest date. He also expressed serious concern at the spread of various types of conventional weapons, especially landmines and small arms which were extensively used in regional and subregional conflicts.

Opening the meeting, the President of the Conference, Lars Norberg (Sweden), recalled that in 1997 one of the most important events in the field of disarmament was the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It was a source of great satisfaction and inspiration to further multilateral disarmament efforts.

Also this morning, the Conference adopted its agenda, which contains such items as cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament; prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters; prevention of an arms race in outer space; effective international arrangements to assure non- nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons; new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons, radiological weapons; comprehensive programme of disarmament; and transparency in armaments.

The representative of South Africa proposed the establishment of an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament. He also hoped that the Conference would place greater emphasis on conventional weapons.

The representative of Myanmar stated that nuclear disarmament would continue to be, not only the highest priority, but also the key to unlock the difficulties that the Conference continued to encounter. Only political will accompanied by the necessary flexibility could move forward the work of the Conference, he said.

The representative of New Zealand also supported the South African proposal and stressed that his country could not accept that the interests of non-nuclear-weapon States should be excluded from contributing to the process of nuclear disarmament.

The United States' representative read out a statement by President Clinton in which he underlines that no issue is more important today to the Conference's work than the cut-off of fissile material production for nuclear explosives and a worldwide ban on the export of anti-personnel landmines.

The representative of Brazil stressed that nuclear disarmament remained an essential part of any meaningful and generally acceptable programme for the work of the Conference, and that an adequate form of addressing the central issue should, therefore, be found.

Before the end of this morning's meeting, the following States were admitted as observers in the Conference: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brunei Darussalam, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Gabon, Georgia, Greece, Holy See, Iceland, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malta, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Yemen and Zambia.

Message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan

Secretary-General KOFI ANNAN, in a message read by his Personal Representative and Secretary-General of the Conference, Vladimir Petrovsky, said that the fifty-second session of the General Assembly had been rightly described as the "Reform Assembly". Member States and the Secretariat had taken major strides in the process of revitalization that all agreed was necessary if the United Nations was to lead in the twenty-first century.

In his programme for reform, he continued, he had underlined the central importance of disarmament to the global agenda, and that the United Nations had an essential role and primary responsibility in that field. While acknowledging the significant progress achieved in recent years to outlaw

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chemical and biological weapons and to strengthen the nuclear non- proliferation regime, he had also pointed out to the opportunities afforded by the end of the cold war to make further progress in the area of weapons of mass destruction.

He had emphasized that nuclear disarmament should be pursued more vigorously, particularly by nuclear-weapon States, with the view to the progressive reduction and complete elimination of nuclear weapons at the earliest date, he said. At the same time, he had expressed serious concern at the spread of various types of conventional weapons, especially landmines and small arms which were extensively used in regional and subregional conflicts.

The Secretary-General recalled that when he addressed the Conference last year, he welcomed the positive efforts made at the bilateral and multilateral levels in the nuclear, chemical and biological fields.

Since then, a number of encouraging and historic events had taken place which contributed to further reinforcing those trends. The Chemical Weapons Convention had entered into force, and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had been established. In the field of biological weapons, the States parties to the Biological Weapons Convention had stepped up their efforts aimed at strengthening the authority of that instrument by developing a verification regime to ensure compliance with its provisions.

At the Helsinki Summit meeting on 21 March 1997, Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin had reached an understanding to begin negotiations, once the second Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START II) entered into force, on a START III, which would further reduce their strategic nuclear warheads, he went on. In addition, they had agreed on taking a number of steps to improve nuclear security worldwide.

He said the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) had now been signed by 149 States, and ratified by eight States, and the Preparatory Commission entrusted with the task of establishing the global verification regime of the Treaty was actively engaged in the fulfilment of its mandate.

With regard to conventional weapons, whose devastating effects were being witnessed every day in regional conflicts, there was a growing awareness among Member States of the urgent need to adopt measures to reduce the transfer of small arms and light weapons, he said.

Recalling that the signing in Ottawa of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines recently, he said disarmament, now more than ever, was recognized as a vital ingredient in the fulfilment of common security. He hailed the Convention as a landmark step in the history of disarmament, and expressed his

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confidence that it would provide the final impetus for a universal ban, encompassing all mine-producing and mine-affected countries.

Statements

LARS NORBERG (Sweden), President of the Conference, said that in 1997 one of the most important events in the field of disarmament was the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It was a source of great satisfaction and inspiration to further multilateral disarmament efforts, in particular, to the members of the Conference, where that important Convention was negotiated.

The Chemical Weapons Convention was one of the many outstanding achievements of the Conference over the years, he went on. It was also an impressive example of what the Conference was able to achieve, when its member States were determined to cooperate, not only for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the whole world.

