DCF/272

UKRAINE, EUROPEAN UNION EXPRESS SUPPORT FOR DRAFT NUCLEAR TEST-BAN TREATY INDIA MAINTAINS OPPOSITION TO TEXT

GENEVA, 8 August (UN Information Service) -- As the Conference on Disarmament raced to conclude a draft comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty in time to submit it to the upcoming session of the General Assembly for signature, Ukraine and the countries of the European Union this morning expressed support for the treaty text now before the Conference, while India reiterated its objection to parts of the document.

Informing the Conference of his Government's decision to endorse the draft submitted by the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on a nuclear test ban, the representative of Ukraine regretted that some relevant proposals were missing from the draft treaty. However, he added, the draft still represented a sound compromise.

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, the representative of Ireland also announced the Union's backing of the text. Although its members were not fully satisfied with the treatment of some key issues in the draft treaty, she said the Union felt a spirit of compromise must prevail at that late stage.

For the representative of India, however, the draft text currently before the Conference was not much different than a previous working paper that had elicited his Government's opposition. She said article 14 of the draft treaty sought to force India to sign on. That provision created obligations for the country without its consent, which was contrary to international law.

Also this morning, the Group of 21 non-aligned countries submitted a "programme of action for the elimination of nuclear weapons". Introducing the document, the representative of Egypt, the Group's Coordinator, said the programme contained concrete proposals for measures to be carried out by the proposed ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament in three phases.

Prior to the adjournment of this morning's plenary, the representative of the Seychelles thanked the Conference for agreeing last week to admit his country as an observer. He said the Seychelles would make a formal statement at the next plenary session of the Conference.

Statements

OLEG SHAMSHUR (Ukraine) informed the Conference of his Government's decision to endorse the draft test-ban treaty submitted by the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on a nuclear test ban on 28 June. Although Ukraine regretted that some relevant proposals were missing from the draft treaty, it believed that it represented a sound compromise that took into account the positions put forward by the different parties. Further procrastination in the process of negotiations would seriously jeopardize the chances for the successful completion of work on a nuclear test-ban treaty.

ANNE ANDERSON (Ireland), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said a Declaration by the Union's Presidency issued yesterday in Dublin and Brussels had expressed the Union's support for the earliest possible transmission by the Conference of a draft test-ban treaty to the General Assembly. The Union believed the 28 June text must command respect for its determined effort to accommodate, to the greatest extent possible, views which had not been easy to reconcile. While the spring part of the 1996 session of the Conference had concluded without formally adopting the treaty, there was still time to meet the objective of signature at the outset of the fifty-first Assembly session.

Because the current text attempted to balance competing requirements, she continued reading from the Declaration, it did not and could not reflect all the aspirations of all participants in the negotiations. The Union members were not fully satisfied with the treatment of some of the key issues in the draft. Like others, however, they felt that a spirit of compromise must prevail at that late stage. The Union continued to believe that the conclusion of the treaty would be a concrete step in the full realization and effective implementation of Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). It would contribute to the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons, to the process of nuclear disarmament and therefore to the enhancement of international peace and security.

NACER BENJELLOUN-TOUIMI (Morocco) said the text presented by the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on 28 June, although not ideal, constituted a further step towards disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation. The Moroccan delegation did not oppose the draft in principle, but it did understand the preoccupations of certain delegations, which considered that it did not respond to some of their national concerns. Morocco was firmly attached to the sovereign right of all States to adhere or not to a treaty, but it remained convinced that a compromise on the draft was within reach. It was

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fundamental that negotiations were concluded so that the Conference might be able to submit it for signature at the opening of the next Assembly session.

MOUNIR ZAHRAN (Egypt), tabled, on behalf of the Group of 21 non-aligned countries, a "programme of action for the elimination of nuclear weapons". He said the proposed programme recognized that there was a requirement for active multilateral efforts to identify, negotiate and implement specific, step-by-step measures for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. It contained concrete proposals for measures to be carried out by the proposed ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament in three phases, the last of which would take the Conference to 2020.

ANTONIO DE ICAZA (Mexico) said his delegation was among the 29 that had co-sponsored the draft programme of action just introduced by Egypt's representative. The time was ripe for such a programme, now that the intense competition in the production of nuclear warheads and in the deployment of nuclear weapons systems had ceased. The military doctrines related to security based on apocalyptic weapons had not been fundamentally altered, and the threat posed by the mere existence of nuclear weapons hung over the future of the planet. It was therefore urgent to give disarmament negotiations a concrete direction and goals. The Group was not proposing ready-made schemes; on the contrary, it put forward a joint exercise that could permit, in a generation, if not sooner, the achievement of a world free of nuclear weapons.

JACOB S. SELEBI (South Africa) told the Conference that New Zealand had signed this morning a "Memorandum of Cooperation on Disarmament and Arms Control" reaffirming that following the conclusion of the test-ban treaty the two Governments intended to sign the draft treaty at the earliest opportunity. Their delegations to the Conference would work actively to support the Chairman of the negotiating committee in his endeavour to resolve the difficulties the Conference was presently considering with regard to the draft treaty. They called on all other countries to give their prompt support to the draft treaty. The two Governments would work for the commencement next year of negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons.

South Africa had been unable to co-sponsor the working paper just submitted by the Group of 21 because of the linkages it made among disarmament issues, he added.

Mr. ICAZA (Mexico) said his delegation's position regarding linkages was well known. If there had been linkages in the programme proposed by the Group of 21, Mexico would not have been able to co-sponsor it.

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ARUNDHATI GHOSE (India) said her Government had given the draft test-ban treaty most careful and detailed consideration. India had to express disappointment and regret, however, at the fact that the text was not very different from the earlier working paper submitted by the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee. That document had led India to declare that it could not sign the draft treaty in that form. With the current text, India's position stood. The country had the strongest objection to article 14 of the draft treaty, which sought to force India's signature; that provision created obligations for the country without its consent, contrary to international law. India had none the less made proposals with a view to achieving consensus on a treaty.

The representative of the Seychelles thanked the Conference for accepting, at its last plenary session on 1 August, the participation of his country as an observer. The Seychelles would make a formal statement at the next plenary session of the Conference.

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