CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS STATEMENTS FROM DIGNITARIES FROM KAZAKHSTAN, SLOVAKIA, JAPAN AND POLAND

The Conference on Disarmament this morning was addressed by senior officials from Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Japan and Poland who reaffirmed the invaluable role that the Conference had to play in pursuing global disarmament. Speakers also underlined the importance of adherence to the provisions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and support for its upcoming Review Conference.

The outgoing President of the Conference, Ambassador Tim Caughley of New Zealand, said in his concluding remarks that it was apparent that the view that the Conference's problem was one of political will rather than a lack of diplomatic inspiration was widely shared in governments at the Ministerial level. The next phase of the Conference on Disarmament's work entailed urgent negotiation which would require mutual flexibility fostered by maximum transparency on all sides.

Kassymzhomart Tokayev, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, said it was absolutely necessary for coordinated and effective efforts to be made both at the international and regional levels to ensure peace and security. From the point of view of Kazakhstan, the Conference on Disarmament had to be one of the major international instruments playing a crucial role in pursuing disarmament on the global scale. Being a State that had voluntarily renounced its nuclear arsenal – the fourth largest in the world – Kazakhstan was actively involved in the negotiations to establish a nuclear-free zone in Central Asia.

Eduard Kukan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, said among the major challenges the Conference was faced with was that it was not able to start negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty, in spite of political commitments taken to this end at the end of the 2000 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. Another major challenge came with the changing global political and security environment. The European Union Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, adopted in December 2003, provided an important tool for addressing the threat of proliferation.

Itsunori Onodera, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Japan, said as a country which had suffered nuclear devastation, Japan had a moral responsibility to the international community to advocate the total elimination of nuclear weapons, and had conducted vigorous diplomatic efforts to realize concrete measures leading to this aim. In this practical and incremental approach, the Conference had played, and should continue to play, a pivotal role to achieve such concrete disarmament measures. The Japanese Government believed that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear issue should be resolved peacefully through dialogue.

Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland, said the new international environment was characterized by new phenomena like mega-terrorism, unprecedented proliferation of weapons, including both conventional and weapons of mass destruction, increasing numbers of States in distress and the emergence of new capabilities of non-State actors to attack States. He reiterated Poland’s long-standing position that the advancement of nuclear disarmament implied a successful mixture of unilateral, bilateral and multilateral measures, which complemented and strengthened one another.

Algeria announced that it would host from 11 to 13 April a regional conference organized in cooperation of the United Nations Department of Disarmament Affairs which would focus on the implementation of the United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons which was adopted at the 2001 global conference.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, referring to the statements made concerning the withdrawal of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its possession of nuclear weapons, said the Conference on Disarmament was not the appropriate forum to address this issue.

The Conference on Disarmament will hold its next plenary at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 24 March.

Statements

KASSYMZHOMART TOKAYEV, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, said it was absolutely necessary to take coordinated and effective efforts at both the international and regional levels to ensure peace and security. This would only be achieved with strong political will and a commitment to practical steps in disarmament and non-proliferation areas. From the point of view of Kazakhstan, the Conference on Disarmament had to be one of the major international instruments playing a crucial role in pursuing disarmament on the global scale. The potential of the Conference had to be further explored for the benefit of the international community. Kazakhstan called for a strengthened and universal application of the regimes of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and believed that the current international agreements in this area should be adapted to new realities. Kazakhstan also hoped that the forthcoming Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference would outline concrete measures on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Having attached great importance to the full implementation of the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kazakhstan had signed the Additional Protocol in 2004 and had been cooperating closely with the IAEA in this area.

Kazakhstan believed that the demand placed on nuclear weapon States to grant negative security assurances to non-nuclear weapons States was founded and reasonable, and supported the proposal to elaborate within the Conference on Disarmament an international agreement on the non-use or threat of use of nuclear weapons by nuclear weapon States against non-nuclear weapon States. Moreover, Kazakhstan called for an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which was critically important for nuclear disarmament and urged the Governments of those States that had not yet done so to sign or ratify this instrument. Kazakhstan welcomed the efforts of the Biological Weapons Convention States parties to develop concerted mechanisms in view of its strengthening. The Government also believed that the conclusion of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) was essential for nuclear disarmament and the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Minister noted that Kazakhstan had also applied for membership in the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and was taking steps to reinforce and improve the national export control system.

