Preparatory Cttee for 2005 Review/Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons conf. – Compilation of reports

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First Session

New York, 8-19 April 2002

Steps to promote the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East and the realization of the goals and objectives of the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East

Compilation of reports

Contents 

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 I.  Introduction 

1.   In the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference, which the States parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons adopted by consensus on 19 May 2000, the Conference requested “all States parties, particularly the nuclear-weapon States, the States of the Middle East and other interested States, to report through the United Nations Secretariat to the President of the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as well as to the Chairperson of the Preparatory Committee meetings to be held in advance of that Conference, on the steps that they have taken to promote the achievement of such a zone and the realization of the goals and objectives of the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East. It requests that the Secretariat prepare a compilation of those reports in preparation for consideration of these matters at the Preparatory Committee meetings and the 2005 Review Conference”. (See document NPT/CONF.2000/28, Part I, “Review of the operation of the Treaty, taking into account the decisions and the resolution adopted by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference”, section entitled “Article VII and the security of non-nuclear-weapon States:, paragraph 16 on “Regional issues”, subparagraph 7.)

2.   The present compilation has been prepared by the United Nations Secretariat in response to that request. Reports have been received thus far from Algeria, Australia, Egypt and Jordan. Any additional information received will be issued as addenda to the present document.

 II.   Reports received from States parties

   Algeria

[Original: French]
[1 April 2002]

1.   Algeria believes that the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone is an effective part of the consolidation of regional peace and security and contributes to the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime and the achievement of the objectives of nuclear disarmament.

2.   However, because of the proximity and close ties between Africa and the Middle East, Algeria remains deeply concerned about the lack of progress in establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in this sensitive region. It therefore believes that it is essential to take concrete measures to implement the provisions of the 1995 resolution on the Middle East submitted by the three depositary States of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and adopted by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference. It recalls, in this respect, that the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference reaffirms the importance of this resolution and recognizes that it remains valid until the goals and objectives are achieved.

3.   Algeria also endorses the position expressed by the States parties at the 2000 Review Conference calling upon Israel to accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and place its nuclear facilities under comprehensive International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards in order to realize the goal of universal adherence to the Treaty in the Middle East region and achieve the legitimate aspiration to the establishment of a non-nuclear zone.

4.   Choosing to promote the development of research in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, Algeria acceded and committed itself to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and, in March 1996, concluded an agreement on comprehensive safeguards by virtue of which all its nuclear activities are placed under its control in accordance with article II of the Treaty.

5.   Algeria has always worked in support of nuclear-weapon-free zones throughout the world; it endorses the Declaration of the Organization of African Unity on the Denuclearization of Africa and was the third African State to ratify the African Nuclear-Weapon- Free Zone Treaty (the Pelindaba Treaty). Similarly, Algeria supported the establishment of such zones in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the South Pacific and in South-East Asia by the Treaties of Tlatelolco, Rarotonga and Bangkok, which have considerably reduced the risks of nuclear proliferation and contributed to the strengthening of international peace and security, and welcomed the efforts undertaken to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia.

6.   Within the Arab Group, it sponsors the resolution entitled “The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East” submitted each year to the General Assembly, and supports the resolution entitled “Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East” similarly, it participated actively in the work of the working group on the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones at the substantive session of the Disarmament Commission in April 1999.

   Australia

[Original: English]
[26 March 2002]

1.   Australia fully supports the establishment of an effectively verifiable Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. Australia has joined the consensus every year at the General Assembly in support of the resolution calling for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East freely arrived at among the States of the region.

2.   While countries of the Middle East would need to take the initiative in developing a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, membership of and adherence to existing treaties and instruments would be a step towards this aim. Australia contributes to the goal of such a zone through its efforts to achieve universal membership of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and our active support for the draft International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation.

3.   Australia is active in efforts to achieve universal application of nuclear safeguards measures in the Middle East and elsewhere. Australia also calls upon all parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty to comply fully with the requirements of the Treaty.

   Egypt

[Original: Arabic]
[19 March 2002]

  In accordance with the request made in the Final Document of the Sixth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, held in 2000, to States parties, particularly the nuclear-weapon States, the States of the Middle East and other interested States, to report through the United Nations Secretariat to the President of the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as well as to the chairpersons of the Preparatory Committee meetings to be held in advance of that Conference, on the steps that they have taken to promote the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East and the realization of the goals and objectives of the 1995 resolution on the Middle East, the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt has the honour to submit this report, which sets forth a number of the steps that Egypt has taken for the achievement of such a zone.

