UN Chronicle: Issue 4, 2000: First Committee: Closer to a nuclear-weapon-free world

The outcome of the 2000 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), held in New York in April, and the decision of the United States Administration to defer the deployment of a national missile defense system enabled a number of UN Member States to move one step closer and granted a favourable vote on the issue of nuclear disarmament.

The First Committee was able to make real progress and end its session on a positive note. Three recurring draft resolutions on nuclear disarmament underwent perceptible changes, described by Committee Chairman Mya Than of Myanmar as "a remarkable development", given that previous attempts to a consensus agreement had never been reached. These changes reflect the consensus agreement of the latest NPT Review Conference when the five nuclear Powers-China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States—pledged "an unequivocal undertaking ... to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals."

The 187 States party to the NPT emphasized the necessity of achieving the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and prompt negotiations on a fissile material production ban, which was currently deadlocked in the Conference on Disarmament because 11111of the continued divergence of views on the priorities of the international disarmament agenda. However, it was the programme of action in the final document of the 2000 NPT Review Conference, which identified 13 incremental steps to be taken towards nuclear disarmament, that was mirrored in the drafts on nuclear disarmament.

Thus, for the "New Agenda Coalition" (Bra4 Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Sweden, South Africa), the third time was the charm. Voting patterns on the resolution entitled "Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: the need for a new agenda", which had undergone changes to incorporate elements of the NPT Final Declaration, saw switches among the five nuclear-weapon States: China voting in favour instead of abstaining; the United Kingdom and the United States in favour instead of against; and France and the Russian Federation abstaining instead of against, as they had done in the previous two years.

Ambassador Henrik Salander, who represented Sweden in the First Committee and led his country's delegation at the NPT Review Conference, in an interview with the UN Chronicle underscored the fact that the positive outcome of the Conference was surprising, given the widespread pessimism before the meeting. Even though the 13 steps identified in the outcome were not all that the New Agenda Coalition had proposed, because "you have to compromise in a conference of that type", the steps were "still an agenda of sorts. It's partly built from both what we proposed at the Review Conference and what we had earlier in the 1999 proposal [to the First Committee]." The Coalition's strategy was to solidify and universalize the NPT outcome by taking it from that forum, where some countries were not party, to the General Assembly. The resolution calls for the development and implementation of interim measures so as to lessen the role of nuclear weapons in the security policles of concerned States and to further reduce the status of nuclear-weapon systems.

The NPT, which was signed in 1968 and came into force in 1970, is considered by many experts to be the bedrock of the non-proliferation regime. It provides for a review conference every five years, but except for this year and in 1985, members have been unable to reach consensus agreement on the substance and language of their final determinations.

Other issues that dominated the debates in the First Committee were the Treaty on the Limitation of AntiBallistic Missiles Systems (ABM Treaty), negotiation of a fissile material cut-off treaty, the CTBT and its entry into force, nuclear-weapon-free zones and small arms.

The 1972 ABM Treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation, by which the two countries agreed to limit the deployment and development of anti-ballistic missiles, was the subject of a UN resolution for the first time last year as a result of the United States plan to deploy a national missile-defense system. Many fear that if the United States were to proceed with the plan, it would constitute a breach of the ABM Treaty and trigger a new arms race.

Thus, although welcoming United States President Bill Clinton's decision not to authorize a national missile defense system dining his administration, the Russian Federation, China and Belarus, for the second year introduced a draft resolution on the preservation of and compliance with the ABM Treaty. China's Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, Hu Xiaodi, said during a debate in the Committee that the Treaty went beyond bilateral relations in its significance, and its violation "would undermine global strategic balance and stability, jeopardize trust between States, and produce far-reaching negative impacts on international peace, security and multilateral disarmament and arms control processes".

On the other hand, United States Ambassador Robert Gray said the ABM Treaty was negotiated and signed in a different political era and under different circumstances and it had not contemplated new emerging threats. The resolution was approved by a recorded vote of 78 to 3 (Federated States of Micronesia, Israel, United States), with 65 abstentions.

For the second consecutive year, Iran introduced a draft resolution on missiles, arguing that it is a global issue and that "partial or very narrowly defined measures" to deal with them was not conducive to results that would be generally accepted. A new element in the resolution is that it asks the Secretary-General to establish a study group to assist him in preparing a report on missiles in all its aspects and report back to the Assembly in 2002. The draft was adopted by 90 to none, with 60 abstentions, which reflected the positions of countries wishing to maintain the existing limited framework of the Missile Technology Control Regime.

Taking advantage of the consensus language from the 2000 Review Agreement, Canada put forward for consideration a revised draft resolution it had first introduced two years ago, encouraging negotiations on a fissile material production ban by linking the subject with the Conference on Disarmament programme of work—that the Disarmament Conference has to agree on the work programme before launch ing the negotiations. The draft was adopted without a vote and it is believed this will pave the way for possible establishment of an ad hoc committee on the subject to prepare for negotiations in the 2001 session of the Conference on Disarmament. Chairman Mya Than stressed that the development was "very significant" and sent an important political signal to the Conference on Disarmament to overcome its impasse for its 2001 session. As far as resolutions on small arms were concerned, the First Committee was able to agree to hold the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its Aspects in New York from 9 to 20 July 2001. Meanwhile, substantive considerations were going well, according to Ambassador Carlos dos Santos of Mozambique, who chairs the Preparatory Committee.

Consultations were held in the margin of the First Committee meetings on a draft structure of elements for the programme of action prepared by Ambassador dos Santos. Most important, he told the Chronicle, since the Conference was called for by the 54th General Assembly, many regional meetings have been held that were very supportive of the work of the Preparatory Committee.

In Africa, where the easy availability of small arms corresponded with high numbers of civilian casualties, a high-level meeting in Bamako, Mali, of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security resulted in a common position adopted in a declaration by consensus.

Ambassador dos Santos emphasized that the programme of action meant business and that the issue could not be solved unless all components and stakeholders were involved. Although the Conference itself was not a treaty-making conference, he hoped its programme of action, which would deal with what measures to take at the national, regional and global levels, would contribute towards developing an international instrument.

A resolution on the implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Ottawa Convention) urges all States that had not yet done so to ratify the Convention without delay.

Summing up the work of the First Committee, Ambassador Mya Than called it very successful, and the atmosphere less acrimonious than in previous years, not to mention that they had finished ahead of schedule. Upon the Committee's recommendation, the General Assembly adopted 48 disarmament and security-related resolutions and 1 decision.

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