Being a State that had voluntarily renounced its nuclear arsenal – the fourth largest in the world – the Minister noted that Kazakhstan was actively involved in the negotiations to establish a nuclear-free zone in Central Asia. The Government of Kazakhstan supported the initiative of the Russian Federation and China to elaborate a legally binding instrument on the prevention of an arms race in outer space and on the threat or use of force against space objects. It also welcomed the creation of the Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction and WMD-related materials by G8 leaders at the Kananaskis Summit.

While noting Kazakhstan’s recognition of the leading role of the United Nations in the coordination of international counter terrorist activities, the Minister also noted that broad measures against terrorism had been taken by the Shanghai Organization for Cooperation, the Organization of the Treaty on Collective Security, the Organization on Central-Asian Cooperation, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In closing, Mr. Tokayev expressed Kazakhstan’s belief that preserving the Conference on Disarmament was the responsibility of the whole international community and supported the idea of mainstreaming a balance of priorities in the Conference.

EDUARD KUKAN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, said since the last time a Slovak Minister addressed the Conference in 1997, Slovakia had undergone many changes; Slovakia had joined the European Union and other important international organizations; high numbers of Slovak troops had taken part in peacekeeping missions; and Slovakia was hopefully going to become a member of the United Nations Security Council. On the other hand, not much had seemingly happened in the Conference on Disarmament since 1997.

A comprehensive and balanced approach to dealing with its own agenda would be the sign of elementary respect of the Conference on Disarmament to its Member States, Mr. Kukan said. Among the major challenges the Conference was faced with was that it was not able to start negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty, in spite of political commitments taken to this end at the end of the 2000 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. Another major challenge came with the changing global political and security environment. Launching substantive work of the Conference was for the sake and benefit of noble goals of peace, global security and prosperity of all. Slovakia believed that continuing non-action in the Conference could lead to the loss of its credibility.

The European Union Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, which was adopted in December 2003, provided an important tool for addressing the threat of proliferation, the Minister stated. Slovakia, as a member of the European Union, fully supported the Strategy as well as the practical measures envisaged therein.

Mr. Kukan said there were many opportunities for a major breakthrough in the Conference to take place; one of these was related to the forthcoming NPT Review Conference. Another opportunity lay in resolution 1540 of the United Nations Security Council, whose implementation was crucial for progress in the whole area of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, including the work of the Conference.

Recalling the recent summit of the Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation in Bratislava, where President Bush and President Putin came to a common ground on important issues connected to security and non-proliferation, Mr. Kukan said the Summit represented one of the blocks of confidence-building that should be expanded both in quantitative and qualitative terms.

ITSUNORI ONODERA, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Japan, said this year was of particular importance to the Conference on Disarmament. Firstly, it marked the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings in Japan. As a country which had suffered from nuclear devastation, Japan had a moral responsibility to the international community to advocate the total elimination of nuclear weapons, and had conducted vigorous diplomatic efforts to realize concrete measures leading to this aim. In this practical and incremental approach, the Conference had played, and should continue to play, a pivotal role to achieve such concrete disarmament measures. Moreover, the commencement of the substantive work in the Conference was necessary to give a strong impetus to the upcoming Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The Conference on Disarmament had to offer new instruments to deal with imminent security challenges facing the world today. From this perspective, the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT), which would prohibit the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons, was extremely important, not only for nuclear disarmament, but also for nuclear non-proliferation. Japan considered the commencement of negotiations on the FMCT a priority for the Conference. Concurrent with the United Nations reform currently underway, Japan believed that the Conference should be examined in a new light to make its operation more efficient and result-oriented.