   General

  The issue of the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East has high priority in Egyptian policy, particularly since all the States of the Middle East region, without exception, have become parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, leaving Israel as the only State in the region that has not yet acceded to the Treaty or placed its nuclear facilities under comprehensive International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

  This imbalance, particularly in a region like the Middle East that is beset by manifest political tensions, led the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to adopt in 1995 a resolution on the Middle East, within the framework of the majority agreement on the extension of the Treaty and co-sponsored by the depositary States, namely the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. The resolution contains clear and unambiguous statements affirming the importance of establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East and the role of the international community in the matter. This affirmation by the Conference is contained in operative paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of the Resolution, as follows:

   “ Reaffirms the importance of the early realization of universal adherence to the Treaty, and calls upon all States of Middle East that have not yet done so, without exception, to accede to the Treaty as soon as possible and to place their nuclear facilities under full-scope International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards”;

   “Calls upon all States in the Middle East to take practical steps in appropriate forums aimed at making progress towards, inter alia, the establishment of an effectively verifiable Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, chemical and biological, and their delivery systems, and to refrain from taking any measures that preclude the achievement of this objective”;

   “Calls upon all States party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and in particular the nuclear-weapon States, to extend their cooperation and to exert their utmost efforts with a view to ensuring the early establishment by regional parties of a Middle East zone free of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems”.

  The United Nations Secretariat prepared a report as a document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT/CONF.2000/7), which mentioned that, since 1995, numerous States of the region had acceded to the Treaty and that thus all States of the Middle East, with the exception of Israel, were States parties to the Treaty.

  This situation prompted the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, at the Sixth Review Conference in 2000, to reaffirm the importance of the resolution on the Middle East adopted by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference and to recognize that the resolution remained valid until the goals and objectives were achieved and that the resolution was an essential element of the outcome of the 1995 Conference and of the basis on which the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was indefinitely extended without a vote in 1995. Consequently, this resolution must be regarded as equivalent as regards its importance and its binding nature to the decision for the indefinite extension of the Treaty.

  The Secretariat document also mentioned that all States of the region of the Middle East, with the exception of Israel, were States parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and reaffirmed the importance of Israel’s accession to the non-proliferation Treaty and the placing of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards with a view to achieving the goal of arriving at universal adherence to the Treaty in the Middle East.

 In the light of this high priority that Egypt accords to the issue of establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, with a view to ridding the region of the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, believing in the importance of the international community’s taking clear-cut steps to promote the achievement of such a zone, and with a view to the realization of the goals and objectives of the 1995 resolution on the Middle East, Egypt has, for years, maintained a firm stand and steadfast policy with regard to the establishment of such a zone, which would eliminate nuclear weapons, enhance the security of all States of the region and contribute to the speedy attainment of a comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East. Egyptian efforts in this matter have been concentrated at the national, regional and international levels, as follows.

 I.   Egyptian efforts and steps at the national level

 –   Egypt’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its signature of the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba), which clearly affirms Egypt’s rejection of the nuclear option, which represents a clear threat to humanity and to peace and security in the Middle East;

 –   Egypt’s hosting of the ceremonies for the signature of the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty on 11 April 1996, as an expression of Egypt’s commitment to eliminating nuclear weapons not only from the Middle East but from the African continent as a whole; Egypt’s hosting of the ceremonies for the signature of the Pelindaba Treaty represents the culmination of the follow-up to the Declaration on the Denuclearization of Africa adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity in July 1964 in Cairo;

 –   Egypt’s conclusion of an agreement on comprehensive safeguards with IAEA and its placing of its two research reactors and its other nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards.

 II.   Egyptian efforts and steps at the regional level

 –   The accession of Egypt and all States of the Middle East to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the placing of their nuclear facilities under the comprehensive IAEA safeguards system, with the exception of Israel;

 –   Egypt’s participation in the preparation of a draft treaty to make the region of the Middle East a region free from weapons of mass destruction, first and foremost nuclear weapons, within the framework of the League of Arab States;

 –   Establishment of a working group on arms control and regional security (ACRS), which emerged from the Madrid peace process on the basis of a proposal by Egypt, and a call for the inclusion on its agenda of an item on the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

