UN Conference for Disarmament: Cyprus Statement, 97-03-07
From: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" <dist@hri.org>
7 March 1997
Press Release
DCF/290
CYPRUS CALLS FOR WORK ON 'CUT-OFF' TREATY AND LAND-MINE BAN IN DISARMAMENT
CONFERENCE; MEXICO URGES 'HIGHEST PRIORITY' FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
Conference Hears Message on Occasion of International Women's Day
GENEVA, 6 March (UN Information Service) -- A "cut-off" treaty on fissile
material production was a logical step following the adoption of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) last year and should be given
utmost attention at the Conference on Disarmament, the representative of
Cyprus said this morning.
Equally important for Cyprus, according to Sotirios Zackheos, was the
negotiation of an agreement banning anti-personnel land-mines. But the
representative of Mexico, although agreeing that the time had come to ban
all anti-personnel land-mines, said his delegation was not convinced that
the Conference was the appropriate forum to conclude negotiations on an
agreement to prohibit the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of such
weapons. The Conference must give highest priority to negotiations on
nuclear disarmament and not embark on exercises that duplicated efforts
successfully undertaken in other forums, added Antonio de Icaza.
Also this morning the Secretary-General of the Conference, Vladimir
Petrovsky, read out a message from representatives of 22 women's
organizations gathered for the International Women and Disarmament Seminar
being held in Geneva from 5 to 7 March. The Seminar, convened to mark
International Women's Day observed on 8 March, urged States that had not
already done so to ratify the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on
Their Destruction, due to enter into force on 29 April. It also called on
the United States and the Russian Federation to move on to a third Treaty
on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START III),
and on the Conference to take concrete action on nuclear disarmament. The
groups encouraged the Conference to continue efforts to establish an ad hoc
committee to negotiate a treaty on the "cut-off" of nuclear-weapon grade
fissile material, including an inventory of stockpiles, and to consider
enlarging the role of non-governmental organizations in the work of the
world's sole multilateral disarmament forum.
Conference President, Pavel Grecu (Romania), and representatives of the
Western Group, the Group of 21, the Eastern European Group and China
welcomed the statement made on behalf of the non-governmental women's
organizations. They also saluted the work of Wolfgang Hoffmann (Germany),
who was leaving the Conference to head the Provisional Technical
Secretariat of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization,
whose Preparatory Commission is currently meeting in Geneva.
Mr. Grecu also informed the Conference this morning that consultations
aimed at reaching an agreement on a work programme for 1997 were
continuing.
Statements
SOTIRIOS ZACKHEOS (Cyprus) said the purpose of his intervention was to
express his Government's expectation that the pace of the substantial work
of the Conference would be accelerated. A "cut-off" treaty on fissile
material production was a logical step following the adoption of the CTBT
and should be given utmost attention. Equally important was the negotiation
of an agreement banning anti-personnel land-mines. The Conference, without
minimizing the importance of other forums, guaranteed that adequate
consideration was given to all aspects and to all the concerns of the
important actors of the international scene. His Government supported in
principle the destruction of all anti-personnel land-mines placed along the
cease-fire line in Cyprus, on condition of reciprocity.
He called the Chemical Weapons Convention "the first major achievement of
the Conference". It was a source of gratification that the Convention would
enter into force on 29 April. But for the Convention to be fully effective
it should be ratified by all, including the permanent members of the
Security Council. Assistance for the destruction of chemical weapon
stockpiles should be provided to countries in need. Cyprus also supported
the strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention.
The representative added that he wished to underline the importance of the
proposal of President Glafcos Clerides of Cyprus for the complete
demilitarization of the Republic of Cyprus. That would lead to stability in
that sensitive region. He concluded by urging the appointment of a Special
Coordinator for the question of enlargement of the membership of the
Conference.
ANTONIO DE ICAZA (Mexico) said his delegation understood that the consensus
reached on the agenda for the current year meant that, as long as
consultations on the review of the agenda were not concluded, the
objectives and priorities of the Final Document of the General Assembly's
first special session on Disarmament must continue to guide negotiations at
the Conference. Nuclear disarmament measures had the "highest priority",
according to the
Final Document. Although it could not be denied that the threat of a
nuclear holocaust had diminished, no one could assure for how long, and
certainly such a danger would exist as long as nuclear weapons continued to
exist.
Continuing, he said international public opinion, civil society and the
majority of Member States of the United Nations had undertaken a variety of
initiatives aimed at the total elimination of nuclear weapons. In August
1996, for instance, the Canberra Commission had issued a report disputing
the military usefulness of nuclear weapons and underlining the risks of
maintaining them. In December, high-ranking retired military officers from
17 countries had declared that there was no alternative to the creation of
a nuclear-free world.
The negotiation of measures related to nuclear disarmament was not only a
high priority, but an obligation, he said. The International Court of
Justice had unanimously concluded on 8 July 1996 that "there exists an
obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations
leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and
effective international control". Thus, the Conference should constitute
immediately an ad hoc committee with a wide mandate that could include the
following: the negotiation of a legally-binding multilateral agreement
unequivocally binding all States to the complete elimination of nuclear
weapons; the identification of measures necessary to achieve the complete
elimination of nuclear weapons to be included in a phased programme with
agreed time-frames; and the negotiation of a convention on the cessation of
the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons purposes.
He agreed with others at the Conference that the time had come to ban all
anti-personnel land-mines, but in the proper forum. Mexico was not
convinced that the Conference was the appropriate forum to conclude as soon
as possible negotiations on an agreement to prohibit the use, stockpiling,
production and transfer of anti-personnel land-mines. The Conference must
give highest priority to negotiations on nuclear disarmament and not embark
on exercises that duplicated efforts successfully undertaken in other
forums.
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