Referring to the statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Mr. Onodera said the statement announced that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea would suspend its participation in the Six-Party Talks for an indefinite period of time and that it had manufactured nuclear weapons. The Government of Japan had expressed its deep concern over the statement on several occasions, including at the latest International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors meeting earlier this month. The nuclear programmes of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea not only represented a direct threat to the peace and stability of the Northeast Asian region including Japan, but also posed a serious challenge to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.

Japan firmly believed that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea nuclear issue should be resolved peacefully through dialogue. The Six-Party Talks currently represented the most realistic framework and should continue to be fully utilized. Japan urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to agree to the resumption of the Talks at an early date without preconditions. Japan, together with China, the host of the Talks, and other partners, was ready to continue to make every effort for a resolution through diplomatic efforts, primarily by actively contributing to the Six-Party Talks. Moreover, Japan believed that, should there be no progress towards resolving the Democratic People's Republic of Korea nuclear issue, the international community should deal with the situation in a more befitting manner with a greater sense of urgency.

ADAM DANIEL ROTFELD, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland, said the new international environment was characterized by new phenomena like mega-terrorism, unprecedented proliferation of weapons, including both conventional and weapons of mass destruction, increasing numbers of States in distress and the emergence on new capabilities of non-State actors to attack States. The combination of these elements posed a major challenge to States, their stability and security. The international community must therefore find ways to make multilateral structures effective and adequate so States could cooperate and respond to threats within the existing multilateral institutional framework – first and foremost within the United Nations system. Today, more than ever, the United Nations must play a critical role as it strived to hammer out a new political consensus and advance possible progress in peace and security. In this context, Poland positively assessed the report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which properly responded to the major threats to peace and security in today’s world.

Mr. Rotfeld indicated that on 8 February this year, he had submitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations draft elements for a new political act, which could be adopted and signed by Heads of State and Government at the planned 2005 Summit. Poland conceived the new political act as a new consensus over how the United Nations Charter could best serve the implementation of its principles and objectives at the dawn of the 21st century.

Mr. Rotfeld reiterated Poland’s long-standing position that the advancement of nuclear disarmament implied a successful mixture of unilateral, bilateral and multilateral measures, which complemented and strengthened one another. Poland was of the strong belief that the role of multilateral forums on disarmament should not be diminished. Accordingly, Poland attached great importance to the outcome of the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a significant achievement, and strongly hoped that this event would contribute to disarmament efforts in other bodies and forums, especially in the Conference. Poland called on the NPT States parties to make every effort possible to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime and provide the international community with a substantial Conference outcome – comparable to those of the 1995 and 2000 Review Conferences.

The Minister stressed Poland's willingness to start substantial work in the Conference as soon as possible and that it should not limit itself to traditional issues. Man-portable air defence systems –MANPADs – verification of and compliance with disarmament treaties, conventional weapons, confidence-building measures – were just a few examples of what the Conference should reflect on. What was needed was a new political consensus – an expression of political will that could enable the international community to act.

IDRISS JAZAÏRY (Algeria) said Algeria fully supported the position of the statement by Egypt made at the Conference on behalf of the Group of 21, which Algeria was a member of. Several Foreign Ministers who had addressed the Conference had raised the important issue of the illicit trade of small arms and lights weapons. Their statements had focussed on the importance of the Conference to focus on the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons, even though the issue was not currently being discussed in the Conference. Algeria believed it was critically important to address the matter of the small arms and light weapons in earnest.

According to available data, there had been hundreds of thousands of victims of small arms and light weapons in the past few years alone; these weapons did not only kill during times of war but also during times of peace. Moreover, there were some 70 million such weapons in circulation today, 59 per cent of which were held by civilians, including terrorist groups. International terrorism and transnational crime, as well as internal conflicts were all elements that contributed to the rise of victims of small arms and light weapons. The rising death toll linked to the use of these weapons had led to a global mobilization to prohibit their use, which had been embodied by the Programme of Action adopted at the United Nations Conference in 2001.