 III.   Egyptian efforts and steps at the international level

 –   The announcement by President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak in April 1990 of his initiative calling for the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems from the region of the Middle East; His Excellency’ s announcement of his second initiative, in 1998, calling for the convening of an international conference to consider ridding the world of weapons of mass destruction, first and foremost nuclear weapons;

 –   Egypt’s submission annually, since 1974, of a resolution to the General Assembly of the United Nations concerning the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East; this resolution has been adopted by consensus since 1980, up to the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly;

 –   Egypt’s submission annually of a resolution to the General Assembly of the United Nations concerning the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and calling upon Israel, as the only State in the Middle East that has not yet become a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to accede to the Treaty without further delay; the resolution has been adopted annually by an overwhelming majority up to the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly;

 –   Egypt’s submission annually, within the framework of the IAEA General Conference, of a resolution concerning the application of IAEA safeguards in the Middle East; the resolution has been adopted annually by consensus, up to the forty-fifth session of the General Conference;

 –   Egypt’s ongoing and persistent efforts, within the framework of the activities of the Disarmament Commission, to promote the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East; these efforts resulted in the adoption by the Disarmament Commission, at its substantive session in April 1999 (under the chairmanship of Egypt), of guidelines for establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones and encouraging the establishment of such a zone in the Middle East.

   Conclusion

  Egypt will continue to follow up its efforts to achieve the goal of establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East as soon as possible, as a major step towards eliminating all weapons of mass destruction from the region. With a view to the realization of this goal, it will follow up its initiative concerning the establishment of a zone free from weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East and will continue its efforts to obtain the support of the international community in establishing such a zone and averting the threat to humanity presented by nuclear weapons, inasmuch as they are the most dangerous, destructive and genocidal of all weapons of mass destruction.

  In this context, Egypt considers it necessary that all parties to the Treaty, particularly the nuclear-weapon States, shoulder their responsibilities and make all sincere efforts to realize all the goals and objectives of the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East and to implement the relevant portions of the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty. It may be appropriate to begin thinking as of now of setting up a mechanism, with a specific mandate, entrusted by the Review Conference with the task of following up the implementation of this resolution, and the recommendations made concerning it at the 2000 Review Conference, as proof of the seriousness of States’ approach to and commitment to the implementation of the decisions of the Review Conference. Here emerges the special role that devolves upon the three depositary States, which are the same States that co-sponsored the resolution on the Middle East, in the implementation of this resolution. We should like to know the steps they have taken for the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

   Jordan

[Original: Arabic]
[25 March 2002]

  This report is submitted within the framework of the request contained in the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that all States parties to the Treaty, particularly the nuclear-weapon States, the States of the Middle East and other interested States should report through the United Nations Secretariat to the President of the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as well as to the chairpersons of the Preparatory Committee meetings to be held in advance of that Conference, on the steps that they have taken to promote the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East and the realization of the goals and objectives of the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East.

  The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and has also signed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) comprehensive safeguards agreement and the IAEA additional protocol on safeguards.

1.   This serious and committed position of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan reflects full conviction of and absolute adherence to rejection of the nuclear option, particularly in the Middle East, as well as clear-cut obligations to and participation in promoting the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

2.   The Jordanian Government is participating in efforts to elaborate a draft treaty making the Middle East a zone free from weapons of mass destruction, first and foremost nuclear weapons, within the framework of the League of Arab States.

3.   The Jordanian Government participates in the working group on arms control and Regional Security established by the Madrid Peace Conference and attaches importance to the inclusion on its agenda of an item concerning the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

4.   The delegation of Jordan, together with other Arab delegations, annually introduces an item on the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East in the United Nations General Assembly. The relevant resolution has, year after year, been adopted by an increasing majority, up to the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly.

5.   The delegation of Jordan and the delegations of the other Arab States participate, within the framework of the meetings of the IAEA General Conference, in the introduction of a resolution on the application of IAEA safeguards in the Middle East, which is annually adopted by consensus. 

  The Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan stresses the need to implement the provisions of the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the importance of the five nuclear-weapon States’ reporting on the efforts that they have made for the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East and the realization of the goals and objectives of the 1995 resolution on the Middle East.

  The Middle East is a region beset by manifest tension, and the attention of the international community should be focused on laying the essential groundwork for the elimination of this tension, particularly with regard to the nuclear problem, in view of the fact that there is one State in the region, namely, Israel, that continues to possess nuclear capabilities and does not place its facilities under the comprehensive IAEA safeguards system and that this stands in the way of the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, especially as all States of the Middle East have acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

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