unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/17/89)
DISARMAMENT DEBATE CONT'D, 16 OCTOBER Posting Date: 10/15/89 Copyright UNITEX Communications, 1989 UNITEX Network, USA ISSN: 1043-7932 The Committee will also have before it a report of the Secretary-General on the subject. The Disarmament Commission was unable to reach agreement, in its working group, on a draft report on conventional disarmament. It recommended to the General Assembly that the Commission should continue its work on the subject at its next substantive session. In a resolution on nuclear disarmament (resolution 43/75E), the Assembly at its last session welcomed the signing and ratification of the INF Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union, and called for strict observance of it. The Assembly urged the two countries to take the lead in halting the nuclear-arms race and to negotiate for drastic reduction of their nuclear arsenals. With reference to objective information on military matters, the Assembly will have before it a report of the Secretary-General (document A/44/396 and Add.1) containing replies received from Byelorussia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France (on behalf of the European Community), the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, the Soviet Union and Bulgaria. States were requested to inform the Secretary-General of measures they had adopted on military confidence-building and implementation of the standardized reporting system for military expenditures. The Committee will also have before it a report of the Secretary-General (document A/44/495) containing information received from Byelorussia, Oman and the Soviet Union, on the implementation of General Assembly resolutions in the field of disarmament. States had been requested to provide their views and suggestions on that subject to the Secretary-General. Another report by the Secretary-General, on international arms transfers (document A/44/444 and Add.1), contains information received from Colombia, Ecuador, Finland, France (on behalf of the European Community), Norway, Poland and Bulgaria. The Secretary-General was asked to seek the views and proposals of States on various aspects of arms transfers, including their potential effects in regional conflict areas; their negative effects on social and economic development; reinforcement of national control systems; and provision for more openness and transparency on such transfers. On the prohibition of the production of fissionable material for weapons purposes, and the prohibition of the dumping of radioactive wastes for hostile purposes, the Committee will have before it the relevant parts of the Conference on Disarmament report. On naval armaments and disarmament, an open-ended consultation group of the Disarmament Commission produced several findings and recommendations to be used as a basis for further deliberations. On the review of the role of the United Nations in the field of disarmament, a working group of the Disarmament Commission was unable to reach agreement on concrete recommendations and proposals, and decided to submit various texts to the Assembly for its consideration. In a resolution on conventional disarmament on a regional scale (resolution 43/75S), the Assembly last year expressed satisfaction at the adoption of regional and subregional arms limitation and disarmament initiatives, and at implementation of confidence-building measures, limitation of conventional weapons acquisition and reduced military spending, with a view to allocating the resources released to social and economic development. On the dumping of radioactive wastes, the Assembly last year condemned nuclear-waste dumping practices that infringe upon the sovereignty of States and requested that the Conference on Disarmament take up this question. It also expressed profound concern about the dumping of nuclear and industrial waste in Africa, with its grave implications for the national security of African countries. In its study of the question, the Committee will have before it a report of the Secretary-General on the dumping of radioactive wastes in Africa. Review of 1982 Disarmament Session When it deals with the review and implementation of the Concluding Document of the Twelfth Special Session of the General Assembly, the First Committee will take up the questions of regional disarmament; disarmament and international security; nuclear-arms freeze; the World Disarmament Campaign; the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa; the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Nuclear Weapons; the United Nations disarmament fellowships, training and advisory services programme; the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia; and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. At its session last year, the Assembly adopted eight resolutions under this agenda item. On the question of regional disarmament, the Committee will have before it a report of the Secretary-General. In resolution 42/39E, he was asked to keep the Assembly informed on the implementation of regional disarmament resolutions and on activities in that field conducted by the Secretariat-- particularly the Department for Disarmament Affairs and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. The Assembly last year again urged the Soviet Union and the United States to agree to an immediate nuclear-arms freeze, simultaneously stopping production of nuclear weapons and fissionable material for weapons purpose (resolution 43/76B). It called upon all nuclear-weapon States to agree to a comprehensive freeze, including a comprehensive nuclear-test ban, a complete and verifiable cessation of the manufacture and deployment of nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles. A report by the Secretary-General on the World Disarmament Campaign deals with the implementation of the programme of * Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501) --- Patt Haring | United Nations | Screen Gems in patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information | misc.headlines.unitex patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange | -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-