UN Secretary-General – new call for nuclear disarmament through a Nuclear Weapons Convention

 In Nuclear Weapons

New York
October 24, United <http://www.un.org/events/unday/2008/>  Nations Day

Dear Friends,

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on governments to
start negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention as part of a five point
plan to eliminate the risks from nuclear weapons.

In an address to a conference organised in the United Nations by the
East-West Institute <http://www.iews.org/> , Ban Ki-moon called for ‘the
nuclear-weapon States, to fulfil their obligation under the [nuclear
Non-Proliferation] Treaty’ by pursuing ‘a framework of separate, mutually
reinforcing instruments.  Or they could consider negotiating a
nuclear-weapons convention, backed by a strong system of verification, as
has long been proposed at the United Nations.” Ban Ki-Moon informed the
conference that “Upon the request of Costa Rica and Malaysia, I have
circulated to all United Nations Member States a draft
<http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A%2F62%2F650&Submit=Search&
Lang=E
>  of such a convention, which offers a good point of departure.”

Ban Ki-moon also:

*     Called on the Security Council to initiate discussions on ‘issues in
the nuclear disarmament process’ including the provision of unambiguous
assurances ‘to non-nuclear-weapon States that they will not be the subject
of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.’;

*     Encouraged the negotiation, entry-into-force and implementation of a
number of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament treaties including the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, regional nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties
and a treaty to control fissile materials;

*     Proposed that the Nuclear Weapon States become more transparent about
the size of their arsenals, stocks of fissile material and specific
disarmament achievements.  He noted that “the lack of an authoritative
estimate of the total number of nuclear weapons testifies to the need for
greater transparency.”

*     Supported complementary measures for the elimination of other types of
WMD; new efforts against WMD terrorism; limits on the production and trade
in conventional arms; and new weapons bans, including of missiles and space
weapons.  He noted that “the General Assembly could also take up the
recommendation of the Blix Commission for a World Summit on disarmament,
non-proliferation and terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction.

The conference included other high-level speakers Mohammed El Baradei
(Secretary-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency), Henry
Kissinger (former US Secretary of State) and leaders from the E.U., China,
India, Japan and Pakistan.

For the UN Secretary-General’s full speech see:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2008/sgsm11881.doc.htm
<http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sgsm11881.doc.htm>

For more information on the conference see
http://www.iews.org/announcements/news/index.cfm?title=News
<http://www.iews.org/announcements/news/index.cfm?title=News&view=detail&nid
=672&aid=6290
> &view=detail&nid=672&aid=6290

Alyn Ware
Recommended Posts
Showing 2 comments
  • Sarosh Syed
    Reply

    Thanks so much for writing about the EastWest Institute’s conference to eliminate nuclear weapons. We hope the event will breathe new life into the nonproliferation discussion, and help to finally rid the world of the unacceptable threat of nuclear weapons.

    Thank you for helping to spread the word and build on this momentum. Please let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.

    I can be reached at ssyed at ewi dot info

    Sarosh Syed
    EastWest Institute

  • Kameron
    Reply

    SSGE3FKeES4c3

Leave a Comment

Start typing and press Enter to search