JACOB S. SELEBI (South Africa) stated that humanity was faced with the daily threat of harm from the use of conventional weapons. Those weapons were the source of most of the death and suffering caused in conflicts around the world today, and it was hoped that the Conference would place greater emphasis on such weapons. Of particular concern was the build-up of conventional weapons beyond the level required for self-defence which was posing a threat to international peace and security.

South Africa would submit a draft decision for the establishment of an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament to deliberate upon practical steps for systematic and progressive efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons, as well as to identify if and when one or more such steps should be the subject of negotiations in the Conference, he said. In discharging its function, the ad hoc committee would take into account existing proposals and views, as well as future initiatives on nuclear disarmament.

He underlined that his text was drafted carefully, so as not to raise the security concerns which were so closely associated with the issue. Nuclear disarmament was a concern of the entire international community. Substantive work in the committee would not, and should not, undermine or threaten the nuclear disarmament negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States. Those would continue to be of paramount importance to the reduction of nuclear weapons and for their eventual elimination.

U AYE (Myanmar) observed that the stalemate encountered by the Conference last year was viewed by his delegation as more than unfortunate, and an unwelcome digression from its assigned tasks. The Conference had failed to reach consensus on the one single item that should have been accorded priority status in its deliberations, but had instead been ignored or

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neglected: the central issue of nuclear disarmament. In order to avoid the shortcomings of the past year, nuclear disarmament should be assigned its proper role in the Conference.

Those who would maintain that negotiations on nuclear disarmament could best be achieved through bilateral procedures need only reflect on the fact that past record had repeatedly demonstrated that disarmament agreements could be effective when they were multilaterally negotiated, he went on. That was not to infer that bilateral nuclear agreements were not appreciated. His delegation continued to welcome and encourage bilateral achievements, and that they should necessarily be complimented by successful multilateral negotiations.

He emphasized that nuclear disarmament would continue to be not only the highest priority, but also the key to unlock the difficulties that continued to encounter the Conference. Only political will accompanied by the necessary flexibility could move forward the work of the Conference, he said.

CLIVE PEARSON (New Zealand) said that last year an obsession with tactics, procedure and rigidity had led to meagre result; the problem was not so much the Conference as an institution, but the lack of political will. This year, some leadership must be demonstrated, he said, adding that the Conference had been conspicuously successful in the past and it was capable of doing so again.

Concerning the debate on nuclear issues in the Conference, he said that it was not credible to repeatedly endorse the need for disarmament in United Nations resolutions and not to pursue the objective in the Conference. New Zealand could not accept that the interests of non-nuclear-weapon States should be excluded from contributing to the process of nuclear disarmament. Nuclear weapons should not become an inevitable feature of the society. The fact that they had not been used for 50 years did not mean that the risks were lessened. The longer they were retained, the greater the temptation to others to acquire them.

He urged all delegations to consider the South African initiative. An ad hoc committee on nuclear issues would help to build confidence and would strengthen non-proliferation norms. And, it would demonstrate that the international community and the Conference were capable of living up to their obligations and responsibilities.

ROBERT T. GREY (United States) read out a message from President William Clinton pledging the full support of the United States delegation in taking the next steps in the nuclear disarmament process and banning anti-personnel landmines from the face of the earth. No issues were more important today to the Conference's work than a cut-off of fissile material production for nuclear explosives and a worldwide ban on the export of anti-personnel landmines.

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President Clinton said that if the Conference could promptly conclude those accords, complimenting deep bilateral reductions in nuclear arms and the Ottawa Convention, important steps would have been taken on the road to a world free of nuclear weapons and safe for children to tread.

Mr. Grey hoped that the Conference could quickly resolve its differences and place the practical security concerns of the world's peoples at the forefront of its agenda. At the 1997 session of the First Committee of the General Assembly, many had lamented the inability of the Conference to do any work last year, and expressed the fear that the Conference would fade into irrelevance if that situation remained unchanged.

CELSO LAFER (Brazil) stressed that of all assessments and conclusions that could be drawn from last year's session, it was clear that nuclear disarmament remained an essential part of any meaningful and generally acceptable programme for the work of the Conference. An adequate form of addressing the central issue should, therefore, be found.

In line with the goals set by the international community in disarmament, Brazil continued to attach the highest priority to nuclear disarmament, he said. Brazil, as last year, would continue to seek a formula to facilitate reaching the objective to begin negotiations on nuclear disarmament in the Conference. There was no acceptable justification for the continuation of the Conference's omission on that fundamental issue.

MARK MOHER (Canada) welcomed South Africa's proposal on the establishment of an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament and said that it was a valuable contribution to the work of the Conference. Serious consideration should be given to the proposal.

GUNTHER SEIBERT (Germany) said he did not want to break the consensus in the adoption of the agenda. However, he noted that the items would not fully reflect the issues at hand. He would consider the adoption of the agenda as provisional.

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