Africa was one of the regions that had been tried by the uncontrolled spread of small arms and light weapons. Algeria had been working on its implementation of the Programme of Action and, in that context, would host from 11 to 13 April a regional conference organized in cooperation of the United Nations Department of Disarmament Affairs which would focus on the implementation of the Programme of Action in the region. Several African countries were expected to participate, along with multiple United Nations agencies, representatives of the Arab League, the African Union and non-governmental organizations. Next month's conference would also consider the means to promote regional cooperation and would focus on the preparation of the second biennial meeting of States taking place next year. These initiatives demonstrated the will of Algeria to work on the implementation of these instruments to put an end to the threat and scourge of small arms and light weapons.

AN MYONG HUN (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said his delegation appreciated the efforts of certain governments, as expressed through their high-level officials, to revitalize the work of the Conference on Disarmament and hoped these efforts would continue in the right direction. The impression that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had was that the Conference had a long way to go.

Referring to the statements made concerning the withdrawal of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its possession of nuclear weapons, Mr. An said the Conference on Disarmament was not the appropriate forum to address this issue. The Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was compelled to possess its nuclear weapons due to extreme threats posed against its sovereignty; a statement made by the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on 10 February this year had reinforced this position. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea never felt obliged to be bound by the NPT at the sacrifice of its sovereign rights and at the sacrifice of its nation and people. Its nuclear option was only a self-defence measure. As long as any hostile policy continued, the self-defence through a nuclear deterrent would likewise continue to be strengthened.

Turing to the statement of Japan, Mr. An said that from the policy of the Japanese Government, Japan was not in a position to be honestly involved in the discussion process of the nuclear issue. However, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had allowed Japan to attend the Six-Party Talks in order for Japan to learn how to take up the proper approach to the issue and how to behave in a manner conducive for peace and security in the region. Japan has only pursued its unilateral ambition through the Talks to revive militarism and to achieve overseas expansion. Japan did not want the resolution of the nuclear issue. Japan did not have the true sense of the crime it had committed in the past; rather it felt that its peace constitution stood in the way of reviving militarism. The policy and views of Japan had put a black cloud over the peace and security in the region. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea would not tolerate these moves to revive militarism; if those moves continued the Democratic People's Republic of Korea would respond in a more befitting manner.

YOSHIKI MINE (Japan) said the Democratic People's Republic of Korea nuclear issue was directly related to Japan's security. Japan's continued participation in the Talks was essential. Other parties to the Talks had concurred on this point. Given its insincerity, Japan does not consider the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to be in a position to comment on its participation in the Talks. Japan, which was the only country to have suffered from the effects of an atomic bomb, had renounced the option of nuclear weapons in line with international treaties, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and continued to adhere to the NPT's three non-nuclear principles of not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan. There were no grounds by way Japan was seeking to revive militarism. Japan's basic position on past issues stood as stated in its Prime Minister's statement of 1995 and the Pyongyang declaration; Japan urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to take sincere measures based on the Pyongyang declaration towards resolving these various issues.

AN MYONG HUN (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said the nuclear issue had been taken up against the background of unstable peace and security throughout the region. All parties to the Six-Party Talks had a responsibility for peace in the region. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea had the full power to comment on the quality and qualification of the participation of Japan in the Six-Party process. Concerning the Pyongyang declaration, he said the declaration had not been implemented due to the betrayal of the Japanese Government.

TIM CAUGHLEY (New Zealand), outgoing President of the Conference on Disarmament, in his concluding remarks as the President of the Conference, said it was apparent that the view that the Conference's problem was one of political will rather than a lack of diplomatic inspiration was quite widely shared in governments at the Ministerial level. There was widespread concern that the Conference risked sidelining itself, and there existed a strong hope in many quarters that advancement in the work of the Conference would augur well for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference which would take place in six weeks' time. The next phase of the Conference on Disarmament's work, he added, entailed urgent negotiation, which would require mutual flexibility fostered by maximum transparency on all sides.

For use of the information media; not an official record

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